Separate Backlog from Kanban Board

Mary Williams January 5, 2018

We are small team with a large backlog. We are using Kanban. We want the backlog to be on a separate board (same project) to reduce the amount of issues visible to the devs. 

Currently, we have Kanban set up with Backlog - In Development - QA Backlog - QA - Done. I want to just move the Backlog column to its own board. Is that possible? 

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Warren
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January 5, 2018

Hi Mary

At it's simplest, if you go to Board settings then Columns, you can drag the Backlog "status" item into the Unmapped statuses section on the right and then the Backlog column won't show for that board.

Depending on the version of Jira that you have, a better way is to use the Kanban Backlog feature. Again looking at the Columns section, I have what the screen below is showing, which then enables a Kanban Backlog in addition to the Kanban board i.e. it does exactly what you are asking for

Picture0002.jpg

Jack Brickey
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January 5, 2018

I second the use of Kanban Backlog approach. It keeps everything in one easy to access location yet separates the backlog (To Do) items from the active (In Progress & Done) issues.

Mary Williams January 17, 2018

Thank you!

Matt White January 28, 2019

How can you switch the view back so the backlog then becomes the first swimlane in the board?  

I want the view to be dynamic so it's easier to move backlog items into the To Do column, based on workload 

Warren
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January 28, 2019

Hi @Matt White

If you look at the screenshot above, you would have a status in that section if you have an explicit backlog. To revert it, drag that status into one of the other columns, then your backlog will be the first column on the board

Jonnada Kiran May 27, 2020

How many statuses that we can drag in to kanban backlog?

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Gregory Van Den Ham
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January 5, 2018

You may want to create a secondary agile board and run sprints if you just want to see work the team has dedicated time to.

The kanban board in edit mode, will let you move statuses to the backlog.

Mary Williams January 17, 2018

Thanks for the advice!

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