Provides tools for planning deliveries (Releases). In BeePlus, a Release is the delivery of part of the work to the client; planning starts from a delivery date and therefore a work period.
Since the Team works on one Release at a time, Releases are sequential and all effort goes to the next delivery. A Release’s key information is therefore its end date. When you create a new Release, BeePlus assumes it runs from the end of the previous Release to the date entered. If the new Release is created between two existing ones, it starts when the previous one ends and shortens the next one. Reordering Releases has the same effect.
Statistics
Shows the number of Releases planned and not started, cancelled and delivered, the next expected delivery date and the Team’s average.
Gantt chart
Shows the Team’s Releases; the orange icon marks the Release in progress. The simplified view is the default; the arrow in the title bar lets you choose the detailed view. In the simplified view:
- the white bar represents the time available until delivery;
- the green bar, the points to be worked on by the planned end date;
- the green-and-white striped bar, the additional points needed to complete everything planned, given the Team’s Planning Velocity — that is, the time beyond the delivery date. In practice, it means Activities must be removed from the Release or the end date postponed;
- the black bar, the points already completed and approved in the Release;
- the numbers, the points completed over the total.
The detailed view adds the orange bar, with points of Activities not planned for the Release but worked on in it before the end; the striped bar can then be green or orange.
Planning Backlog
The Planning Backlog is a planning draft. Activities are imported from the Backlog, in the same order, and can be worked on here without changing the Backlog. This lets you simulate priorities and build Releases freely. The Only without Release filter shows only Activities not yet assigned to a Release, and Create Activity creates a new one.
To the right of the Planning Backlog, create (Create Release) and order the Releases. To add Activities to a Release, use the Activity menu (arrow icon or right-click). You can also set the Release directly on the Activity, in the Backlog.
When you are happy with the plan, use the Planning Backlog menu to synchronize the Backlog: the Activity order defined in planning takes effect in the Backlog. At any time you can re-import the Backlog and start planning from scratch, discarding the changes made in the Planning Backlog.
Releases
Shows the planned Releases and their Activities. When you expand a Release, you see its start and end dates and the estimated and planned points. Unestimated Activities count with the Unestimated Activities value set in the Team’s Settings.