Product Update: Epic View Feature Released for Agile Projects

Hey Orangescrummers! It’s my pleasure to share the latest feature updates in Orangescrum project management software. We have released the feature “Epic” a collection of Stories that represent larger initiatives. We’re pleased to hear that it’s something you’ve been requesting and finally we have released the features to make your project management work smooth and simple.

The overall idea behind releasing this feature is to create an Epic on a separate page with minimum fields to be stored in the same table as tasks are stored. We will restrict certain functionality with epic-type tasks.

The epic feature is available for only scrum-type projects where the user needs the user access control to create/Edit/View an Epic.

Before deep diving into the feature, let me clarify the basics of Epic.

Epics bridge the gap between strategic initiatives and individual features.  Use EPIC to break work down incrementally — define a bigger project, separate it into key epics, then build out features and requirements in more detail. It’s also more convenient to discuss the product at a high level, for example, with stakeholders with no technical background, by looking at it as a set of epics.

What is an Epic?

An epic is one big piece of feature, a bigger project, an initiative, or just an issue that collects the work of mutual areas.

Otherwise is a collection of Stories that represent larger initiatives. Just like Stories, Epics move through a workflow and can be completed.

One can link all other issues to the epic to keep track of every task that’s related to a project.

In most cases, one can try to cover high-level goals (not detailed solutions) to reflect the (business) value.

The epic helps the team to understand the goal and together can work out how we can get there.

How to create an Epic?

Ideally, the Epic module is used within the agile methodology projects. But here in Orangescrum, users can use the Epic module both for agile projects and Waterfall projects.

To create an Epic either on a waterfall project or an agile project, users need to go to the task listing page.

Once you click the “+” icon, you can find the “Create epic” pop-up.

On the Epic creation form, you need to add

• Epic Title.
• Select the Priority.
• Epic description.
• start date and end date.
• File attachments (Google Drive, One Drive, DropBox).

Once an Epic is created within your project (in both agile and simple projects), users can link or choose the same epic in multiple tasks.

In agile projects, users can link an epic to a task from the backlog page as well.

Epic View in Orangescrum

Once you create an Epic within your project, you can move to the Epic View.

In waterfall projects, Epic view only can be used as a level of the task. There is no specific epic view module available within Orangescrum at the moment.

But for agile projects, Orangescum has a separate Epic view block. Users can find the tasks and stories related to each epic and track the progress respectively.

Once you come to the Epic view panel on the backlog page, you can able to track the:

• Epic progress percentage.
• Number of stories.
• Number of tasks completed/closed.
• Number of tasks in progress.

Future enhancements:

This Epic view is one of the primary demands of our customers and we released the 1st module of it. Many more enchantments are in progress to make it more efficient for our global customers.

Future enhancements list:

• Epic View Report.
• Epic Detail View.
• Single Epic for Different Projects.

User Note for Orangescrum Epic View

How do I assign an Epic to a Story?

You can edit individual Stories and assign the desired Epic from the Epic field. You can use the Search option in the Epic dropdown field to quickly find your desired Epic.

You can also assign an epic to a story from the backlog page by clicking on the EPIC label.

What happens when a child tasks epic is changed to another EPIC?

When a child task EPIC is changed then any stories or parent tasks that are associated with the child task will be updated with the new epic label.

What happens when a story associated with an epic is changed to another epic?

When the EPIC of a story is changed then all tasks that are associated with the story will be updated with the new epic label.

What happens when an EPIC is deleted?

If an EPIC is deleted, tasks associated with the epic are delinked.

Conclusion

Hope you already have started using Epic View within Orangescrum! Many already have.

As of now, the Epic view is not the alter point of departure of an agile program, but it can be a viable driver for most agile development projects. Conception stands for how it fits into your agile program. Sign up now to check how Epic is helping to manage your agile projects.

Do not hesitate to revert back with your feedback.