Kanbanara / Blog: Recent posts

Hi All,

We experienced a problem with the themes and SCSS files in Kanbanara 2.9. This has turned out to be an issue with the PyScss library we are using. It seems that raising "global flags not at the start of the expression at position 1" was a warning in Python 3.10 but has been escalated to an error in Python 3.11. As a result, we are now rush releasing version 2.10 of Kanbanara. We also recommend Kanbanara being run on Python 3.10 for the time being.... read more

Hi All,

With this release, we have finally added HTTPS support. Just disable the ssl setting in kanbanara.ini if you wish to revert back to HTTP.

We have also added what we are calling an Attention Board. This displays your current cards on an x by x grid with the card you are most likely to be able to work on in the top right cell and the least likely at the bottom left. We have also added a new Flight Progress Strip Board, which displays your current cards with the card you are most likely to be able to work on at the top and the least likely at the bottom, and can be temporarily reordered at will. These both work in conjunction with a new card attribute - chronology of events.... read more

Hi All,

With this release we have added a leaderboard. We have also enhanced the Social Graph d3.js chart by adding avatars.

Best wishes,

Rebecca

Hi All,

With this release we have addressed a few missing Roadmap features by adding new Customer Need, Business Objective, Effort, Problem, Solution, Confidence, Themes, Subthemes, Target Customers, Timeframe, MoSCoW, Market Opportunity, Disclaimer and T-Shirt Sizing attributes to each card. We have added new card style for Themes. We have added a new Return On Investment (ROI) Scores page. We have also revamped many of the D3.js visualisations and added 'Leaf', 'Mid', 'Root' and 'Solo' identifiers to nodes depicting cards where 'Root' indicates a possibly epic or feature card with no parent, 'Leaf' indicates a possibly task card with no children, 'Mid' indicates a card between a root and a leaf card and 'Solo' indicates a card with no parent or children.... read more

Hi All,

With this release we have supplemented the Add Card and Update Card pages by revamping the View Card page to bring it into line. All three pages now utilise a responsive web design. We have also moved to the latest version of Select2 due to a jQuery incompatibility bug.

Rebecca

Hi All,

With this release we have made the first few tentative steps in removing all jQuery UI code. The basic problem we have with jQuery UI is that it does not have the touch support Kanbanara requires. Rather than move to a different web framework such as Zurb Foundation, we have decided to move directly to using Web Components. The Elix web component library is now in place and will be utilised as need and time permit. A kanban board using the deadline card style has been revamped in using a new countdown timer web component. We have also revamped the Add Card and Update Card pages, utilising a responsive web design.... read more

Hi All,

With this release we have added a new 'review' attribute to each card. This, along with the existing 'CRM Case' attribute can contain either a number or a hyperlink into an external web-based application such as Code Collaborator. The major new feature is the implementation of a communication link to your Version Control System (VCS). For this initial release, we only support GitHub. With a new 'Version Control' card style, you will be able to see how many branches, builds, commits, deployemnts, pull requests and reviews in your VCS mention a specific card's ID.... read more

Hi All,

With this release we have done further work on the REST API. The /restapi/v1.0/members call now returns a list of members rather than a list of member documents. The /restapi/v1.0/project/<project> call now returns a project document rather than a list of card documents; the card documents can now be retrieved via /restapi/v1.0/project/<project>/cards.</project></project>

Rebecca

Hi All,

With this release we have finally added a bare-bones REST API as a proof of concept. If you have been crying out for such a feature, please do let us know what calls you would like to be implemented in a future release. In addition, we have switched round the search and help facilities between the menu bar and the title bar.

Best wishes,

Rebecca

Hi All,

With this release we have gone through the source code and sorted out as many of the 'TODO' comments as we could. This includes getting the push facility on a card's menu working again. As a result, this felt like the right time to increment the major version number to 2.

Rebecca

Hi All,

With this release we have added an 'editable by' attribute to each card to ensure only those allowed to do so can edit an individual card. We feel that this is a much better approach than having a read only kanban board. By default, each card will be assigned the following edit groups: OwnerSelfAssignable, QualityAnalystSelfAssignable, ReviewerSelfAssignable, Creator, Owners, ProjectManagers, QualityAnalysts, Reviewers and TeamMembers. At any time, you have the option to add or remove any of these edit groups from any card you are allowed to edit. The three *SelfAssignable edit groups allow a team member to self assign themselves as a card's owner, reviewer or quality analyst when such an unassigned card reaches the appropriate state..... read more

Hi All,

With this release we have added a Create Facilitator option to a card's menu that allows a card to be created that facilitates the current card. We have also introduced a new Create Chained Facilitator Cards facility that allows a series of cards to be created each one facilitating the next. A new card style of Facilitators has been introduced. The Hierarchical Workflow page has been corrected with regard to the display of chained facilitator cards. We have also modified the launching procedure so that it displays # of # when loading each component making up Kanbanara.... read more

Hi All,

With this release we have finally got round to populating the update page to show all updates released and uploaded to SourceForge since your current version. We have further improved the advanced search page. We have also added Cost Of Delay to the global filter. As a result, we have also added an internal costofdelay attribute to each card. The Bypass Review facility has been improved as well as adding a new Bypass QA facility.... read more

