Sanplex provides a specialized Kanban project management model, allowing teams to manage their projects visually through professional R&D Kanban boards. You can watch the introductory video below for a quick overview.

【视频介绍】

Below is a detailed guide on how to use Kanban projects and professional R&D Kanban boards in Sanplex.

I. Creating a Kanban Project

When creating a new project, select Kanban (Professional R&D Kanban Project Management) on the project management method selection page.

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Create a Kanban project:

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The access control for Kanban projects is similar to other projects, with one key difference: you can only choose Inherit (inheriting a combination of Company privileges and project privileges). You cannot define custom privileges exclusively for the project.

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II. Creating a Kanban Board

Once the Kanban project is successfully created, you can start creating Kanban boards. Click the project name in the project list to enter the project's Kanban list page.

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You can filter the Kanban list using the tabs: All, In Progress, Not Started, Suspended, and Closed.

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Click the Add Kanban button on the Kanban list page to enter the creation page.

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Add Kanban page:

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Successfully created boards will be displayed as cards under the Kanban project.

• The board's status is displayed next to its name.
• Team members are shown in the bottom-left corner of the card.
• Access control settings are shown in the bottom-right corner.
• Hovering over the top-right corner of the card reveals a More Options menu, allowing you to configure, change the status, or delete the board.

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Click the Settings option in the "More Options" menu to edit the board's information. Click Save to apply your changes.

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III. Kanban Settings

Clicking the board's name will open the comprehensive Kanban view by default, displaying Story, Task, and Bug boards. You can also switch to view individual Story, Task, or Bug boards, each displaying default columns and sub-columns.

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1. The "Create" Button

In the top-right corner, you will find a Create button. Here, you can create stories, batch-create stories, link stories, or link stories by plan. You can also create/batch-create bugs and tasks. Once created or linked successfully, they will appear in the corresponding columns within the swimlanes.

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In addition to the main button, there are quick-add buttons in the top-right corners of specific columns: the Backlog column (Stories), the Not Started column (Tasks), and the Unconfirmed column (Bugs).

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Example: Creating a Story Click the quick-add button in the Backlog column to enter the story creation page.

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When linking stories by plan, you can select the relevant plan. Once linked, the stories under that plan will populate the Backlog column of the Story Kanban.

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You can assign a story directly by clicking the avatar icon in the bottom-right corner of the story card.

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2. The "Settings" Button

To the left of the "Create" button is the Settings button. Here, you can add Kanban regions, set swimlane height, configure column widths, edit the board, change its status, or delete it.

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2.1 Add Region

You can add a new region and either customize it or copy a default style.

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Successfully created regions appear below the default region. If you copy the default style, it will replicate the original columns. If you choose a custom style, the new region will be empty, and you will need to manually create swimlanes and columns.

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You can also edit and create swimlanes using the "More Options" menu in the top-right corner of the board.

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2.2 Set Swimlane Height

By default, swimlane height automatically adapts to fit all cards without a scrollbar. If you select "Custom," you can define the maximum number of cards visible (must be greater than 2). For example, if set to 3, and a column has 4 cards, only 3 will be visible, and you must scroll to see the 4th.

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Display after setting custom height:

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2.3 Set Column Width

Column width is fixed by default, meaning all columns within the region have the same width.

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Fixed column width display：

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If set to "Adaptive Width," columns within the swimlane will adjust dynamically and vary in size.

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3. Cards Display Limit per Row

You can configure how many cards are displayed in a single row within a column. The default is 1 card per row, up to a maximum of 4 cards per row.

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When set to the maximum (4 cards per row), only the assignee's avatar will be displayed on the card to save space.

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4. Column Settings

You can edit column names, change column text colors, and configure Work In Progress (WIP) limits.

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By default, there is no WIP limit (infinite). You can set specific numerical limits based on your team's capacity.

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If the number of cards exceeds the set WIP limit, the column background will turn red. Hovering over the question mark icon will display a warning that the WIP limit has been exceeded.

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WIP Limit Logic for Sub-columns:

• The sum of the WIP limits of all sub-columns cannot exceed the WIP limit of their parent column.
• The WIP limit of the parent column cannot be less than the sum of the WIP limits of its sub-columns.

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If you try to set the parent column's limit lower than the combined sum of its sub-columns, the system will prompt an error and prevent saving.

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Similarly, if a sub-column's limit is increased so the total exceeds the parent column's limit, saving will fail with a warning prompt.

