How do I create and manage epics?

Epics group related stories into a larger piece of work, such as a feature, a release theme, or a workstream. Each epic has its own color, which makes its stories easy to spot in the backlog.

Creating an epic

Open your project and select Epics in the sidebar.
Select New Epic (on an empty page the button reads Create Epic).
Enter a Title (required) and an optional Description.
Pick a Color from the swatches.
Select Create Epic.

New epics start with the status Open.

Linking stories to an epic

Stories are linked from the story side:

Go to Backlog and select a story's row (or create a new story).
Choose the epic in the Epic field.
Select Update or Create.

A story can belong to one epic at a time. Linked stories show a badge with the epic's name in its color in the Backlog list. To unlink a story, set its Epic field back to No Epic.

Tracking progress

Each epic card on the Epics page shows:

The number of stories and how many are completed
Total points and points done
A progress bar in the epic's color, based on the share of stories marked Done

Editing an epic and updating its status

Select Edit on the epic's card. Along with the title, description, and color, the edit dialog has a Status field with three options: Open, In Progress, and Done. Status is updated by hand; LocalPM doesn't change it automatically when all the stories are finished. Select Update Epic to save.

Deleting an epic

Select Delete on the epic's card and confirm. The epic is removed but its stories are kept. See What happens to stories when I delete an epic?

Tips

Keep epics big enough to span several sprints but small enough to finish.
Use distinct colors for epics that run at the same time.

Further reading: Epic Management for Organized Multi-Month Initiatives and Color-Coded Epics for Visual Portfolio Management.