Default Stack Rank

Question

When a business user enters a new work item (in TFS 2015, using the Agile template), it appears the ticket is inserted into the list of tickets based on where the user has selected (see screenshot).

We have a bi-weekly meeting to prioritize tickets and it appears stakeholder users are able to create items at the top of the list. If I go to the list to get the next item to work on I very well might select an unvetted item instead of one that has been prioritized by the council.

Is there a way to default the stack rank (ideally bottom or middle or something)?

I've tried to create a field rule in the work item type definition so that when a new item is created the field Microsoft.VSTS.Common.StackRank has a static value COPY into it of 2,000,000,000. The stack rank was defaulted but the order was still first.

I know I could update the workflow to accommodate (e.g. new state "New (unvetted)", new custom field IsVetted, etc.) but wanted to see if there was a automated way before handling manually.

Answer 1

Sorry this is impossible, as you have said the sequence of items on the backlog page is determined according to where you have added the items or moved the items on the page. As you drag and drop items within the backlog list, a background process updates this field.

Stack Rank

A number, usually assigned by a background process, used to track the list order of items on a backlog or board in the web portal.

Reference name=Microsoft.VSTS.Common.StackRank, Data type=Double

You can't sort your backlog on a column. If you want to view a sorted listed, click Create query, save and open the query, and then sort the query results. To learn more about queries, see Use the query editor to list and manage queries.

Take a look at below related threads:

• Backlog priority or stack rank order
• Move items into priority order