Why do some sub-tasks appear on kanban board and others don't?

[Susan Williams]

I have read the answers to a bunch of related questions, and it looks like the answer is to just not use sub-tasks if you want to use boards.  I would understand if none of the sub-tasks we have defined appeared in the backlog, but some appear and some do not.  I can find no rhyme or reason to why some do and some do not.  I have removed the sub-filter from my board's settings, so that shouldn't be related.

[Thomas Deiler · Accepted solution]

Dear @Susan Williams,

I can imagine that all the questions are confusing. We should wipe there a little bit ;)

For Scrum Boards: In the backlog you will see only stories. And epics on the left side. Sub-tasks if stories are only shown as soon as a story is on the agile board (current sprint), by default.

In Kanban mode, where you do not have a backlog (planning is a ongoing permanently), the sub-tasks are visible from the beginning.

So long

Thomas

[Susan Williams]

I should add that we have some stories, as far as I can tell their sub-tasks never appear in the backlog.  But we also have tasks, which have sub-tasks that are "technical tasks", and sometimes those appear in the backlog along with their parents, but sometimes they do not.  I can't see any obvious difference like they're in different states or anything.  This is only on a kanban board, that's all I'm looking at.

[Thomas Deiler]

Dear @Susan Williams,

so you only use Kanban and nothing else? No second Agile Board on the same project? No modifications to the workflow schemes and issue type schemes?

So long

Thomas

[Susan Williams]

We've been using Jira with just filters for quite awhile to track our development, but we have a larger number of products now sharing one project.  I started using a kanban board so the swimlanes could help me track activity against each product.

I should say we have different groups of developers who have defined their own boards, I happen to only be using a kanban board.  We haven't modified our issue types or workflow, and different tech leads are using whatever method works for them to try and keep track of their issues.

[Thomas Deiler]

I see. This multiple boards on one project is often a source of troubles.

It's for me hard to get a clear picture of your current configuration. So any advice will just be a try.

I recommend to separate these multiple products within one project as good as possible, means an issue should not appear on two boards the same time.

So long

Thomas

[Susan Williams]

OK, well that is helpful, thank you.