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5. Sorting the Board

Click the Sort button to enable drag-and-drop sorting of the Kanban columns. Sorting is restricted to within the same region.

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Board after sorting:

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6. Swimlane Settings

Hovering over a swimlane reveals a "More Options" menu where you can configure or delete the swimlane.

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You can modify the swimlane's name and background color.

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Swimlane after customization:

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Deleting a swimlane simply hides the data inside; it does not permanently delete the cards. Deleted swimlanes can be restored by navigating to Admin > Company > Data > Recycle Bin.

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IV. Using the Kanban Board

We will use the Story Kanban as an example. Bug and Task boards follow highly similar workflows.

1. Sorting and Viewing Cards

In the Story Kanban, cards are sorted by default rules. You can change the sorting parameter to: Priority, Category (Type), Module, Source, or Assignee.

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2. Dragging and Dropping Cards

You can easily update statuses by dragging a card from one column to another. For example, drag a card from the Backlog column to the Ready column and release it.

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Card successfully moved to Ready:

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3. Display Rules for Kanban Columns

• Newly created stories appear in the Backlog. They can be dragged freely between the Backlog and Ready columns.
• Dev Column (In Progress/Done): Story placement here depends on the status of linked Development tasks. If a linked dev task is in progress, the story moves to "Dev - In Progress". Once all dev tasks are finished, it moves to "Dev - Done".
• Test Column (In Progress/Done): Similar to Dev, this depends on the status of linked Test tasks.
• Accepted Column: If a completed story is edited and its stage is changed to "Accepted," it moves here.
• Released Column: If an accepted story's stage is changed to "Released," it moves here.
• Closed Column: Clicking the close button on a story card moves it here.

The "In Progress" status of a story corresponds to the status of its linked development tasks:

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Once the linked development tasks are completed, the story will be displayed in the "Done" Kanban column.

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Bug and Task Display Rules:

• Newly created bugs go to Unconfirmed; tasks go to Not Started.
• Bugs can be dragged from Unconfirmed to Confirmed or Resolving (In Progress/Done).
• Resolved bugs can be dragged to Test (Testing/Tested).
• Tested bugs can be dragged to Closed.
• Tasks automatically shift columns based on their ongoing status updates.

4. Data Synchronization

Operations performed on stories and bugs in the standard Product lists will sync automatically to the Kanban boards. Conversely, actions taken on the Kanban board (like dragging to change a status) will immediately reflect in the main Story and Bug lists.

5. Full-Screen View

Click the Full Screen button in the top-right corner to maximize the board. Press Esc to exit full-screen mode.

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Exiting full screen:

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V. Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD)

Sanplex supports the Cumulative Flow Diagram (CFD) for Kanban projects. The CFD is an area chart used in project management to track and predict project delivery effectively.

• X-axis (Horizontal): Time
• Y-axis (Vertical): Quantity (Number of Stories/Tasks/Bugs)

By tracking data over time, you can visually observe changes and trends in Work In Progress (WIP) across different columns.

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1. Default Timeframe

• The CFD defaults to showing the last 14 days of data (including weekends). If the board was created less than 14 days ago, it shows all available data. (No chart is generated on the exact day of creation; it will display "No data available").
• If you toggle the option to exclude weekends, the default display shifts to 10 days.

2. Extended Timeframe

You can use the date picker to adjust the range, displaying up to 3 months of historical data.

3. Notes on CFD

Currently, the CFD only supports tracking and displaying data for default Kanban columns.

VI. Professional R&D Kanban vs. General Kanban

Sanplex provides two types of Kanban boards: the Professional R&D Kanban (detailed in this guide) and the General Kanban (accessed via the Kanban view).

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1. Different Target Audiences

• Professional R&D Kanban: Built specifically for software research and development teams.
• General Kanban: Suitable for non-R&D management, business operations, or personal task tracking.

2. Different Functions

• Professional R&D Kanban: Manages projects strictly through structured Story, Task, and Bug boards.
• General Kanban: Allows users to build highly customized workflows for daily operational tasks.

3. Different Flexibility Constraints

• Professional R&D Kanban: Card movements are restricted by strict underlying logic, statuses, and linked data relationships (e.g., a story won't move to "Tested" if the test task isn't complete).
• General Kanban: Highly flexible. Cards can be dragged freely across columns without status restrictions. It also supports Private, Collaboration, and Public spaces.

4. Similarities

Both offer visual management, team collaboration, and allow for personalized column configurations to suit user preferences.