Content:
1. Calculated Fields Improvements
2. Create Dynamic Deadline & Size Fields on Cards Across Boards
3. Visualize Timelines in Portfolio Initiatives
4. Generate Reports Based on Your Throughput
5. “End Date” Search Property Update
6. Receive Notifications for New Owners
7. New Admin Roles
8. Other Improvements
1. Calculated Fields Improvements
Since the announcement of the Beta version of the calculated fields, we’ve been carefully listening to your feedback. As a result, we’re releasing 2 major improvements:
- Improved dynamic population of values
- Calculate the difference between dates
1.1. Improved Dynamic Population of Values
First of all, we’ve improved how you can use dynamic values inside your calculated fields.
Let’s take the calculated date fields as an example.
When working with date functions that have a numeric value (ex., years, months, days, etc.), you will be able to combine functions and custom fields of type “number” with your date fields.
The same is true for the calculated number fields regarding the new functions which we’re presenting below.
1.2. Calculate The Difference Between Dates
Based on your requests, we’re also making it possible to subtract dates and return numeric values. To cover this, we’re releasing 7 new functions. Keep in mind that due to their result being a numeric value, the new functions are applicable to the calculated number fields only.
Having said that, let’s have a quick overview of each one:
- DATE_DIFF_YEARS – it gives you an integer representing the difference in years between two dates.
- EXAMPLE: DATE_DIFF_YEARS(date1, date2). The function returns the result of “date 1” MINUS “date 2” in YEARS.
- DATE_DIFF_MONTHS – it gives you an integer representing the difference in months between two dates.
- EXAMPLE: DATE_DIFF_YEARS(date 1, date 2). The function returns the result of “date 1” MINUS “date 2” in MONTHS.
- DATE_DIFF_DAYS – it gives you an integer representing the difference in days between two dates.
- EXAMPLE: DATE_DIFF_DAYS(date 1, date 2). The function returns the result of “date 1” MINUS “date 2” in DAYS.
- DATE_DIFF_WORKING_DAYS – it gives you an integer representing the difference in working days between two dates.
- EXAMPLE: DATE_DIFF_WORKING_DAYS (date 1, date 2, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday). The function returns the result of “date 1” MINUS “date 2” as it allows you to mark your WORKING DAYS. For example, to label Monday as a working day, type “1”. To label Saturday as a non-working day, type “0”.
- DATE_DIFF_HOURS – it gives you an integer representing the difference in hours between two dates.
- EXAMPLE: DATE_DIFF_HOURS(date 1, date 2). The function returns the result of “date 1” MINUS “date 2” in HOURS.
- DATE_DIFF_MINUTES – it gives you an integer representing the difference in minutes between two dates.
- EXAMPLE: DATE_DIFF_MINUTES(date 1, date 2). The function returns the result of “date 1” MINUS “date 2” in MINUTES.
- DATE_DIFF_SECONDS – it gives you an integer representing the difference in seconds between two dates.
- EXAMPLE: DATE_DIFF_SECONDS(date 1, date 2). The function returns the result of “date 1” MINUS “date 2” in SECONDS.
NOTE 1: Keep in mind that the system will return either POSITIVE or NEGATIVE numeric values based on the order of the dates. For example, if “date 1” is lower than “date 2”, the result will be a negative value.
NOTE 2: The result from the functions depends on whether you’re calculating the entire period between two dates. For specific examples and further clarification, we advise you to read more here.
2. Create Dynamic Deadline & Size Fields on Cards Across Boards
Another major update we’ve got for you in version 10.4 is the ability to populate dynamic values in the default card deadline and size fields.
To do that, inside the “Board Policies” (under Board level policies), you will find a new section called “Field formulas”. Think of it as a central place where you can visualize your dynamic formulas for the default Card size and Card deadline fields, including all other calculated custom fields (number and date) available on the board.
Let’s take a closer look at what you can do there:
- Card size – it allows you to create formulas that will be applied to the default size field of your cards. By typing “@”, you can use functions for numeric calculations and build formulas with other custom fields of type “number”.
- Card deadline – it allows you to create formulas that will be applied to the default deadline field of your cards. By typing “@”, you can use functions for date calculations and build formulas with dynamic values such as “Card created at” or specific custom fields of type “date”.
