Implementation of Sample Dashboard 2.1

1.
Introduction
This document describes the steps to implement the sample dashboard that captures a
minimal set of information required to be displayed by each project within their
respective RTC dashboard. The goal is to have a standardized dashboard across all RTC
project areas within IBM Account
A project areas dashboard should look similar to the below, once you complete the
implementation steps.
Description of
application(s)
and
Release/Iterati
on
Predefined
query
Iteration
or phase
schedule
Stories status
and links to work
items
Burn down
Team
Members
and
Roles
Predefined
query
Open
Impedimen
ts
Predefined
query
Defect
status
Backlog
Optional depending upon project type
HTML
Progress Bar
for all
iterations for
Predefined
current
query
release
Note that the above sample dashboard screenshot is from a project that follows the Agile
methodology and hence uses the SCRUM template. Projects using the Open-up template will
create a dashboard that contains similar information. Specifically, the All Stories viewlet will
refer to All Use Cases and the Open Impediments will refer to All Risks This is the base
dashboard, however teams can add more information related to their project.
For project areas, most of the above information can be pulled into the dashboard with the help of
out-of-the-box queries/reports/plan. For Scrum projects, there are two viewlets that will require
you to do project specific customization, Open Defects and Backlog stories. For Open-up
projects, there are two viewlets that will require you to do customization, Open Defects, and Use
cases. All projects will need to modify a little HTML to create the project schedule viewlet. The
project schedule is desirable, but optional for teams.
The instructions on how to create a customized query for open defects and another query for the
backlog stories, using your Web browser, and then reference the queries from your dashboard,
are provided in the sections below
2. Steps to implement the sample dashboard in your

project area using predefined queries
As in a Copy -> Paste, you are going to copy a sample dashboard and then paste it into your
project area. This page contains the steps to find and copy the sample dashboard. Note: The
source and target projects must be on the same RTC server
1. You will need to use the RTC Web and not the RTC Client to do this task.
2. Identify the source project area from where you want to obtain your sample dashboard.
The source sample dashboard is in the Rational Insight Users_RTC01, Rational Insight
Users_RTC02, Rational Insight Users_RTC03 project area for projects on igartc01,
igartc02, and igartc03 respectively.
3. In the identified project area, go to Dashboards, and click on the Sample Dashboard tab.
4. From the Sample Dashboards tab, access the options menu and select the Copy Tab
menu item to copy the dashboard.
5. Go to your project
Make sure it is your
dashboard, not for
personal
profile
areas dashboard.
projects
public
example,
your
dashboard
6. Click on the Paste icon available at the upper right corner of the screen. This will paste
the copied tab into your dashboard. You should see the Sample Dashboard with the
source project areas data. (Note: if you are using Firefox, you can open one tab that
displays the source dashboard and you can open a second tab that displays your
projects dashboard)
7. After copying the dashboard, click the Save button in the upper right corner of the
dashboard. Alternatively you can set the Auto-save check box on the dashboard to save
changes as soon as you make them.
8. Rename the tab to Your project name + Standard Dashboard. To edit the tab, click on
the tab text. Once you click on the tab text, you can see the rename option
appear under the menu arrow.
9. To customize the dashboard to reflect your project areas information, access the menu
options for each viewlet and click on Edit Setting (or Edit Content for the HTML project
schedule viewlet) to modify the project name, content, query, html as applicable for your
project. Generally, for each viewlet, you will need to change the project name to be the
name of your project. These next images show what you will want to change in a viewlet.
.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
When you have changed each viewlet, make sure to click the SAVE button in
the upper right corner of the web page. This saves all the changes to the
dashboard. Perform this save function periodically.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
3. Creating queries and modifying viewlettes

