Quick reference index for Azure Boards settings
Azure DevOps Services | Azure DevOps Server 2022 - Azure DevOps Server 2019
Use this index to quickly access concepts and tasks related to configuring and customizing Azure Boards. If you're new to the Azure Boards, see What is Azure Boards?.
Get started
You can start using Azure Boards without configuring or customizing anything. However, as your organization grows, you'll find it beneficial to add teams, define area paths and iteration paths. If you use GitHub for your source code repository, you may want to connect Azure Boards to GitHub. If you are tasked with administrating a project for several teams, we recommend you review the following articles.
Configure team tools
Each team administrator can configure the following elements for their team, backlogs, or boards. For an introduction to configuring team tools, see Manage and configure team tools.
General
Process and project customization
You customize your work tracking experience to support your business and reporting needs. The most common customizations include adding a custom field, modifying a work item form, or adding a custom work item type. Process customization tasks must be performed by an administrator who has the necessary organization-level permissions, as they affect all users and teams within a project.
You customize Azure Boards work tracking using the Inheritance process model which uses a WYSIWYG user interface to customize work tracking objects and tools. For select organizations who migrated to Azure DevOps Services using the data migration tool for Azure DevOps, the Hosted XML process model is used. This model relies on modifying and importing process templates to customize work tracking objects and tools.
You customize Azure Boards work tracking using either the Inheritance process model or On-premises XML process model, depending on the selection made when creating the project collection on which the project is defined.
Inheritance process model
With the Inheritance process, you apply a process to a project.
The Inheritance process model supports the following customization tasks.
Fields
- Add a checkbox (Boolean) field
- Add/remove custom fields
- Add/remove custom rules to a field
- Add a person-name/Identity
- Add a picklist (drop-down menu)
- Add a rich-text (HTML) field
- Change a field label
- Delete field
Work item types
Workflow customizations
Backlogs and boards
The Inheritance process model supports the following customization tasks.
Fields
- Add a checkbox (Boolean) field
- Add/remove custom fields
- Add/remove custom rules to a field
- Add a person-name/Identity
- Add a picklist (drop-down menu)
- Add a rich-text (HTML) field
- Change a field label
- Delete field
Work item types
Workflow customizations
Backlogs and boards
Hosted XML process model
With the Hosted XML process model, you customize work tracking objects and Agile tools by modifying and importing a process template. Updates made to the process template are applied to projects that were created using that process.
Note
The Hosted XML process model is only supported for organizations that have migrated to Azure DevOps using the data migration tool for Azure DevOps.
Fields
- Add or modify a field
- Add a checkbox (Boolean) field
- Add rules to a field
- Change a field label
- Add a custom control field
- Remove a field
- Define global lists
Work item types
Backlogs and boards
- Add WITs to backlogs or boards
- Add portfolio backlogs
- Configure the quick add panel
- Configure the default backlog columns
- Set maximum number of task board items
- Set default weekend days (Scrum)
- Set default bug management behavior
- Set default hidden backlogs
- Change process configuration
- Add custom categories
Process templates
On-premises XML process model
With the On-premises XML process model, you modify the XML definition of work item types, the process configuration, categories, and more. You can also update the attributes of fields or exercise one of the witadmin commands.
Fields
- Add a checkbox (Boolean) field (TFS 2017.2)
- Add a custom field
- Add or modify a pick list
- Modify a field
- Add rules to a field
- Add a custom control field
- Add fields that integrate with test, build, and version control
Work item types
Backlogs and boards
- Add WITs to backlogs or boards
- Add portfolio backlogs
- Configure the quick add panel
- Configure the default backlog columns
- Set maximum number of task board items
- Set default weekend days (Scrum)
- Set default bug management behavior
- Set default hidden backlogs
- Change process configuration
- Add custom categories