Project Plans - Nextedy Documentation

This page is a complete reference for the Project Plans mode: what it controls, how it interacts with other configuration, and the parameters that govern it.

Mode Overview

Hierarchy diagram of Project Plans mode: loading Plans filtered by plansQuery, displaying them as columns controlled by lastPlans and nextPlans, assigning work items by date range, and the Plan items section with Sync to parent, both only available in Project Plans mode

Project Plans mode is selected by setting the plansMode widget parameter to Project Plans (PROJECT_PLANS). This is the default value and requires no SAFe configuration.

Mode Identifier

Value	Type	Description
`PROJECT_PLANS`	`string`	Activates Project Plans mode. Standard project-based planning hierarchy without SAFe framework constraints.

Set via widget parameter plansMode. See Plans (Columns) Parameters for the full parameter reference.

Plans Query

The Plans query controls which Plans from the current project appear as columns on the board. It uses standard Polarion Lucene query syntax.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`plansQuery`	`string`	`None`	Lucene query to filter which Plans are loaded and displayed as columns. When empty, all Plans in the project are candidates (subject to `lastPlans`/`nextPlans` limits).

Query Syntax

Plans are queried using Polarion’s Lucene query syntax. Common examples:

# Show only Plans whose name contains "Sprint"
plansQuery=name:Sprint*

# Show only Plans of a specific plan type
plansQuery=type:iteration

# Show Plans not yet finished (open Plans)
plansQuery=NOT status:closed

The plansQuery filter is applied within the current Polarion project. Plans from other projects are not included in Project Plans mode. For cross-project planning, use the Project assignment mode for swimlanes, not a different plans mode.

Plan Count Controls

These parameters limit how many Plans appear as columns, independent of the query. Plans are ordered chronologically.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`lastPlans`	`number`	`1`	Number of past (completed or overdue) Plans to display on the board.
`nextPlans`	`number`	`5`	Number of future or active upcoming Plans to display on the board.

Behavior

Plans are ordered chronologically by their start date.
lastPlans controls how many Plans whose end date is in the past appear.
nextPlans controls how many Plans whose start/due date is current or future appear.
Increasing either value loads more data — large values may affect rendering performance on projects with many Plans.

Timeline showing past Plans A and B controlled by lastPlans=2, and future Plans C through G controlled by nextPlans=5, split at the current date

Configuration Example

lastPlans=2
nextPlans=6

This shows the 2 most recently completed Plans and the next 6 upcoming Plans as columns.

Plan Link Template

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`planLink`	`string`	`/polarion/#/project/${plan.objectId.projectId}/plan?id=${plan.objectId.itemId}`	URL template for linking Plan column headers to the corresponding Polarion Plan view. Supports `${plan.*}` variable substitution.

Supported Variables

Variable	Resolves To
`${plan.objectId.projectId}`	The Polarion project ID that owns the Plan
`${plan.objectId.itemId}`	The Plan’s item ID within the project

The plan link renders as a clickable header on each column. The default template navigates to the standard Polarion Plan view.

If your Polarion instance uses a custom URL pattern or you want to deep-link to a filtered plan view, override planLink with a custom template string. Variable substitution uses ${plan.*} syntax.

Work Item Assignment to Plans

In Project Plans mode, Planningboard assigns work items to Plans based on date overlap. A work item is placed in a Plan column when its start_date and end_date fall within the Plan’s date range.

Field	Description
`start_date`	Work item’s scheduled start date used for Plan column placement
`end_date`	Work item’s scheduled end date used for Plan column placement

Assignment Logic

When a user drags a card into a Plan column, Planningboard sets the work item’s start_date and end_date to values within that Plan’s date range.
When a work item’s dates span multiple Plans, it may appear in multiple columns.
Work items without dates appear in the Unplanned sidebar.

Work items with status Verified are locked. Once placed on the board, they cannot be dragged to a different Plan or moved back to Unplanned.

Plan Items Section

The Plan items configuration section in the widget parameters is visible only when plansMode is set to Project Plans (PROJECT_PLANS). It is hidden for SAFe modes.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`wiType`	`string`	`None`	Work item type filter. Restricts which work item types appear on the board (e.g., `task`, `story`, `feature`).
`query`	`string`	`NOT :`	Lucene query to filter which work items are loaded onto the board.
`maxItems`	`number`	`1000`	Maximum number of work items loaded into the Planningboard.

Work Item Query

# Show only open stories assigned to the current user
query=type:story AND NOT status:closed

# Show features and tasks that are not verified
query=(type:feature OR type:task) AND NOT status:verified

# Show all open items (override the NOT *:* default)
query=NOT status:closed

The default value NOT *:* matches no work items. You must provide a meaningful query to populate the board with work items.