3.1 Open Stories viewlet (or Use Cases for Open-Up
Projects)
In the Open Stories viewlet, below, you will select the Open Stories query and a parameter.
Your query name will likely be different. If your template is Open-up, you will need to
customize a query that displays all Use Cases. Use Cases in Open-up are equivalent to
stories in Scrum
When you click on the Query Edit button, make sure to select your project, and then the proper
query for your project to display. In this example, the customized Open Defects query is
selected
3.2 Open Defects viewlet (Applicable for both Scrum and OpenUp Projects)
In the sample dashboard, there are two open defects viewlet. One lists the open
defects with WI ID's and short description whereas the other viewlet depicts the
defect status for the current iteration in a graph. In the below section, you will learn
how to customize these two viewlet for your project area. Similarly project teams can
additional viewlet to show the overall defects by it status to their project dashboard.
3.2.1 List of Open defects by WI ID and short description
1. Open a new browser tab which contains your RTC project. You should have two tabs
open. The first tab will be to manage work item queries. The second tab will be to
manage the dashboard viewlets
2. To create a query, go to the Work Items link from RTC web and click on Create
Query in the left navigator
3. In the query editor, enter the name for the query as Open Defects
4. In the Conditions tab, click the plus sign icon, then select the Planned for attribute
and click Add attribute condition. Repeat this step until you get the attributes set for
the status and type conditions for querying. Since we want to query the list of
opened defects for current iteration, select the value as below for the selected
attributes
a. Planned For = Select the current iteration
b. Status = Unresolved
c. Type= Defect.
5. By default, new queries are private. To be able to pull in the customized query into
the dashboard, share the Opened Defects query to the project areas pre-define
query section which can be done by clicking Add Team Area and select your project
area.
6. Click Save to save the query

7. Switch to the dashboard tab in your browser, in the Open Defects viewlet of your
newly copied dashboard, select the Edit Settings option from the menu icon on the
title bar of the viewlet.
8. Edit the Work Items viewlet to point to your project area and set the following
a.
b.
c.
d.
Make sure the project is your project.

Select the new Open defects query that you just created above
Set the second icon to "Priority
Set results per page to 10
9. Click Save to save the viewlet

10. Your end result should be similar to the following
11. At this stage, ensure that you save the dashboard if Auto-save is not set.
3.2.1 Graphical depiction of status for open defects
1. In the Open Defect chart viewlet of your newly copied dashboard, select the Edit
settings option from the menu icon on the title bar of the viewlet.
a. Set the presentation to Pie chart
b. Select the new Open defects query that you just created above which is now
under predefined list of queries in your project area.
c. Set the parameter to "Priority
3.3 Backlog Stories viewlet (This applies only to the Scrum

projects)
You will need to have a Plan created for your current project that contains all items in your
backlog. For example, in the below release 1.0 project a plan has been created for the backlog
items for this project..
This backlog contains all user stories that are not yet being worked on in the project and any wish
list items that the customer may have. As you move from iteration to iteration you will move items
from the backlog to the iteration you are working on, the goal is to have the backlog empty by the
end of the project.
1. To create a query, switch to the Workitems tab in your browser and go to the Work Items
link from RTC web and click on Create Query in the left Navigator
2. In the query editor, enter the name for the query as Backlog Stories
3. In the Conditions tab, click the plus sign icon, then select the Planned for attribute and
click Add attribute condition. Repeat this step until you get the attributes status and
type as conditions for querying. Since we want to query the list of stories planned for
future iterations, select the value as below for the selected attributes
a. Planned For = Select the backlog plan.
b. Status = Unresolved
c. Type = Story
4. By default, new queries are private. To be able to pull in the customized query into the
dashboard, share the Backlog Stories query to the project areas pre-define query
section which can be done by clicking Add Team Area and select your project area.

6. From the dashboard, in the Backlog Stories viewlet of your newly copied dashboard,
select the Edit Settings option from the menu icon on the title bar of the viewlet.
a.
b.
c.
d.
Make sure it is your project that is selected

Select the Backlog Stories query which you just created above.
Set the second Icon to Priority.
Set results per page to 10.
8. Click save to save the viewlet

3.2 Use Cases viewlet (This applies only to the Open-up

projects)
This viewlet display all use cases for an Open-up project for the plan.
1. To create the Use Cases query, switch to the Workitems tab in your browser and go to
the Work Items link from RTC web and click on Create Query in the left Navigator
2. In the query editor, enter the name for the query as Use Cases
3. In the Conditions tab, click the plus sign icon, then select the Type attribute and
click Add attribute condition. Repeat this step until you also get the attribute Planned
For as a condition for querying. Select the value as below for the selected attributes
a. Type=Use Case
b. Planned For = Select the current iteration
4. By default, new queries are private. To be able to pull in the customized query into the
dashboard, share the Use Cases query to the project areas pre-defined query section
which can be done by clicking Add Team Area and select your project area.

