Backlog Box

Backlog Box is a part of the Workload charts feature that is available with the Wrike for Professional Services package and Wrike Resource add-on. Regular and external users can use Workload charts and Backlog Box.

• Overview
• Important Information
• Configure Backlog Box
• Backlog Box Display Options
• Edit Backlog Box Settings
• Create New Tasks in Backlog Box
• Move Tasks From Backlog Box to Workload Chart
• Move Tasks to Backlog Box

Overview

Backlog Box is an essential part of Workload charts. It contains tasks that need to be allocated to users. You can use Backlog Box to define the scope of future workload for your team members. For example:

• If you use request forms, build a Backlog Box based on a folder, project, or space containing your team’s incoming requests.
• When launching a new project, you can duplicate a template and use that newly created project as the source for your Backlog Box, from which to allocate tasks to your team members.

This page is an overview of the Backlog Box feature which is a part of the Workload charts. To learn about Workload charts please visit the Workload Charts page.

Important Information

• Each Workload chart has its own Backlog Box that you can reconfigure at any time.
• At least one of the following must be true for a task to appear in the Backlog Box:
  
  • A task is not scheduled.
  • A task is unassigned to users (but it might be assigned to a job role).

Configure Backlog Box

To configure the Backlog Box in your Workload chart for the first time:

1. Click the “Workload” tab at the top of the workspace.
2. Select the Workload chart for which you want to configure the Backlog Box from the list.
3. Click “Backlog Box” in the upper-right corner.
4. Click the gear icon.
5. On the pop-up, select a folder, project, or space* as a source for the tasks in the Backlog Box and choose whether to include tasks from subfolders and subprojects.
6. Apply filters, if necessary. The preview window on the pop-up shows what tasks will appear in the Backlog Box based on current filters.
7. Click “Apply.”

The Backlog Box for the Workload chart is configured, and now you can:

• Drag tasks from the Backlog Box to the chart to assign them to users.
• Move tasks from the chart to the Backlog Box.
• Create new tasks directly from the Backlog Box.

* If you don’t select anything in Step 3, the Backlog Box will show tasks from all folders, projects, and spaces.

Backlog Box Display Options

There are two ways you can display the Backlog Box:

1. Vertically 
   • The box appears on the right side of the view.
   • The vertical Backlog Box contains tasks that are either unassigned to users or unscheduled.
   • Tasks are automatically grouped according to their dates.
2. Horizontally
   • The box appears at the bottom of the view.
   • The horizontal Backlog Box only displays tasks that are both scheduled and unassigned to users.
   • Tasks are automatically grouped according to the job role that they’re assigned to and the project that they’re in.

To switch between a vertical and horizontal view of the Backlog Box, click on the icon  at the top of the Box.

Note: Both vertical and horizontal Backlog Box views automatically calculate the number of tasks in the Box and display it next to the Box title. Task count across the two views might be different because the horizontal Box doesn’t display unscheduled tasks.

Wrike Tip! For tasks that are assigned to a job role and have allocated effort, use the horizontal view of the Backlog Box to see the effort on the grid before assigning the tasks to users.

Edit Backlog Box Settings

Reconfigure your Backlog Box to allocate another set of tasks (e.g., tasks from another project you have started working on).

1. Click the “Workload” tab at the top of the workspace.
2. Select the relevant Workload chart from the list.
3. Click “Backlog Box” in the upper right-hand corner.
4. Click the gear icon.
5. Edit the necessary Backlog Box settings:
   
   • Apply different filters
   • Change which folder, project, or space to source tasks from
   • Include or exclude tasks from subfolders and subprojects
6. Click “Apply.”

Create New Tasks in Backlog Box

Please note that you can create new tasks only from the vertical view of the Backlog Box.

1. Click the “Workload” tab at the top of the workspace.
2. Select the relevant Workload chart from the list.
3. Click “Backlog Box" in the upper-right corner.
4. Click "+New Task."
5. Enter a title for the new task.
6. Click the arrow icon to the right of the Box or hit "Enter" on your keyboard.

The created task is tagged with the folder, project, or space that you selected as the source for the Box. If you haven’t selected any particular location as the Box source, the created tasks are placed in the “Shared with me” section.

Move Tasks From Backlog Box to Workload Chart

1. Click the “Workload” tab at the top of the workspace.
2. Select the relevant Workload chart from the list.
3. Click “Backlog Box” to see a list of tasks in your backlog.
4. Click and hold the task you want to assign.
5. Drag the task to the new assignee.
6. Release your mouse.

Once you move a task from the Backlog Box to the chart:

• The task is assigned to a person shown in the row into which you dropped it (any additional assignees are also kept).
• The task disappears from the Backlog Box and appears on the Workload chart.
• If you specified a folder, project, or space during the chart creation, the task is tagged to it (unless it was tagged with its subfolder/subproject).

Conditional changes:

• If the task was already scheduled, it keeps its original dates.
• If the task was backlogged without duration, it’s automatically scheduled for the current date with a one-day duration.
• If the task had a duration, its start date is scheduled for the current date, unless it's the weekend, and the end date is calculated automatically according to the duration.
• If the task was assigned to a job role and you move it to a user with a matching role, the job role is automatically replaced with the new assignee (if you don’t want the job role to be automatically replaced when dragging the task to the user with the matching role, press the “Ctrl” key while dragging the task (“Option” key on Mac).
• If the task was assigned to one or more job roles and you drag it from the vertical Backlog Box to a user with a different job role, all previously assigned job roles are replaced with the new assignee. In that case, you’ll see a pop-up asking you to confirm the change.

Move Tasks to Backlog Box

1. Click the “Workload” tab at the top of the workspace.
2. Select the relevant Workload chart from the list.
3. Locate the task that you want to move to a backlog.
4. Click the three-dot menu button in the task preview.
5. Select “Move to backlog.”

Note: The "Move to backlog" option is only shown in the three-dot menu when the Backlog Box is configured.

Once you move the task from the Workload chart to the Backlog Box:

• It disappears from the Workload chart and appears in the Backlog Box.
• The task keeps the same dates as it had on the chart.

Conditional changes:

• If the task had a job role that was automatically replaced once it was assigned to a user with the matching role via drag-and-drop, the job role will be assigned back to the task when you select “Move to backlog.”

🔥 Wrike Tip! Alternatively, to move a task to backlog, unassign it from the team members who are displayed on the Workload chart.