Use saved queries and planning shapes in Lucidspark for faster team planning

Glossary

• Dynamic Table: A Dynamic Table is an interactive matrix used to visually organize shapes, sticky notes, and Lucid Cards.
• Planning shape: A pre-configured Dynamic Table. The options include Team planning, Daily standup, and Backlog refinement.
• Query: The filter criteria used to select and import specific work items from integrations like Jira or Azure DevOps into a Dynamic Table.

Add a new planning shape to the board

To access planning shapes, follow these steps from a Lucidspark board:

1. Click the Organizers icon from the Primary Toolbar on the left side of the canvas.
2. Under “Planning shapes”, select one of the following Dynamic Table options:
   • Team planning: Uses sprints as columns and assignees as rows.
   • Daily standup: Uses item status as columns and assignees as rows.
   • Backlog refinement: Uses sprints as columns with a single row.
3. Click anywhere on the canvas to place the planning shape.
   
4. Select one of the following options to add items:
   • Import work items from Jira or Azure DevOps.
   • Skip import to use standard Lucid Cards.

If you’re using Jira or Azure DevOps, continue on to the next section for setup instructions.

Import work items from Jira or Azure DevOps

After adding a planning shape and selecting Import work items, Enterprise users can follow these steps:

1. Next to “Source” in the panel that appears, select Jira or Azure DevOps from the dropdown menu.
2. If you haven’t previously authorized Lucid Cards for Jira or Lucid Cards for Azure DevOps, follow the prompts to authorize then continue with the next step.
3. In the dropdown next to “Board”, search for and select the specific Jira board you want to import work items from.
   • Optionally, instead of selecting a board, click Advanced query to filter the work items using Jira Query Language (JQL) or Work Item Query Language (WIQL).
4. Click Continue.
   • You’ll be taken to the query sync modal which shows you the default queries (Jira only) for your selected planning shape. From here, you can edit the query if you want to change what work items get imported. You can also save the query to the selected planning shape from this panel allowing you to reuse it across documents in the future.
5. Click Sync.

The work items will populate in the planning shape.

Sync an existing planning shape with updates

To sync an existing planning shape to show the most updated version of your work items, Enterprise users can follow these steps:

1. Select Manage work from the top of the planning shape. Depending on the size of your planning shape, this may appear as the Manage work icon.
2. Click Jira or Azure DevOps.
3. Optionally:
   • Edit the query to change what work items are imported into the planning shape.
   • Uncheck the box in the bottom-left corner that says ”Remove nonmatching work items from this Dynamic Table”. Leaving this checked will remove work items that don’t fit the query from the planning shape.
4. Click Sync.

The work items in your planning shape will update according to the sync settings.

Save a query to a planning shape

Enterprise users can save a query for a specific planning shape to avoid manually re-configuring the settings each time. After saving, you can retrieve your query on any Lucidspark board to instantly import the relevant work items using the appropriate planning shape.

To save a query, follow these steps after importing work items into your planning shape:

1. Select Manage work from the top of a planning shape on your canvas. 
   • Depending on the size of your planning shape, this may appear as the Manage work icon.
2. Click Jira or Azure DevOps.
3. Click Save query from the bottom-right of the panel.
4. Set yourself or a team as the owner of the query.
   • If you are the owner, only you can edit the query and apply it to new planning shapes.
   • If a team is set as the owner, any team member can edit the query and apply it to new planning shapes.
5. Next to “Table type”, select which planning shape type you want this query to apply to.
   • Each planning shape type is limited to a single saved query per owner.
   • Adding a new query to a planning shape type overrides any existing queries.
6. Click Save query.
   

Once your query is saved, dragging out that planning shape (such as “Team planning”) allows you to use the saved query to pull in work items from Azure DevOps or Jira without re-configuring the planning shape.

Saved queries are linked to your individual account rather than a specific board. This means:

• Saved queries are accessible to you across all of your boards.
• Saved queries do not apply to planning shapes created by other collaborators unless the query is team-owned, in which case they are accessible to all team members.

Apply a saved query to a new planning shape

After you’ve saved a query to a planning shape, you can use it in any Lucidspark board.

To add a planning shape using a saved query, follow these steps:

1. Click the Organizers icon from the Primary Toolbar on the left side of the canvas.
2. Under “Planning shapes”, select one of the following options:
   • Team planning
   • Daily standup
   • Backlog refinement
3. Click anywhere on the canvas to place the planning shape.
4. Select Import work items.
5. Use the dropdown to select which saved query you want to use.
6. Click Apply query. 
   • If you want to override the existing query with a new one instead, click Set up a new query.
     

Work items that fit the query will appear in the planning shape.

Edit a saved query for a planning shape

To change the saved query for an existing planning shape, follow these steps:

1. Select Manage work from the top of the planning shape. 
   • Depending on the size of your planning shape, this may appear as the Manage work icon.
2. Click Jira or Azure DevOps.
3. Type a new query into the text box, or edit the existing query.
4. Optionally, uncheck the box in the bottom-left corner that says ”Remove nonmatching work items from this Dynamic Table”. 
   • Leaving this checked removes work items that don’t fit the new query from the planning shape.
5. Click Save query from the bottom-right of the panel.
6. Review the owner and table type.
7. Click Save query.
8. Click Replace query.

The work items in your selected planning shape will update to fit the new query. This won’t impact any existing planning shapes that use the saved query.

FAQ

Can I delete a saved query?
No, you can’t delete a saved query, but you can apply a new query to a planning shape.

My Lucid plan doesn’t include the Jira or Azure DevOps integration. Can I use planning shapes?
Yes, you can use planning shapes without the integration, but they will function as a standard Dynamic Table with predefined rows and columns. In this case, you will not be able to use the saved query functionality, only the basic planning shape structure.

How many saved queries can I have?
You can have one saved query for each of the following planning shapes: Team planning, Daily standup, and Backlog refinement.

Is there a limit to how many work items can be imported into a planning shape?
Yes. You can import up to 300 work items.

Will the planning shape sync automatically when work items are updated in Jira or Azure DevOps?
No. Changes do not sync automatically, meaning closed items will stay on your planning shape until a new sync is triggered. To see the most up-to-date version of your work items, follow the steps in the Sync an existing planning shape with updates section.

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