Fragile Basic Tutorial: Using Fragile for Agile Project Management

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Elfrieda Stephens
8 years ago
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1 Fragile Basic Tutorial: Using Fragile for Agile Project Management Fragile is a web tool for agile project management using ( Fragile (a contraction of agile and our firm Freeform Solutions) is a distribution built on top of the Drupal content management system (drupal.org) with custom modules and code to provide agile entities and processes. Installing Fragile All of Fragile's settings are in the fragile install profile provided with the code. There are two ways to get Fragile: download the tarball the Freeform website install from the drush make file at By running the make file, using the command: drush make --prepare-install fragile-distro.make fragile-test, all the other files will be downloaded and set up in a directory called fragile-test. Once the directory is set up we need to follow the regular Drupal installation process ( by creating a database, accessing the url of the site, choosing the Fragile install profile and entering the database credentials when asked. Getting Started We will walk through the basic creation of a client and the projects, chapters, releases, stories and tasks associated with that client. When we install Fragile we are logged in as an administrator with full administrative privileges. To get a better sense of using Fragile we will create a new user and login as a regular team member.

2 We go to User management > Users > Add user. ( We fill in the credentials for the new user, and give them the team role so they can do the basic functions required for an agile team. We then log out and log back in as the new user. This is the user we'll use for the rest of this tutorial. Creating a client In the main menu we go to Clients > Add Client. We will fill in the full name of the client, acronym/short name and assign it to our user account or some other user on the team. Once created we will see the client page. Note the ability to Edit and Clone the client. We can clone most of the content in Fragile which we can then re-edit and save as new content. Creating Project Now we will create a project for our client. On the client's page we click on "Add Project".

This is the user we'll use for the rest of this tutorial. Creating a client In the main menu we go to Clients > Add Client.

Once we've added a project we are given an empty view of everything that a project contains but which we haven't yet created, including releases, chapters and

3 Once we've added a project we are given an empty view of everything that a project contains but which we haven't yet created, including releases, chapters and stories. Creating Releases We will create a release first, which will help us break the project down into scheduled intervals where we can show the client work to date.

4 We click on Add Release on our project page and we give it a "theme" so we can distinguish between the releases. Releases are also given sequential numbers so a theme is not strictly necessary. It will automatically be associated with the project we created. The release page shows us a list of all the "stories" assigned to this release, the stories available to be assigned, and a breakdown of the "story points" that will help us know how many stories have been completed and how many are still to be done before the deadline. Creating Chapters Now we will create "chapters", which are agile containers for our stories. (Quick intro to Agile Project Management terminology: Chapters contain stories. And stories contain tasks. A story is actually a short statement from the perspective of a certain user type: "As a visitor I would like to log into the site so that I can add comments." Then the developer will create tasks for that story in order to make it possible. Developers then estimate the "points" per story so that they get a sense of the relative effort it will take to complete that story. The harder the story, the higher the points. In agile we avoid using hours as estimates because it gives a sense of accuracy when it is actually impossible.) We'll have to go back to the project to do that. Click on the project name on the release to go back to the project.

The release page shows us a list of all the "stories" assigned to this release, the stories available to be assigned, and a breakdown of the "story points" that will help us know how many stories

5 We will create a few chapters - like "Project Management", "Graphic Design", "Create development site". Each chapter can have an estimate of the story points to help us estimate the size of a project before we have all the stories. Creating Stories Now we'll create some stories in the containing chapters. On the project page we see the chapters listed. Next to them we click to Add Story.

Each chapter can have an estimate of the story points to help us estimate the size of a project

6 Creating stories can take some practice when new to agile, but it is the heart of the agile process so it's worth doing it right. Typically a set of stories is created in cooperation with the client which helps to create better stories and helps the client have a strong say in the process. When creating a story we fill in the title with the story phrase, in this case it is As a visitor I would like to have a pleasing design so that the site is easier to use. We then choose the story points and the assign the team member(s) as story resources. There are a number of fields that don't need to be filled out until the story is assigned to a sprint, including "Planned/Unplanned" (a story will be planned by default and automatically set to unplanned if added to a sprint already in progress). Once it is ready to be worked on we can assign the story to a release, a sprint, sprint priority, deadline (if a specific date within the sprint is needed), and story status. Creating Task Tasks typically describe the specific actions required to fulfill the story. We will add a task from our story and assign the team members. If there are multiple tasks in a story we can assign a priority. We can also assign a deadline.

When creating a story we fill in the title with the story phrase, in this case it is As a visitor I would like to have a pleasing design so that the site is easier to use.

7 After we save the task it takes us back to the story so we have an overview of the tasks assigned to that story. Note how we can order the tasks if there are multiple tasks in a story. (For now there are two views of

8 the tasks because of a limitation of these Drupal Views plugins that allow us to reorder or perform operations on the content in the list, but not both at the same time.) Sprint planning in Fragile A team's work schedule is organized into "sprints". At Freeform we use weekly sprints and have one sprint for all projects. It's typical for teams to have one sprint per project. Fragile allows us to have multiple sprints at a time. Creating Sprints We will add a sprint under Sprints > Add Sprint, provide a title and the time frame of the sprint.

At Freeform we use weekly sprints and have one sprint for all projects. It's typical for teams to have one sprint per project.

Assigning Stories to Sprints Then we will assign stories to our sprint. Under menu > Sprints > Sprint Assignment we can choose from the active stories to assign to any sprint in planning.

9 Assigning Stories to Sprints Then we will assign stories to our sprint. Under menu > Sprints > Sprint Assignment we can choose from the active stories to assign to any sprint in planning. We can filter by client and other categories of the story. Working with the Sprint We go to Sprints > Current Sprints and choose the sprint we just created. The title link will provide a list of the stories, and the story point breakdown - story points completed or not completed, and so on. Once we've assigned all the stories and we're ready to put the sprint into progress, we click on Workflow on the sprint and choose In Progress. At this point any stories assigned to this sprint will be marked as unplanned.

Working with the Sprint We go to Sprints > Current Sprints and choose the sprint we just created.

10 Back on the sprint list if we choose Work it will provide a view to use for everyday sprint work. It allows the team to view the tasks and put any story and tasks into progress and other statuses.

11 After a sprint finishes Once a sprint is finished we put the sprint in retrospective and discuss it before closing it off. We click the Workflow tab again on the sprint (we may need to go back to Current Sprints list and click on the sprint, or alternatively, remove the /work off the URL). During our retrospective we move stories that haven't been completed and need to be assigned to the next sprint. Under Sprints > Sprint Re-assignment we can choose the uncompleted stories to re-assign. We will first need to make sure a new sprint was created before we can re-assign it stories

the /work off the URL). During our retrospective we move stories that haven't been completed and need to be assigned to the next sprint.

Once done we put the new sprint in progress (again with the workflow tab on the sprint) and mark old sprint as completed. Next Steps Hopefully this tutorial gives you the basic tools of using Fragile.

12 Once done we put the new sprint in progress (again with the workflow tab on the sprint) and mark old sprint as completed. Next Steps Hopefully this tutorial gives you the basic tools of using Fragile. There are also various ways to dig in and report on the sprint and project progress, including the velocity of the team, team members and the story point progression. These reports require some knowledge of agile project management so may not be of use to those who haven't first become knowledgeable on how to use these metrics. We will hopefully provide some basics in a future tutorial.

There are also various ways to dig in and report on the sprint and project progress, including the velocity of the team, team members and the story

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