- Custom fields – it visualizes all calculated number or date fields, including their formulas, in a central place. By clicking on the “pencil” icon, you get quick access to your board’s custom fields where you can set up new calculated number or date fields.
Before we move on, here are a few notes to keep in mind:
- Setting up formulas for your card size and deadline fields is a board-level configuration that will be applied to all cards on your board.
- Once you set up a new size or deadline formula, the system will initiate a recalculation of the existing values on the fields, which might be changed. The process takes approximately 30 minutes, and you will see a notification on top of your cards.
There are a bunch of other important specifications associated with the creation of dynamic card size and deadline fields, so make sure you check out the linked articles.
3. Visualize Timelines in Portfolio Initiatives
To better visualize and track your plans, you can now use timeline fields inside initiatives from the portfolio/initiative workflow too.
Unlike your timeline initiatives, you can gauge work progress via vertical lines on your portfolio initiatives. They will only appear if the initiative has been delayed.
For example:
- The vertical line on the left (in yellow, orange, or red color) indicates that while the initiative’s planned start date has passed, it has not been started yet. With a hover over the line, you can see how much the initiative’s start date has been delayed and quickly edit your plan.
- The vertical line on the right (in yellow, orange, or red color) indicates that while the initiative’s planned end date has passed, it has not been finished yet. With a hover over the line, you can see how much the initiative’s end date has been delayed and quickly edit your plan.
To better understand how the timeline fields in the portfolio/initiative workflow work, here are a few notes to keep in mind:
- Unlike the timeline initiatives, setting your planned start/end dates and actual start/end dates will not trigger any movement of the initiative.
- The colors (yellow, orange, and red) indicate different delay ranges. To better understand them, including other important specifications, we recommend checking out this article.
4. Generate Reports Based on Your Throughput
To enrich your reporting capabilities with the software, we’re releasing a brand-new report in our Reporting Facility – the Throughput Report. With its help, you can understand how many work items (cards or initiatives) you were able to deliver in a specific period.
As usual, you first need to set your desired date range for the report. You can then refine your reporting criteria and once you run the report, you will get results in 2 views.
- Pivot View
With the default configurations on the pivot view, you can see a summary of how many work items you delivered per specific board, workflow, and lane.
- Table View
The table view, on the other hand, shows you data for specific work items (card IDs) you completed in the selected date range.
To learn more about the throughput report, check out our dedicated article.
5. “End Date” Search Property Update
In our previous release, we announced that we’re preparing a behavioral change regarding the “end date” property in the Advanced search to return results for finished subtasks alongside cards. We’d like to let you know that this update takes place from THIS RELEASE onwards.
6. Receive Notifications for New Owners
Moving forward, we’re releasing a new security control that allows you to “Notify owners when another user is invited as or promoted to an owner”. Once turned on, every owner will receive an email notification when another user becomes an owner.
7. New Admin Roles
To further improve the delegation of responsibilities in the software, we’re releasing 2 separate admin roles: “Enable/Disable Users” and “Delete Users”. Previously, only the account owner had the authority to complete these actions.
8. Other Improvements
Moreover, version 10.4 comes with several other improvements, which you should know about. Let’s briefly cover them below.
- Set Deadline to Relative Working Days in Business Rules
From now on, in all business rules where you have the update card’s details action, you will be able to automatically set a card’s deadline to specific business days in the future. We’ve made this possible by allowing you to select your non-working days, which will exclude them from the count.
- Quickly Access Cards from Emails Sent as Card Comments
To save you time, when receiving comments as emails, we’ve added the link to the card where the comment was sent from in the email’s body.
- “Local Cycle Time” in Advanced Search
Furthermore, we’ve added the “local cycle time” property inside the Advanced Search. You can use it to configure your search results to include the card’s local cycle time as well as filter work items that stayed for a specific amount of time in their current column.
- “Parent Titles” Property in Blockers Report
Finally, the Blockers report will now include a “Parent Titles” property when configuring your results which allows you to see the exact titles of the generated card’s parents.
Happy Kanbanizing with version 10.4!