Can someone explain Backlog Rank to me

[Wendy Thorneloe]

This question is in reference to Atlassian Documentation: Building a backlog

I don't understand the backlog rank. How are they ranked? Why are they in that Rank order? How are they Ranked? If we don't use Rank then we can't right click on items in the backlog.  Anyone having the same problem/questions as me? What should I do? Documentation on the ranking is not helpful to me.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

It is a bit baffling at first, especially when there is so much documentation you could start with.

But, you're over thinking it!

>How are they ranked?

Your people rank them!  Most places will tend to have the product owners rank alongside the scrum master.  The aim of ranking is to get an ordered and agreed list of things to work on.

>Why are they in that Rank order?

Because you put them in that order.  By default, it'll be by age of issue, but that's just because it has to start somewhere.

>How are they Ranked? 

By the appropriate people ranking them

>If we don't use Rank then we can't right click on items in the backlog.
Correct, the right hand menu is mostly about ranking on the backlog screen.  Not much use if you're not ranking.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

p.s. Have a quick read of https://www.atlassian.com/agile/scrum/ - it's a good start, should at least explain when I said "product owner" and "scrum master"

[Wendy Thorneloe]

When I say how are they ranked I mean, How does the system Rank them? You say by age? If its by age should they not be ordered by Key? I know we rank them by moving them around in the list after. I want to understand the default rank and can we change the default Rank if we don't like how its ranked?

My list is not ordered by age I don't think. What is age of an issue? Create date to today?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Last time I set up a new board in a new system, it put them in date order (and hence key), but in an existing system, the issues may have included on other boards and hence been ranked (even if they were not directly touched, ranking is relative to other issues).

There's nothing to gain from trying to change the default ranking - it only really applies until you start using boards, and then your users take charge and it becomes irrelevant.  And it's code change in the core of Agile, so it's not a trivial change.