Hi All,

With this release we have taken the opportunity to tidy things up a little:
- The workflow page has been split into two - the first where we don't have a workflow defined and the second where we do - and additional workflow templates added.
- We have added scrollbars, as required, to anything wider than the screen such as the kanban boards themselves, list view, search results and the filter bar.
- New card styles have been added for categories, sources and tags.
- Source has been added as an option on the global filter.
- In many cases, a user's full name is now displayed rather than their username (email).
- Old log files are now deleted after seven days.
- The submenus of the menu bar have been tidied up a little so as to avoid duplication (e.g. kanban board and daily kanban board) and to better inform of anything missing (e.g. saved filters).
- If utilising a saved filter, its name is now shown in the top right corner of the filter bar.
- The search facilities have been improved including now searching within lists.
- We have added an Unplanned attribute to a card.
- We have also gone through the entire UI and corrected any outstanding issues missed earlier such as timezone errors, old style buttons, username rather than full name, etc.
- We have also improved the messages that appear on the command line during launching should an issue occured that is only reported within a log file.... read more

Hi All,

With this release the revamp work on the global filter bar has been completed. A few new card attributes have been added. An inverse icon has been added to allow the current selection in a multiple select box to be inverted. In other words, what was unselected will become selected and what was selected will become unselected. If only 'Assigned' or 'Unassigned' is currently selected, their inverse is 'Unassigned' or 'Assigned' respectively; all other values will be ignored.... read more

Hi All,

Since its inception, the settings on Kanbanara's global filter have only allowed a single value to be selected. This was somewhat limiting especially if you wanted to display, say, 'story' and 'task' card types together. With the release of Kanbanara 1.16, the global filter bar has been revamped in having many of its settings upgraded from only being able to select a single value to being able to select multiple values. You can now, for example, select both 'story' and 'task' from the card types setting. Selecting a value of 'Assigned' will display all cards where that particular attribute is populated regardless of actual value. Selecting a value of 'Unassigned' will display all cards where that particular attribute is not populated.... read more

Hi All,

This release features a brand new Hierarchical card style on the Kanban Board which shows each card together with its parent hierarchy and any card it facilitates in a hierarchical workflow style.

Best wishes,

Rebecca

Hi All,

This release tidies up the Hierarchical Workflow page introduced in Kanbanara 1.13. Blockage text and arrows have been added to the lines. A popup menu now appears over the cards. Once again, have fun with it and don't hesitate to get in touch should you wish to steer its progress in a different direction.

Best wishes,

Rebecca

Hi All,

Despite it being only 9 days since the release of Kanbanara 1.12, we thought we would rush a new release to you to allow you sight of a new hierarchical workflow we are working on. This new Hierarchical Workflow page shows your cards in the form of a tree, using the excellent d3.js technology, with the leaf nodes (e.g. tasks, tests, bugs, etc.) at the top and the root nodes (e.g. epics, features, stories, etc.) at the bottom. This page is still in its infancy and we are sure it will evolve into something so much more over the next few releases. Anyway, have fun with it and don't hesitate to get in touch should you wish to steer its progress in a different direction.... read more

This release features a brand new Awards facility. A project's project manager can specify one or more awards, one of which can then be assigned to a particular card, which upon completion can be awarded to those involved. Where a card is being worked on by two owners, reviewers or quality analysts, and one individual has moved the card onto a new state, the mismatch between states is now reported to the other individual involved on certain kanban board styles. A brand new custom graph has been added using the excellent d3.js library. This has allowed us to remove certain existing graphs as now one of a greater number of card attributes can be selected. We have also introduced a new pop up menu per column state on the kanban board.

Hi All,

As hinted in version 1.10, this release features a brand new Daily Kanban Board, which allows you to schedule a card to a particular time of day. The new Scheduled Time attribute, introduced in the last release, has now been amalgamated with the existing Scheduled Date attribute.

Best wishes,

Rebecca

Hi everyone,

We are today releasing Kanbanara 1.10. This release features a Gantt Chart for the very first time, implemented using the excellent Javascript library from DHTMLX. We have also added a new Scheduled Time attribute to a card, which will be utilised fully in the next release.

Best wishes,

Rebecca

Hi Everyone,

We have today just released Kanbanara 1.9.

This features a brand new Backlog Pyramid which allows you to sort the cards in your backlog prior to reaching the Kanban board. On the Kanban board itself, the backlog column has been modified by the addition of a Backlog Pyramid section that shows just the top 10 cards on the backlog. This new feature prevents your Kanban board from becoming swamped by all the cards on your backlog.... read more

Hi Everyone,

Hot on the heels of Kanbanara 1.7 comes 1.8. In this release we have enhanced the existing d3.js-utilised graphs and added a few new ones. The existing Pair Programming and Title Similarities graphs have been enhanced. Four new graphs - Artifacts, Blockages, Dependencies and Tags - have been added. Artifacts allows you to see as a graph which cards are sharing artifacts; likewise, Tags allows you to see as a graph which cards are sharing tags. Dependencies shows any linkage (i.e. child, parent, prerequisite, facilitator) between cards in the form of a force-directed graph. Blockages is basically a cut-down version of that shown by Dependencies, but focusing on just those currently blocked.... read more

Hi Everyone,
We have today released Kanbanara version 1.7. The various form buttons have been tidied up. The confusing 'after' and 'before' card attributes have finally been replaced with two new ones - 'prerequisites' and 'facilitates'. A user can now add one or more card IDs into a card's prerequisites attribute. A card will automatically be blocked should it get ahead of one of its prerequisites within the workflow. A user can now add one or more card IDs into a card's facilitates attribute. A card will automatically be blocked should it get ahead of one of its facilitators within the workflow. We have also corrected an error where a card using a custom state might fail to appear on the kanban board should it be blocked, deferred or waiting.