How do I create a story, bug, task, or spike?

All work items in LocalPM are created from the Backlog view, whatever their type.

Steps

1. Open your project and select Backlog in the sidebar.
2. Select New Story (on an empty backlog the button reads Create Story). You can also press n.
3. Enter a Title. This is the only required field.
4. Set the Type: Story, Bug, Task, or Spike.
5. Fill in any other fields you want (all optional):
   • Description: what needs to be done
   • Acceptance Criteria: how you'll know it's done
   • Priority: Critical, High, Medium, or Low (defaults to Medium)
   • Status: Backlog, To Do, In Progress, In Review, or Done (defaults to Backlog)
   • Story Points: your size estimate
   • Sprint: which sprint it belongs to, or No Sprint
   • Epic: which epic it belongs to, or No Epic
   • Assignee: the person's name. Team member names are suggested as you type, but you can enter any name.
   • Labels: comma-separated tags such as "frontend, api"
6. Select Create.

The item appears in the backlog list with a colored dot for its type and badges for its priority, status, points, and epic.

Which type should I use?

The four types work the same way; they help you and your team see what kind of work something is at a glance:

• Story: a feature or outcome described from the user's point of view
• Bug: a defect that needs fixing
• Task: a piece of work that isn't a user-facing feature, such as setup or admin
• Spike: time-boxed research to answer a question before committing to the real work

Editing and deleting

Select any row in the Backlog to open it in the Edit Story dialog, change what you need, and select Update. To delete an item, use the trash icon at the end of its row. It's deleted straight away, and an Undo notice appears for about 8 seconds in case you change your mind.

On the Board, you can also click a card, or focus it and press Enter, to open the same Edit Story dialog.

Tips

• In Assignee, pick a suggested team member name where you can, so names stay consistent with the Team page.
• A new item only shows on the Kanban board once its status is To Do or later. See How do I use the LocalPM Kanban board?

Related reading: Bug Tracking Alongside Feature Work in One Board and How to Run a Spike When Your Team Needs Research Time.