6. From the dashboard, in the Use Cases viewlet of your newly copied dashboard, select
the Edit Settings option from the menu icon on the title bar of the viewlet.
c.
d.
e.
f.
Make sure it is your project that is selected

Select the Use Cases query which you just created above.
Set the second Icon to Status.
Set results per page to 10.
8. Click save to save the viewlet

3.3 Current Plan viewlet (Applicable for both Scrum and OpenUp Projects)
For the Current Plan viewlet, you need to chose your project timeline (in our example, it
is 'Main development') and this will fetch the current iteration of that time line. Below
are the steps
1. In the Current Plant viewlet of your newly copied dashboard, select the Edit
settings option from the menu icon on the title bar of the viewlet.
a. Set the scope to your project area
b. Check Include sub-teams and current plans only options\
c. Set results per page to 10
d. Chose your project timeline
4. Creating a HTML Viewlet

4.1 Project Schedule Viewlet (Optional can be applied to both
Scrum and Open-up projects)
The information about Project schedule will be provided by using an HTML type viewlet. Sample
HTML code is provided, however the HTML code has to be edited to suit your specific project
needs. Instructions on how to populate the project information within the HTML viewlet follows.
Note: - This viewlet is optional, but desired. This viewlet needs to be maintained and updated. As
the project schedule changes we would suggest that this particular viewlet be maintained by
someone on the team with a little knowledge of HTML who can update the dates in the viewlet.
1. In the Project Schedule Viewlet viewlet of your newly copied dashboard, select the Edit
Content option from the menu icon on the title bar of the viewlet
2. Edit the HTML viewlet and copy, then paste the below HTML between the <div> tags
<TABLE BORDER=0 WIDTH = 100%>
<TR>
<TD WIDTH = 5%> </TD>
<TD WIDTH = 30%> </TD>
<TD WIDTH = 10%>Start Date</TD>
<TD WIDTH = 17%>Last Work Day</TD>
<TD WIDTH = 18%>End/Install Date</TD>
<TD WIDTH = 20%>Actual End Date</TD>
</TR>
<TR>

<TD BGCOLOR=BLUE> </TD>
<TD>Concept</TD>
<TD>6/21</TD>
<TD> </TD>
<TD>7/16</TD>
<TD>7/16</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
health changes -->

<TD><A
HREF="https://igartc01.swg.usma.ibm.com/jazz/web/projects/MMAPS#action=com.ibm.team.
apt.viewPlan&page=viewModel&id=_RxIvcGm3Edf9faw2qcjHA&viewMode=com.ibm.team.apt.viewmodes.internal.teamFolders">Iteration
#1</A></TD>


<TD>6/28</TD>

<TD>7/23</TD>

<TD>7/28</TD>

<TD>7/28</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
health changes -->
<TD><A
apt.viewPlan&page=viewModel&id=_foDb8Gm3Edf9faw2qcjHA&viewMode=com.ibm.team.apt.viewmodes.internal.teamFolders">Iteration
#2</A></TD>


<TD>7/26</TD>

<TD>8/20</TD>

<TD>8/25</TD>

<TD>8/20</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
health changes -->
<TD><A
apt.viewPlan&page=viewModel&id=_kCJBoGm3Edf9faw2qcjHA&viewMode=com.ibm.team.apt.viewmodes.internal.teamFolders">Iteration
#3</A></TD>
<TD>8/23</TD>
<TD>9/3</TD>
<TD>9/8</TD>
<TD>9/8</TD>
</TR>
<TR>
health changes -->
<TD BGCOLOR=GREEN> </TD>
<TD><A
apt.viewPlan&page=viewModel&id=_maupoGm3Edf9faw2qcjHA&viewMode=com.ibm.team.apt.viewmodes.internal.teamFolders">Iteration
#4</A></TD>
<TD>9/6</TD>
<TD>10/1</TD>
<TD>10/6</TD>
<TD> </TD>
</TR>
<TR>
health changes -->
<TD BGCOLOR=WHITE> </TD>
<TD>Lessons Learned</TD>
<TD>10/12</TD>
<TD>10/12</TD>
<TD>10/12</TD>
<TD> </TD>
</TR>
<TR>

