Set Up a Work Item Checklist - Nextedy Documentation

To set up a checklist on a document (LiveDoc) instead, see Set Up a Document (LiveDoc) Checklist.

1. Create the custom field

Create a new custom field of type Text (multi-line plain text). This field will hold the checklist item, whose ID you’ll reference in the next step (for example dod).

Custom Fields admin page for the userstory type, with the dod field's type dropdown open and Text (multi-line plain text) highlighted

2. Expose the field on the work item form

First, make sure the custom field is exposed on the work item form, either as part of a panel or a section. This step is mandatory. The form extension hides the raw field from view, but the field still needs to be present in the form configuration — it is not supported to place the checklist field outside of a <panel> or <section>.

Work item layout XML showing the dod field placed inside a section, with the ChecklistFormExtension entries for dor and dod below it

Second, add the ChecklistFormExtension work item extension at the place on the form where you want the checklist to appear:

<extension checklistId="dod" id="ChecklistFormExtension" label="Definition of Ready"/>

checklistId refers to the ID of the custom field you created in step 1
label is the title shown above the checklist section in the UI — set it to whatever you like
id must be exactly ChecklistFormExtension

Field must live inside a panel or sectionPlacing the <field> for your checklist custom field directly on the form, outside of a <panel> or <section>, is not supported. Keep the field declaration inside a panel or section even though the extension hides its default rendering.

3. (Optional) Set up a summary field

A summary field holds aggregated information about checklist completion, useful for lists, dashboards, and reports.

Create a new custom field of type String (single line plain text) with the ID YOUR_CHECKLIST_ID_summary. For example, if your checklist custom field from step 1 is dod, create a custom field called dod_summary.
Make this field read-only using the read-only fields configuration page (not by permissions).
Required: tell Checklist to calculate the summary field using Project Administration > Config Properties:

nextedy.checklist.userstory.checklistsIdsForSummary=dor,dod

This is a comma-separated list of checklist IDs relevant to the userstory work item type.

Summary fields power reportingOnce a summary field is configured, it reflects checklist completion state without opening the work item, which makes it usable in queries, LiveReports, and dashboards. See Export Checklists and Surface Progress in Reports for more on this.

4. (Optional) Define a checklist template

To keep the checklist content centrally managed — so changes propagate to every work item using it — define a template using the workItemTemplateId configuration property:

nextedy.checklist.requirement.chkApproved.workItemTemplateId=WI-124

Here requirement is the work item type and chkApproved is the checklist ID. You can also omit the type to apply the template to any type:

nextedy.checklist.chkDone.workItemTemplateId=WI-125

Full details, including the built-in Polarion template workaround, are covered in Create a Checklist Template.

Duplicated checklist items with Polarion’s built-in work item templatesIf you use Polarion’s own built-in work item templates (as opposed to workItemTemplateId) to seed a checklist, be aware of a Polarion bug (not a Nextedy Checklist bug): when Polarion copies data from a template to a new item, it changes the field’s format from Text to Richtext. The workaround is to add a ChecklistResetToTemplate workflow function to the type’s “init” action with a checklist parameter set to your checklist custom field’s name — this resets the checklist after item creation and fixes the field type. See Create a Checklist Template for the full workaround.

How permissions interact with this setup

Two permission layers apply once your checklist is live:

Who can check/uncheck items — controlled by standard Polarion field permissions (read-only fields or field-based permissions).
Who can change the checklist structure (add/remove items) — controlled by the nextedy.checklist._TYPEID_._FIELDID_._STATUS_.adminPermission configuration property, often tied to workflow status so the structure can be frozen after a certain point.

See Control Who Can Change the Checklist for the full property hierarchy and evaluation order.

Verification

You should now see a Definition of Ready (or whatever label you chose) section on the work item form, rendered by the checklist form extension, with checkable items instead of a raw text field. If you configured a summary field, it should update automatically to reflect the checklist’s completion state once you check items and save.

​1. Create the custom field

​2. Expose the field on the work item form

​3. (Optional) Set up a summary field

​4. (Optional) Define a checklist template

​How permissions interact with this setup

​Verification

​See also

1. Create the custom field

2. Expose the field on the work item form

3. (Optional) Set up a summary field

4. (Optional) Define a checklist template

How permissions interact with this setup

Verification

See also