You might have noticed a new icon in your LiquidPlanner workspace that looks like this:

This container was dropped from the beak of storks on Saturday, February 28 and represents your new Backlog packages. These packages are a handy new way to organize and store unscheduled work in your project management tool, with the added bonus of potentially increasing scheduling speed for larger workspaces. Read on for more details on your new Backlog packages.

How do Backlog packages work?

We all have work that’s considered “on deck,” but not ready to be scheduled into our project plan—product backlog, projects awaiting approval, project templates, ongoing tasks, etc. The Backlog package treats these items as being on hold, so they don’t impact a project’s schedule. And by having packages dedicated to these on-hold items, it’s easy to organize work that’s in the wings.

Here are some more Backlog basics:

• Moving items: You can move items between packages with a simple drag and drop. If you move an item from a Backlog package to an active package, the task will automatically lose its on-hold status. And conversely, a task moved from an active to a Backlog package will inherit an on-hold status.
• Can you still place items on hold? The on-hold functionality is still in play. If there’s a single item you’d like to place on hold within an active package, go for it.
• Creating a Backlog package: Any active package that is placed on hold will automatically become a backlog package . All items inside of that package will be placed on hold as well.  Whenever you take a backlog package off hold, it will change back to an active package, as will all the items inside.

You can also create Backlog packages via the add menu in the Projects tab, or via the right-click menu. Here’s an example of using the add menu:

Note to existing customers

If you had any packages that were placed on-hold before February 28, 2015, they were automatically converted into Backlog packages. The items within these Backlog packages will not be automatically taken off hold when moved into an active package. For this instance only they will need to be taken off hold manually. Any items moved into your Backlog packages after February 28, 2015 will automatically be taken off hold when moved into an active package.

For more details on using your Backlog packages, read this help article.