<TD BGCOLOR=WHITE> </TD>
<TD>Closed Project</TD>
<TD>10/6</TD>
<TD>10/30</TD>
<TD>10/30</TD>
<TD> </TD>
</TR>
</TABLE>
3. The above HTML is provided as a working example for you. You can copy this HTML into
your viewlet, then edit to match your project needs. Each iteration may contain a hyper
link to the web page that has more information about that iteration plan
4. Rename your viewlet to your project name followed by Schedule
5. During the phases / iterations of your project, they should be identified with the
appropriate color. These status colors are normally defined by the project manager
a.
b.
c.
d.
Blue The project phase / iteration is complete.

Yellow The current project phase / iteration is in jeopardy of missing its dates.
Red The current project is having serious problems meeting is goals and dates.
Green the project is on schedule
6. Your end result should be similar to the following:
Note: Certain sections of this document were re-used from Introduction to Executive
Dashboards by Karl Portner.
5. FAQs
Q: I am following the dashboard implementation steps as per the document and I

am stuck. Where do I go for help?
- A: Post your questions to the discussion thread in the RTC KE forum.
Q: Will this dashboard work for waterfall (aka Open Up) projects?
- A: yes, in fact, it is highly recommended for all development projects to
implement a similar dashboard as this sample with the suggested
components.
Q: Is this the only information I can have on my dashboard?
- A: Absolutely not. This is merely a suggested dashboard to ensure a
minimal set of information is available across the project and client team.
Additional information, which the project team deems valuable, can also
be added at the discretion of the project manager/scrum master.
Q: Where do I go to learn more about creating dashboards?
- To learn more on creating dashboards please refer to knowledge share
corner -> dashboards for RTC
- And the RTC Wiki contains this demo -> Reports and Dashboards
Q: Why do I need to use RTCs dashboard capability?
- The executive team, project managers, and team leads can track project
health and trends at a glance.
- Teams can discuss status using the dashboard as the data source. It
provides for easy drill down to get more complete information.
- Team leads can track team progress and balance workload.
- Developers can track their workload.
- Dashboards can display viewlets and information from multiple
repositories.
- Transparency of project area is achieved within the members of project
area sharing the dashboard within the project area
Q: I am using RTC on an operational support-type project which dont have any
test activities. Do I still need to use the test-related viewlettes?
- A: Use only those dashboard viewlettes that apply to your specific project.
Q: I already am using the dashboard capability to manage and communicate my
project do I need to create this as another dashboard on my project area?
- A: No. If your dashboard contains similar information as noted on the
Sample Dashboard for suggested information and also has additional
viewlettes, you are covered for this exercise.
Q: Im done creating my dashboard, now what?
- A: 1) Be sure that the URL for this dashboard is in your BMRS
application record and 2) continue to explore the dashboard features and
create new queries that will help you and your team in understanding the
status of your project and where to focus next. Many teams also use the
dashboard to aid their SCRUM meetings.
this is plus moreUse only those dashboard viewlettes that apply to your
specific project.

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1.

Optional depending upon project type

2. Steps to implement the sample dashboard in your

3. Creating queries and modifying viewlettes

6. Click Save to save the query

Make sure the project is your project.

9. Click Save to save the viewlet

3.3 Backlog Stories viewlet (This applies only to the Scrum

5. Click Save to save the query

Make sure it is your project that is selected

8. Click save to save the viewlet

3.2 Use Cases viewlet (This applies only to the Open-up

5. Click Save to save the query

Make sure it is your project that is selected

8. Click save to save the viewlet

4. Creating a HTML Viewlet

Blue The project phase / iteration is complete.

6. Your end result should be similar to the following:

Q: I am following the dashboard implementation steps as per the document and I

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