Item Types

Use the Investment Type tab to add, manage, and maintain all of the work item types that are used by your organization. Only active work item types can be used. Only work item types flagged as creatable will be available to users when they create a new work item.

The Investment Type tab contains four tabs: Properties, Attributes, Containment, and Set Views.

The Properties tab lets you enter information that is unique to that investemtnt type, such as its name, an associated icon, and color, and global information that is available to this work item type when it is used in your organization's portfolio, such as its work type, whether resources can self-allocate or self-assign themselves to this work item, and so on. The Properties tab contains the following elements:

Name–The name of the work item type.
System Name–The XML name for the work item type; the system name is generated automatically.
Icon–The icon used to represent the work item type.
Color–The color used to represent the work item type when it appears in the Timeline view or in a resource's timesheet (when they have enabled timesheet colors).
Active–Indicates whether the work item type is an active work item type. Only active work item types can be selected from a list that contains work item types.
Creatable–Indicates whether the work item type can be chosen while creating a new work item in the Projects module and or when working with a work item request page. Use this option in conjunction with workflow transitions to limit the work item types that users can initially create (and from which it can be transitioned to other work item types).
None–Default. This option prevents work assignments for this work item type. A work item type that is created from this work type is often used as container for another work item type.
Work Container–A container for a work item type is used as a container for a work type. When a work item type is a work container, you must select a work hierarchy from the Work Hierarchy drop-down. The default work hierarchy is Basic; you can create custom work hierarchies from the Work Hierachy tab in the Types Setup view.
Team–A team work item type is used to represent an Agile team and is not directly associated with a work hierarchy. A team work item type can be assigned to a work item from any work container, most commonly by using a sprint work item type to which work a work item is assigned.

The Attributes tab displays all of the attributes that can be associated with the work item type. The full list of available attributes are in the left column and the attributes that are associated with the work item type are in the right column. To move an attribute between columns, select it and click the arrow that points to the other column. Hold down the CTRL key while selecting attributes to move more than one at a time.

The Containment tab displays all of the possible parent and child work item types. This determines all of the possible locations in which a work item can appear in the work item hierarchy; a work item can only be created under a valid parent work item and a work item can only have valid children created underneath it. A work container cannot have a work container as a child work item type.

The Set Views tab lets you select the views that will be associated with the work item type. Custom summary views that have been created in the View Designer will be available; the default summary view is Summary.

Activating a work item type

If a work item type is inactive, you can reactivate it so that it can be used when creating a new work item.

To activate a work item type

From the application toolbar, click Setup, and then select Customization.
Select the Types Setup tab.
Select the Investment Types tab.
Choose a work item type.
Select Active.
Click Save.

Adding a work item type

Add a new work item type. The work container option allows a work item type to be associated with a specific work hierarchy. The team option allows a work item type to represent an Agile team (to which an assignable work item can be assigned). Once a work type is set to be a work container or a team, it cannot be changed.

To add a work item type

From the application toolbar, click Setup, and then select Customization.
Select the Types Setup tab.
Select the Investment Types tab.
Click New.
Name the work item type. Select an icon and/or a color to which the work item type will be associated.
Select Active to make this work item type available; only an active work item type can be used to create a new work item.
Select Creatable to make this work item type available in the New Investment dialog box and in the Investment Type list on a work item request page. Use this option to limit the available work item that can be created.
Under Type, select the work type option: None, Work Container, or Team.
On the Attributes tab, move the attributes you want to be associated with this work item type to the right column. Required attributes cannot be removed.
On the Containment tab, select the work item type's parent and child work item types. A work container cannot have a work container as a child work item type.
On the Set Views tab, associate the views that will be available in the Projects module when team members are working on this work item.
Click Save.

Deleting a work item type

A work item type can be deleted as long as it is not being used by an existing work item. If a work item type is being used (or may be used again) by a work item, you should inactivate it.

To delete a work item type

From the application toolbar, click Setup, and then select Customization.
Select the Types Setup tab.
Select the Investment Types tab.
Select a work item type and click Delete.

Editing a work item type

Find a work item type on the Investment Type tab of the Types Setup tab, make the changes that need to be made, and then click Save.

To edit a work item type

From the application toolbar, click Setup, and then select Customization.
Select the Types Setup tab.
Select the Investment Types tab.
Make your changes.
Click Save.

Inactivating a work item type

A work item type can be inactivated. This prevents them being available whenever a list of work item types is used and it helps preserve historical data associated with that work item type.

To inactivate a work item type

From the application toolbar, click Setup, and then select Customization.
Select the Types Setup tab.
Select the Investment Types tab.
Under Investment Types, select a work item type.
De-select Active.
Click Save.

Viewing a work item type

A work item type is shown on the Investment Types tab in the Types Setup tab.

To view a work item type

From the application toolbar, click Setup, and then select Customization.
Select the Types Setup tab.
Select the Investment Types tab.
Select the work item type in the list.