Customize status values for features

Available on: Essentials, Pro, and Enterprise

In Productboard, feature status is a handy way to show a feature's phase within the product development lifecycle. Subfeatures and features share the same status flow.

In this article:

Status on the Features board

You can arrange your Features board by feature status:

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Or filter to see just those features/subfeatures of certain status values:

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For example, you might decide only to show candidates on your board but not new ideas. This could be helpful when you're trying to fine-tune your plans after prioritizing what to build.

Status on the Roadmap

You can also group features on the Roadmap with status columns. This Kanban-like view is a helpful way to track and share the progress of features through the various phases, from idea through delivery.

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Customizing your workspace's feature status values

In settings, admins can customize their workspace's feature status values to match the team's workflow.

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From here, you can add, remove, or rename status values. The only status values that cannot be removed are the basic statuses: Candidate and Launched. However, you can rename them.

You can also choose which statuses to show on roadmaps and on your Feature board. Additionally, you can decide which statuses count towards features completion.

Hidden on boards by default

Features assigned a status that appears in the lower section on the Status customization page will not appear on boards by default.

In the example above, features assigned a status of Launched or Won't do will always be filtered off of the Roadmap and will not appear in the linking popup on the Insights board.

Removing a status

When you remove a status, there may be existing features and subfeatures currently marked with that status. If this happens, you'll be prompted to indicate which status these features and subfeatures should be assigned.

Follow the steps below to remove a status:

  1. Click on your workspace name on the lefthand navigation, then Settings (Settings-1.svg).
    2023-03-28_13-39-25.jpg
  2. Scroll down to the Status Customization Section.
    Screenshot_2022-07-13_at_15.38.32.png
  3. Click on the X next to the Status that you want to remove.
    Screenshot_2022-07-13_at_15.38.52.png
  4. Choose how to handle the status removal.
    Status_deletion_dialog.png

Custom status examples

Here are a few custom statuses you might add to your workspace:

  • New idea: For those features not yet vetted by the team or validated by other similar requests – you'll often want to filter these out during prioritization.
  • Candidate: For feature ideas, you're actively tracking. These are in the running to be prioritized.
  • Discovery: For feature ideas, you're currently researching, to ensure you understand the underlying user need you'd be solving. (See: product discovery)
  • Announcement: Features that are done but waiting to be launched from a marketing standpoint.
  • Won't do: For feature ideas you've discarded because they are not aligned with your product/strategy or are technologically infeasible. Still... maybe they'll seem more interesting a year from now.

Subfeature status

Subfeatures have the same set of statuses as features.

A subfeature's status is independent of the status of its parent feature, so a feature could have the status In progress while its subfeatures still have the status Discovery. At this time, each subfeature's status must be updated individually.

Grouping by status ignores subfeature status

In the following example, note that when the Features board is grouped By status, this applies to features. Subfeatures of a different status will still be displayed beneath their parent features regardless.

custom-status.jpg

Filtering by status

Filtering by status includes features and subfeatures; however, filtering by status shows all features or subfeatures of that status. A feature with a status not included in the filter may still appear if one or more of its subfeatures have the filtered status. (See below where the board has been filtered for the yellow status of In progress.)

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See also

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