Backlog management that keeps priorities visible

Capture every idea, organize work into meaningful groups, and make sure your team always knows what to work on next.

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What is the backlog?

The backlog is the single source of truth for everything your team might work on. It contains cards — high-level work items like user stories, features, bugs, or tasks — organized into buckets. Think of buckets as folders or categories that help you group related work.

Every project starts with a Default bucket. You can rename it, create additional buckets, and move cards between them at any time.

Organizing with buckets

Buckets are flexible groupings for your backlog. Some teams organize by theme (Frontend, Backend, Infrastructure), others by initiative (Q2 Launch, Tech Debt, Customer Requests). There is no enforced structure — use whatever makes your backlog scannable.

  • Rename the Default bucket to something meaningful for your project
  • Click the + button in the backlog navigation to add new buckets
  • Each bucket has its own card list with independent priority ordering
  • Use the 'Move Cards to Buckets' view to drag cards between buckets
  • Buckets can optionally appear as labels on the board — enable this in Project Settings → Labels

Example — Software product team: A SaaS team creates four buckets: New Features, Bug Fixes, Tech Debt, and Research Spikes. During weekly refinement, they triage new cards into the right bucket and reorder priorities within each one.

Example — House move: A family planning a move creates three buckets: Old House, New House, and Kids Stuff. Cards like "Cancel utilities" go into Old House, while "Set up internet" goes into New House.

Adding cards to the backlog

Each bucket has a + button in its toolbar. Click it, type a card title, and press Enter. The card is created instantly — you can come back and add descriptions, tasks, estimates, and attachments later.

  • Create cards quickly with just a title — details can follow later
  • Click the card name to open the detail modal: add description, tasks, comments, and attachments
  • Use Markdown in descriptions for rich formatting
  • Estimate cards with story points to track sprint capacity
  • Attach files from Google Drive or Dropbox for supporting documents

Want AI assistance? Workmate can generate multiple backlog cards from a short brief, saving time during brainstorming sessions.

Prioritizing and reordering

Priority is determined by position: cards at the top of a bucket are the highest priority. Drag and drop cards to reorder them — the team can immediately see what matters most.

  • Drag cards up to increase priority, down to decrease
  • Use the 'Move Cards to Buckets' view for cross-bucket reorganization
  • Priority order in the backlog drives what gets pulled into the next sprint
  • Combine with labels to add a second dimension (e.g., urgency + category)

From backlog to sprint or board

The backlog feeds your sprints and boards. During sprint planning (Scrum/Scrumban) or board grooming (Kanban), drag cards from the backlog into the sprint or a board column. Cards moved out of the backlog no longer appear in the bucket but can be sent back if priorities change.

  • Sprint planning view shows backlog on the left, sprint board on the right
  • Kanban planning view shows backlog on the left, board columns on the right
  • Switch between bucket views to pull from different categories
  • Counters update in real time as cards move between backlog and sprint

Learn more: Sprints guide · Boards guide

Backlog refinement best practices

  • Refine regularly: schedule a weekly 30-minute session to review, reorder, and add details to top-priority cards
  • Keep the backlog honest: archive or delete cards that will never be worked on
  • Write clear card titles: a good title describes the outcome, not the implementation (e.g., 'Users can reset their password via email' instead of 'Add password reset endpoint')
  • Add acceptance criteria early: it prevents misunderstandings when the card enters a sprint
  • Use Workmate to refine titles, descriptions, and criteria when you are short on time

Common questions

Can I have cards in the backlog and a sprint at the same time?+
No. A card lives in the backlog until it is pulled into a sprint or board. When a sprint is completed, unfinished cards can be moved back to the backlog.
How many buckets can I create?+
There is no hard limit. Create as many as your team needs, though most teams find 3–7 buckets keeps things manageable.
Can I bulk-import cards into the backlog?+
Yes. Use the API to create multiple cards in a single request. See the API guide for details.
Do bucket changes affect cards already in a sprint?+
No. Once a card is in a sprint, it is independent of the backlog bucket structure.

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