Rally Office Hours:
February 12, 2026

Summary

Product Announcement

• A new feature called "Workspace Admins Can Set Artifact Field Ordering" is now available, which allows subscription administrators to enable a setting that lets workspace administrators set and lock artifact field orders and visibility for all end-users, ensuring a consistent user experience. (04:10)

• The field ordering feature helps administrators organize fields like custom fields to be prioritized and displayed higher up on the screen, accommodating their workflow. (05:00)

• It also reduces screen clutter by allowing administrators to easily remove obsolete fields. (05:18)

• The feature is toggled off by default and can be turned on by the subscription administrator on the admin page. (05:40)

• The speaker mentioned that the team is conducting UX research on dependency management and saved views and filters, and they are seeking input from users for 30-minute prototype testing sessions. (06:51)

• The link to schedule time with the UX researcher for the dependency management and saved views research was shared in the chat. (07:25)

Q&A

• Dependency View for User Stories: A participant asked about having a better dependency view at the user story level that offers cross-portfolio visibility, especially for filtering by iteration or release. The speaker suggested participating in the ongoing UX research for dependency management. (09:01)

• Dependency View at the Feature Level: Another participant extended the dependency question to the feature level, particularly across different Agile Release Trains (ARTs) for large programs, noting that the timeline view becomes unwieldy when all teams must be expanded to see cross-team dependencies. The speaker suggested the cross-team dependency widget on the screen but acknowledged the need for a better filtering mechanism. (10:48)

• A participant who had created an HTML code solution for dependency management offered to share it. A Rally team member suggested sharing it to potentially make it an endorsed widget. (25:14)

• "Ghosting" in Custom View Lists: A participant reported an ongoing issue where reordering or resizing columns in an expanded custom list view causes the columns to reorder unintentionally. A Rally team member requested the participant to send a URL to the specific view so the issue could be validated and tracked. (27:31)

• Training for Custom App to Widget Migration: A participant asked about public-facing training for migrating custom apps to custom views/widgets that could be easily shared with a large organization. A Rally team member stated that training videos are being worked on in a three-part series and will be published on the YouTube channel or in the Learning Academy for self-service. (30:52)

• Deep Copy Functionality: A participant asked about the new deep copy option. A Rally team member explained that it copies a feature along with its user stories, or a user story with its tasks, based on a set of rules, and was motivated by the need to easily recreate repeated work. (33:04)

• Dependency Lines on the Timeline View: A participant noted that they do not see dependency lines on the timeline view, even for items with dependencies. A Rally team member explained that the timeline only displays dependencies between portfolio items at the level to which the view is scoped, not the children items, and suggested creating a view of the features to see if dependencies show up there. (35:37)

• Intentionality of Portfolio Item Dependency Tracking: A participant asked if the perceived focus on portfolio items (like features) for dependency tracking in "prettier views" is intentional, suggesting that they might be discouraged from using user stories for dependencies. A Rally team member clarified that it is not intentional, and there is room for improvement in how dependencies are shown at both the story and portfolio levels. (40:56)

• Tracking Data Hygiene with Variables: A participant asked if the functionality of a custom widget that uses Rally queries to define variables for tracking data hygiene and compliance can be achieved easily with the current Rally tools. A Rally team member suggested using a set of short query tiles laid out horizontally, or writing custom HTML widgets. (43:50)

• Philosophy on Widget Replacement: A participant asked about the philosophy for replacing legacy core custom apps with new widgets and if they should expect a complete start from scratch. A Rally team member explained that it's not a one-to-one replacement, as some use cases are done better with the new widgets, and mentioned a tech document that provides equivalents. (46:13)

• Adding Icons to Project Names: A participant asked how to add an icon next to a project name. A Rally team member explained that it's done by finding an emoji, copying it, and inserting it into the project name when editing the project. They noted that this can also be done for the titles of portfolio items and other artifacts. (47:47)

Event News

• There is an opportunity to provide feedback on the Insights product, a metrics platform that works with Rally for setting metrics and tying performance indicators to OKRs. (50:28)

• An upcoming webinar asks the question, "Will AI replace the PMO?" and is presented by the head of Rally Product and a colleague; the session discusses how AI impacts the PMO and the changes PMOs should consider. (51:18)

• The Roadmap Session for the product is scheduled for the following week, giving an overview of what is coming to Rally. (52:34)

• A ConnectAll webinar titled "From Chaos to Control" will focus on how ConnectAll enables smarter automation and governance of data. (53:02)

• The Big Room Planning sessions, where customers participate with the Rally Engineering and Product team, will be held again in May, and participants are encouraged to nominate themselves or a colleague. (53:22)

• Users are encouraged to join the Rally community and subscribe to the newsletter for regular information. (54:08)

Note: This summary was generated with the assistance of an artificial intelligence language model. While we strive for accuracy and quality, please note that the summary may not be entirely error-free. We recommend independently verifying the content and consulting with a product expert for specific advice or information. We do not assume any responsibility or liability for the use or interpretation of this content.

Ready to join the next Rally Office Hours session? Click the button below to sign up now!