Checklists
Flexible, lightweight checklists are one of Constructor's distinctive features. They're more than just a way to break down a ticket into a list of tasks to complete (although they certainly are that). They're also:
- a handy way for managers to keep tabs on a ticket's progress without imposing extra effort on the team
- a lightweight way to map out procedures like test plans, acceptance criteria, or staged rollouts
A ticket can have any number of checklists. A checklist is just a list of items to complete, but there are some aspects that make Constructor's checklist model different:
- A checklist can contain not just simple tasks but also links to child tickets. The same checklist can contain both types.
- A simple task is just some text describing a bit of work to be done.
- A link to a child ticket is a flexible parent-child relationship for representing ticket hierarchies like epics, milestones, and other structures. You can link to tickets on any board.
- It's clear how the checklist fits into the ticket's workflow.
- A checklist's progress is shown on the ticket's card on the board when the ticket is in the associated stage.
If your board has only one Working stage, checklists will automatically be associated with that stage. To change which stage a checklist is associated with, your board needs to have at least two Working stages.
In this example, the team decides to use simple tasks to break down their work because they don't need the extra weight of child tickets.
Imagine a team building a web application. Let's say they have a board with stages called Design, Development, Testing, and Done. They're going to build a new small feature.
The PM creates a ticket for the new feature in the Design stage.
The designer decides to create a checklist associated with the Design stage to help track the new components and mockups they need to create. On the board, the ticket's card shows a small progress bar depicting this checklist's status, so it's visible at a glance to the PM how design is coming along.
When the designer is done, they move the ticket to the Development stage.
The developer decides to create two checklists associated with the Development stage, one to help them track the backend changes they need to make (database schema, API, etc.) and one to help them track the frontend changes. On the board, the ticket's card is now in the Development stage, so it shows a small progress bar depicting these two Development-related checklists (but not the Design checklist). Now it's visible at a glance to the PM how development is coming along.
When the developer is done, they move the ticket to the Testing stage.
Finally, the tester decides to create a checklist associated with the Testing stage containing their test plan. Now that the ticket is in the Testing stage, on the board its card shows a small progress bar depicting the Testing checklist.
Throughout the ticket's life cycle, the PM was able to see at a glance on the board how the ticket was progressing, and they didn't need to impose any extra effort on the team, pester them for updates, or wait for the next standup.
To add a checklist to a ticket, visit the ticket's page, hover over the page's central content area, then click the checkbox icon on the palette in the upper right corner.
To add a task to a checklist, just click into the checklist and start typing into the input box. Hit
Enter when you're done.To remove a task, hover over the task in the checklist, then click the x button in the floating palette.
To attach a child ticket to a checklist, click into the checklist to open the input box, then type
# to bring up a search popup where you can search for the child ticket by ID or text.To detach a child ticket, hover over the ticket in the checklist, then click the x button in the floating palette. The child ticket itself will still exist, but it will no longer be a part of the checklist.
Learn more about flexible ticket hierarchies:
While viewing a checklist on a ticket's page, click on the checklist's name to modify it. Use the dropdown next to the checklist's name to pick which stage the checklist should be associated with.
A checklist can only be associated with a Working stage. Stages with other types won't be listed. If your board has only one Working stage, the dropdown won't be displayed at all. Learn more about changing a stage's type.
Only empty checklists can be deleted. To delete a checklist, just remove each item.
Last modified 6mo ago