The product backlog in Trac
We are using Trac by Edgewall Software to handle our backlog. It was originally some sort of ticketing help system, but is now one of the most widely used track management softwares.
It is a very powerful tool, and that becomes obvious after a brief play around with it.
But the product backlog we have is growing, as more and more tasks, defects, and stories are being created (by me). It has reached the stage where it is so long it would take our team a year to develop it all. But, at the growth rate I’m seeing, it would be futile to even try.
What can be done?
Well, in Trac, there’s not much functionality to split the backlog, except by component but again, this is fiddly and not what I’m looking for. I would like a way to divide the backlog into blocks of work either by yearly quarter, or importance ranges.
The only solution I have considered so far is to create a series of reports, and keep my head mostly swimming around in the ‘current’ backlog block. But does this make sense? I suspect it is more a way of mentally handling the stories rather than actually dividing them up, which could result in other people viewing the backlog to become confused.
Well, this is a blog, and these were my thoughts. Thanks for reading.
