New issues added to backlog but not board

[Ron Beaman]

I have a team-managed Jira Software project. When a new issue is created, the issue is added to the backlog, but is not added to the board. When i select the Backlog view from the left, on the right pane I have collapsible sections for Board and for Backlog. Created items are added to the Backlog, but not to the Board. The end result is that when viewing the Board, which is the typical view the users are using, there may be numerous items that are not showing. 

As an example, I have created an issue type for Dev Assist, which can be used by our support team on our Support project to create a linked issue requesting assistance from a dev. The issue is created just fine, and I have an automation that will transition it to a Dev Assist status. The status is assigned to a column on the Board and all of that happens perfectly. However, because the issue gets assigned to Backlog and not to Board, the issue is not visible until I manually go into the backlog view and move the items from the backlog up to the board. Then everything is visible as expected. 

I have read numerous things about board filters, but because this is a Team-managed project, my understanding is there are no board filters and I haven't been able to find anything that leads me to believe otherwise.

[Trudy Claspill · Accepted solution]

Hello @Ron Beaman 

Welcome to the Atlassian community!

With Team Managed projects you do not move an issue to the Board by changing its status. (Changing the status is the method used in a Company Managed project Kanban board to move an issue from the Backlog to the Board.)

For a Team Managed project that uses a Kanban board and issue can be in any status and be in either the Backlog or Board. Notice there are issues in the To Do status in both the Backlog and Board issue list sections of the Backlog screen.

In a Team Managed project to move an existing issue to the Board you have to drag it from the Backlog list to the Board list on the Backlog screen.

Additionally, there currently is no Automation function that will move an issue in this manner in a Team Managed project. There is a change request about that:

https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/AUTO-605

If you want an issue to be on the Board automatically after it is created you need to create it on the board using the + Create Issue option you can see at the bottom of the Board issues list above, or by + Create Issue option that appears at the bottom of the left-most column on the Board view.

[Ron Beaman]

Thanks for the info.  Everything you said makes sense. I only recently enabled the backlog on our project. We do not really need the functionality of the backlog as it was stated in the documentation you linked. We have our board set up to manage that all from the board. The reason I enabled the backlog in the first place was to facilitate moving items into a release.

Perhaps there is a better way to accomplish managing the release. We have a 'Ready to Release' status on our board and as items are completed, tested, and merged into a release branch they get moved into that column. But we do not release on a set schedule, and we do not target items for a specific release as they are being worked through. Ultimately when we are ready to push out a release, we want to associate all of the items in the Ready to Release status/column to a release version we create at that point. I know this can be done easily with a company managed project, but that functionality appears to be missing from team managed projects. The only way I could figure out how to associate the issue with a release was to either open each issue and add the release association (not ideal as i don't want to go through multiple issues this way) or by doing it from the backlog view. 

If there is a better way to associate a group of items to a release in a team managed project, then I'd certainly be open to it, and then could turn the backlog off since we do not really need it. 

[Craig Nodwell · Accepted solution]

Hi @Ron Beaman welcome to the community.  Are you running Scrum?  Kanban?  When you enable the backlog newly created issues go there, this is the default.  Here's a page that might help you understand this a bit more.  It's not showing up on your board because it needs to be added to the active sprint if this is a Scrum project?  If it's a Kanban project do you actually need a Backlog?

[Ron Beaman]

We are using Kanban. As for the reason for enabling the backlog, you can see that in my response to @Trudy Claspill above. Appreciate the quick feedback!

[Diogo Teles]

Hi @Ron Beaman, welcome to the community!

What you describe is the intended behaviour when you have backlog enabled. The issue will stay there until you move it to To Do (assuming that is the first transition after backlog) 

The Backlog view shows you the backlog issues and the issues on the first status of your board.

The idea is that when an issue is ready to be worked on, someone will drag it from the backlog into the first board status, and it then becomes visible on the board. 

An automation rule should be able to move your issues out of the backlog after creation if you want. But if you are going to do that, you may as well turn off the backlog because it means you do not need that functionality.

I don't know why this is not happening from your description, but if you want to investigate that further, explain the logic of the rule here or pose some screenshots that show the logic.

Also, check out this article on the backlog in Team-managed projects.

[Trudy Claspill]

@Diogo Teles 

There is are errors in your reply. Please see my separate Answer.

[Diogo Teles]

Hi @Trudy Claspill 

You're right! Thank you for pointing it out. Always learning!