Tracking issues is a common task in companies. This may pertain to testing, product development, code promotion etc. SharePoint has a Issue Tracking list that can be used out of the box.

Unlike a 'Team Discussion' board, it is possible to report on the Status (Open, Closed etc). This article outlines the steps required to setup a Issue Tracking system.

• Select Create from the 'Site Actions' menu
• Select 'Issue Tracking' under 'Tracking' region (the Navigation may differ)
• Enter a 'Name' and 'Description' for the list
• Select 'Yes' to display in the Quick Launch region
• Select 'Yes' to send e-mail notification. This is a good feature as the assignee of the issue gets e-mail notification
• Click 'Create' button to complete

You have a basic issue list with standard columns and views. Create additional columns and views as required (as explained later).

• Click 'New Item' in the 'New' poplist to create a new issue item
• Enter a 'Title' for the issue. For example, 'Report' fails with error
• Select the employee or user to whom the issue is assigned to. If e-mail notification is enabled as explained earlier, this person would be notified of the issue creation and updates
• Accept the default 'Issue Status' (normally 'Active' or 'Open')
• Select the 'Priority' from the list
• Enter a 'Description' for the Issue - this could be the nature of the issue and what caused it
• Select a 'Category' from the list i.e. if you would like to track the issues by category
• If there are 'Related Issues', select suitably
• Enter a 'Due Date' i.e. the date by which the issue has to be resolved by
• Click 'OK' to complete
• To add a new item, follow the steps again

Adding Columns

You can add to these columns or delete irrelevant columns as required. For example, let us assume that an additional column is required to capture the 'Environment' the issue originated from. Steps are as follows:

• Click Settings > List Settings
• Click 'Create Column' under 'Columns' region - One can also 'Add from existing columns'
• Enter 'Column Name'
• Select a suitable information type for the column - In this example, 'Choice' is checked as we intent to select the appropriate environment from the choices given
• Complete 'Display Choices', 'Default Value' sections
• Click 'OK'

Views

Apart from the default views, additional views can be created as well. There is no threaded or flat views in an issue list.

The Issue Tracking list lacks a print view as well. However, the flexibility to export to spreadsheet and print is available; however, this involves additional formatting.

Status View

It is possible to report on Open, Closed, or Resolved items in the Issue Tracking list. This is an important requirement as one would like to know what issue are still outstanding at any time. Create a view named 'open' or 'closed' and apply suitable 'filter' criteria to accomplish this.

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Comments (11)

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written by Moggyman , April 22, 2009

cant adjust category field to accept multiple choices (checkboxes)!! Do I have to create a new category column?

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written by ibrahim , January 29, 2009

You can do this using SP Designer.
First create a new column for the list. Let us a*sume you name it New Id
Now using SP Designer, create a workflow that automatically
starts when a new itm is created
Leave the 'Condition' blank
In the 'Actions' select 'Do Calculation'
Select 'Current Item' as the Source and
for Field select 'ID'
you can use any number after plus,
let us say 1 (store the Output to a variable)
Click 'Actions' again and select 'Set
Field in Current Item'
Set the New ID column to Variable
Now whenever a new item is created, the
new ID column also gets updated
You can only display the New Id column

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written by SV , January 29, 2009

further to toks' question, how do we get the system to generate an Id without calling it an Issue ID. I don't want to 'hide' the column, but simply do not want to take away the nam 'issue id'

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written by josh , December 14, 2008

A generous post, thank you for taking
the time to write this up and share,

Have you done any further work on
Issue tracking as its a common need?
J

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written by tsc , September 25, 2008

Hi

Open the list
Go to Settings > List Settings
Click 'Permissions for this list' and add the users that need access

Hope this helps

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written by newsharepointguy , September 25, 2008

no one is able to add a new task but me. where can i change this?

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written by John , August 10, 2008

Very useful, Thanks for the post.

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written by youuuu crank dat sol , March 05, 2008

LOOOOOl, THIS THING IS COMPLETELY USELESS!!! MY CLIENT DITCHED THIS PIECE OF CRAP AND MADE ME CODE SOMETHING A LOT MORE USEFUL.

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written by larrywhit , January 23, 2008

Hi

I think the Issue Id cannot be changed. The field is also used for tracking 'Related Issues'. However, you can hide it from the 'View' and create another 'ID' column to meet your needs.

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written by toks , January 22, 2008

hi. i am just a newbie.. i just want to ask if it is possible to modify the "Issue ID:".. i want to change the issue id format..
eg.
[IL-Currentyear- 6 digits].. any reply will be much appreciated. thansk.

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written by abi , December 21, 2007

The issue list display form is not very presentable though. If there is a lengthy discussion on the issue, it sort of becomes difficult to read through

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