Step 1. Plan Your Project Tree

To get started with VersionOne you will first need to create a project tree. The term ‘Project’ can be used to represent the organization, a specific system, products and releases.

It is recommended that you map out the structure of your project tree before using VersionOne. Ensuring that your projects roll-up in a logical way for your organization is extremely important for planning and reporting purposes.

VersionOne comes with the parent project System (All Projects) already created. The next level of the project tree is often the company, with sub-levels typically representing products. Under each product, create a child project for each of your scheduled product releases. A sample project tree may look like this:

Step 2. Create a Project

Having mapped out your project tree, you are ready to start creating projects in VersionOne.

• Login to VersionOne as the System Administrator.
• Click on Admin in the top right title bar of the application. Select Projects from the drop-down navigation menu.
• The first project you create will be under System (All Projects). Select Add Child Project (located on the right of the System (All Projects) row).
• In the Project creation window, enter the project title, begin date and end date.
• Keep this window open for Step 3.

Step 3. Define a Sprint (Iteration) Schedule

A sprint schedule is a series of sequential sprints. Each sprint defines a time period in which the team will be working on the project, typically 2-4 weeks in length. Sprint schedules can be shared across projects or can be defined uniquely for a specific project when it is created. Sharing sprint schedules allows rollup reporting along sprint lines for values such as velocity and can be helpful where an entire group (such as an organization) all uses the same schedule.

• To create and add a sprint schedule, from the Project creation window click on the magnifying glass icon.
• Select Add Sprint/Iteration Schedule, which is located to the right of the window.
• Enter the title of the schedule and the default sprint length gap for each sprint.
• The default sprint length is 14 days with a gap of zero, indicating that sprints will run back-to-back.
• Select OK from the action menu at the top right of this window to accept the defaults and to save the new schedule.
• From the Sprint/Iteration Schedule window select the schedule that you just created.
• This will take you back to the Project creation window. Click Ok to save and close the window.

Note: For more in-depth information on creating and managing the project tree, see the Administration video on Project and Programs. To learn more about sprint schedules, see the Administration video on Sprint Schedules.

Step 4. Add Members

All members require a username and password to log into the system. Project Access (assigned in Step 4) is required to be able to enter backlog items. A member's role on a project determines which project assets they are allowed to create, view, and modify.

• Select Members from the Admin drop-down navigation menu.
• Click on the Add Member button located to the right of the Members page.
• Complete the name fields and enter a username and password for the new member. This will allow the member to log on.
• Now select a default role for the new member. The default role is part of the member record and is used for 2 purposes: (1) to serve as the default when the member is added to a project, and (2) to determine access to admin features such as system configuration. So, if a member needs access to admin features, make sure the default role is set appropriately for the required access. Roles are listed in order of greatest access to least access in the dropdown. (See Help under Administration > Roles & Project Membership for more information.)
• Once all of the member information has been entered, save the new user by clicking OK.
• To continue adding new members select Ok & New button, which will save this record and present a new Member record window. After the last member has been entered, click OK to save and close the window.
• The Members page will now display a list of all members in the system.

These new members have now been provided access to Enterprise Edition but still require access to specific projects. In the next step you’ll learn how to assign members to your project.

Additional Roles & Security Considerations

There are four important factors to consider when assigning roles:

• Roles determine which project artifacts a member can view and manipulate.
• Default Role determines the member's role when using drag and drop to assign members to a project.
• Roles assigned to a project are inherited by all child projects
• At any level in the hierarchy a member's role can be adjusted to grant or revoke privileges (See Help under Administration > Roles & Project Membership for more information.)

Step 5. Assign Members to a Project

In this step, you'll grant members access to the projects on which they will be working.

• From the Members drop-down navigation menu select Project Assignment.
• You will see two grids: the top grid displays the project tree and the lower grid displays the member list. Select the plus sign icon to Expand All and display the project(s) that you created in Step 1 in the tree.
• To add members to the project, drag and drop members from the lower grid to the project into the upper grid using the member's default role. Note that when a member is assigned to a project, the member is automatically assigned to all sub-projects in that hierarchy as well.
• To verify the members that have been assigned to the project, review the Project Membership column in the Member grid at the bottom.
• Select Return to Main Menu on the left of the title bar to exit Admin and return to the Project Planning view.

Note: To assign project-specific roles that differ from a member's default role, use the Members > Project Assignment page.

Step 6. Create Backlog Items

Use the Backlog page to define and manage the stories and defects for a project. This view allows you to enter, edit, filter, sort, categorize and rank your backlog.

• From the Product Planning drop-down navigation menu select Backlog.
• Use the Project Navigator to select the appropriate project. You may have to click Tree and Filters to find and select the project(s) you’ve just created.
• There are two ways to create new backlog items:
• For quick entry, select either Add Story Inline or Add Defect Inline to the right of the page to begin creating the backlog. The minimum information required to define new backlog items is the title.
• For more detailed entry, click on the arrow to the left of Add Story Inline and select Add New from the action drop-down menu. (Note: you can hide/expand the left navigation pane using the arrows to the left of the screen.) Click OK & New to save the current item and enter another. When you have finished entering the last backlog item, click OK to return to the Backlog page.
• If you have already defined your backlog elsewhere, you can use Excel Import to import story, task or test data from an Excel spreadsheet. Download an Excel template from the Import page and load your existing data into the template to get started. For more information see: http://www.versionone.com/backlog_import/

Step 7. Get Your Team Started!

• You are now ready to get your team started with VersionOne. Communicate the URL and login information to each member and let them access the system to begin adding backlog items to their assigned projects.
• Note for trial users: members added by you do not need to register for their own trial experience. Sharing the url, username and password that you have created for them will enable them to login and access your trial instance.