Kanban and Backlog mismatch

[Mateo Eidson]

I have a Kanban project and I'd like certain Story statuses to show up on my Backlog view of my board. Currently only two story statuses are showing up in my backlog (e.g. 'Backlog' and my custom status 'Refinement Needed'). 'Refinement Needed' is the left most status on my Kanban board so this probably makes sense. Once stories progress through the Kanban board they disappear on my backlog (I'll accept this as the intended use for Jira Kanban).

I'd like to allow one more status to be shown on my backlog (e.g. Status='To Do'). Is this possible?

[Laurie Sciutti · Accepted solution]

Hello @Mateo Eidson and welcome to the Community!  Have you checked your board configuration, specifically the column mapping?  Also ensure that the filter attached to your board includes the issues you want showing on your board.  HTH

[Mateo Eidson]

All great points. The filter was the first place I went. When I view the filter (JQL mode) it shows me everything I would expect.  It appears the filter applies to both Kanban view and Backlog view but mostly the Kanban board with a Kanban project applying some additional 'magic' to the backlog view. The Backlog is not a 1-to-1 representation of my actual filter (frustrating but again using a Kanban project this might just be how it is)

Column mapping is kind of confusing but here's what it looks like. This behavior may just be how Kanbans work and for anything else I really need a Scrum project (just trying to limp through our next sprint until I move our organization to a true Scrum approach).

[pinky_reddy]

Hi @Mateo Eidson  can you verify if you have applied any filters in backlog view which is filtering the issues.

You must be able to check that in Backlog view top menu.

[Trudy Claspill]

Hello @Mateo Eidson 

The filter for the Kanban board selects the set of issues that will be included. The Kanban board functionality, with the mapping of statuses to columns, will divide the issues between the Backlog page/view and the Board page/view.

The Board page/view will show all the issue in statuses that are mapped to all the columns in you Columns page excluding the issues in statuses mapped to the area labeled "Kanban backlog". The board will not show columns to which no statuses are mapped, i.e. the column in your image labeled "BACKLOG" and pointed to by a red arrow.

The Backlog screen for a Kanban board will show two issue lists.

The upper list will show the issues in the left-most column of your Board view where there is a mapped status. The name of the list will be the same as the name of that column.

In your case the left-most column that has a mapped status is "Features/Enhancements".

The lower list on the screen will be labeled "Backlog" and will display issues in the statuses that you map to the Kanban Backlog column in the Column configuration. That section of the issue list will always be labeled "Backlog" regardless of the statuses mapped to it.

So, your Backlog page/view should show two lists of issues; a Features/Enhancements list including all the issues in the "Features/Enhancements" status, and a Backlog list showing all the issues in the "Backlog" status.

The Backlog view/page will show as long as you have at least one status mapped to the "Kanban backlog" area in the above image.

The Backlog view/page will show only the issues in statuses mapped to the "Kanban backlog" area, and to the left-most column where a status is mapped. It will not show the issues in the remaining columns to proceed to the right.

If you want more statuses to show in the Backlog view/page, those additional statuses would have to be mapped to the "Kanban backlog" area or to the left-most column of your board. You can map multiple statuses to a column, but a status can be mapped to only one column. To be able to see the issues of all statuses in your Backlog view/page, all statuses would have to be mapped to either the "Kanban backlog" area or to the left-most column of your board.

[Mateo Eidson]

Thank you for this insight. Our teams have out grown their Kanban board so I'm trying to get things showing up in a backlog. Since a status can only be mapped to one column we really just need to move to a Scrum Board that way I can actually prioritize issues instead of looking at a Kanban board with 100+ items which requires a lot of scrolling and leads everyone to be very confused. Thank you!