Card properties
Introduction
Card properties are custom attributes that you can define and then apply to a card type, they are analogous to custom fields. Card properties can be applied to one or more card types, and can have their allowable set of values restricted in a number of ways. You can choose whether or not to show or hide properties (so they're visible/invisible on cards), and lock or unlock properties (so that only project administrators can add or change property values).
If you created a new project based on a template, the project will include some card properties by default. You can update or remove any extra card properties as required.
Card property types
Managed list properties
Managed list properties are restricted to a list of specified values. The list of allowed values is generally setup in advance, and may be locked to prevent users other than Project admins from adding or removing values. If the property is not locked, then new values can be added dynamically by selecting the (new value) option while editing the property.
You can specify the allowable set of values for managed list properties from the Project admin tab.
Managed text list
Restricted to a list of text values. Managed text list properties can be used in filter conditions and card transitions.
Managed number list
Restricted to a list of numeric values. Managed number list properties can be used in filter conditions and card transitions. Managed number list properties are affected by the project numeric precision.
If a value is subsequently removed from the property, there may be multiple consequences - you can read more about deleting a value in maintaining card property values.
Any value properties
Allow any text
Allows any text up to 255 characters in length to be assigned as a value. Mingle will not manage these values.
Allow any number
Allows any number to be assigned as a value. The number will be rounded to the project numeric precision. Mingle will not manage these values.
"Allow any text" and "allow any number" properties cannot be used in the following areas in Mingle:
- Grid view group by
- Card filters
- History filters
Team member properties
Allows any project team member to be assigned as a value.
If a team member is subsequently removed from the project, all cards where the property is assigned to that team member will have the property value changed to (not set)
Date properties
Allows any date to be assigned as a value. Mingle will not manage these values.
Formula properties
Formula properties can be derived from numeric or date card properties. They allow you to create automatically computed values, reducing opportunities for inconsistency.
You can create an aggregate property based on a formula property
A simple example is calculating the end date of an iteration based on the start date and the length of the iteration in days. Here "Start Date" and "Iteration Length" are Iteration card properties.
The formula definition might look like:
"Start Date" + ("Iteration Length" - 1)
Take a look at some formula property examples.
Relationship properties
There are two types of relationship properties; Card Relationship Property and Tree Relationship Property. The card relationship properties allow users to create a link between any cards regardless of card type. The tree relationship properties are created and named as part of creating a card tree. The tree relationship properties are references in a child card that link it to its ancestors in the tree. More at relationship properties.
Predefined properties
Special properties which are automatically assigned to any card, these are "Type", "Name", "Number", "Description", "Created On", "Modified On", "Created By", "Modified By" and "Project". Type is restricted to the set of defined Card Types; Number is an automatically incrementing unique integer; Project, Name and Description are text fields; Created On and Modified On are date properties and Created By and Modified By are team properties. The standard properties cannot be deleted or re-defined, and the property names of "Type", "Name", "Number", "Project", "Description", "Created On", "Modified On", "Created By" and "Modified By" are reserved and cannot be used for any user-defined card properties.
If you are migrating from a previous release of Mingle to Mingle 3.0 and have properties already called "Created On" and/or "Modified On" these will be renamed to be called "Created On_1" and/or "Modified On_1" and any previous uses of these properties (in Favorites, Formulas etc...) will be updated. Use in MQL (including MQL filters) will not be updated and, as a result, any previous MQL using "Created On" and "Modified On" will now use Mingle's predefined properties of the same name in the query.Aggregate properties
Defined as part of a Card tree, aggregate properties display the Sum, Average, Min, Max or Count of properties of cards lower in a card tree.
Attributes of card properties
Name
Property Values
Show / Hide
Properties can be hidden if they are not required for data entry, for example calculated values used in reporting. If you make a property hidden, these hidden card properties are conditionally displayed in the card view (to show them check the Show hidden properties checkbox), and not available in filters.
Hidden properties are highlighted on card types, card properties, card defaults and card transitions page so that user can easily distinguish them from regular properties.
The value can only be set by declaring a default value, or via a transition, or calculated if it's a formula property.
You can also hide a property instead of deleting it, which will retain historical data about changes to that property.