Sync to Parent

The Sync to parent option is available only in Project Plans mode. It is not available for SAFe modes.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`stemming`	`boolean`	`false`	Enables automatic plan generation by parsing resource field values. When enabled, plan stemming splits enum values into plan–resource pairs and affects other plan-related field visibility.
`planCellsMode`	`boolean`	`false`	Enables plan cells mode. Items belong to specific plan–resource cells. Not compatible with Parent assignment mode — the Parent assignment mode does not support plan normalization via `planCellsMode`.

The exact label and behavior of “sync to parent” in the widget UI may vary by Planningboard version. The stemming and planCellsMode parameters above are the underlying configuration properties. Confirm current behavior in the widget parameters panel.

Capacity in Project Plans Mode

Project Plans mode supports capacity tracking per Plan column. Capacity configuration applies when capacityLoad or multiCapacityLoad is enabled.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`capacityLoad`	`boolean`	`false`	Enables capacity/effort tracking per Plan column. Uses `remainingEstimate`/`initialEstimate` from work items, or a custom `capacityField`.
`multiCapacityLoad`	`boolean`	`false`	Enables per-swimlane or per-resource capacity tracking across multiple capacity dimensions simultaneously.
`capacityField`	`string`	`None`	Custom work item field ID to use as the effort/capacity value (e.g., story points). When set, overrides time-tracking fields.
`hoursPerDay`	`number`	`8`	Working hours per day, used to convert time-based estimates to day equivalents in capacity calculations.
`userCapacityLoad`	`boolean`	`false`	Enables user-level capacity loading. Requires `useTeamsService` to be `true`.
`useTeamsService`	`boolean`	`false`	Enables integration with the Polarion Teams service for team capacity, user capacity, and team member data. When enabled, overrides plan capacity values from the Teams service.

Hovering over the capacity bar on a Plan column shows a detailed capacity tooltip. This tooltip is only available when capacity tracking is configured via the widget parameters.

Capacity-related configuration parameters are whitespace-sensitive. Ensure there are no leading or trailing spaces in parameter values; these cause silent miscalculation.

See Capacity Parameters and Capacity Properties for the full capacity reference.

Plan Object Fields

When Plans are loaded in Project Plans mode, the following fields are available on each Plan object. These are used in planLink templates and scripting.

Field	Type	Description
`name`	`string`	Plan name, normalized/stemmed for consistent identification
`startDate`	`string`	Plan start date formatted as US MEDIUM locale (e.g., `Jan 1, 2026`)
`dueDate`	`string`	Plan due date formatted as US MEDIUM locale (e.g., `Jan 15, 2026`)
`color`	`string`	Visual color identifier assigned to the Plan for the board display
`capacity`	`number`	Single numeric capacity value representing available work capacity for the Plan
`multiCapacity`	`map`	Per-dimension capacity values (e.g., by team or resource) when `multiCapacityLoad` is enabled
`planUrls`	`map`	Context-specific URLs for the Plan (used when multiple project contexts exist)
`planFullIds`	`map`	Full Plan identifiers in different contexts (distinct from stemmed IDs used internally)

Dependency Link Roles

In Project Plans mode, work item dependencies can be visualized as arrows between cards on the board. Configure which link roles represent dependencies using the following parameter.

Parameter	Type	Default	Description
`dependencyLinkRoles`	`string`	`None`	Comma-separated list of Polarion link role IDs that define task dependencies. These render as connectors between cards when Show Dependencies is enabled in the toolbar.

Example

dependencyLinkRoles=depends_on,blocks

Dependencies are shown using the Show Dependencies toolbar button. Unlike the per-card Show Links quick action, the toolbar control reveals all dependencies across the entire board simultaneously.

Plans Mode Comparison

The following table summarizes when to use Project Plans mode versus the available SAFe plans modes.

Mode	Value	Use When
Project Plans	`PROJECT_PLANS`	Standard Polarion project planning; no SAFe framework; custom Plan queries
SAFe Sprints (Program)	`SAFE_SPRINTS`	SAFe iteration sprint planning within an Agile Release Train
SAFe Sprints (Portfolio)	`SAFE_PFL_SPRINTS`	Sprint-level planning across multiple programs at portfolio level
SAFe Program Increments	`SAFE_PIS`	PI-level planning within an Agile Release Train
SAFe Solution Trains	`SAFE_SOLUTION`	Coordinated PI planning across multiple ARTs in a solution train

See Plans Modes, SAFe Sprints, SAFe Program Increments, and SAFe Solution Trains for the other modes.

When you change the plansMode value, the widget parameters panel changes which fields are visible. The Plan items section, Sync to parent option, and the plansQuery field are only shown when Project Plans (PROJECT_PLANS) is active. SAFe modes show different fields specific to their hierarchy levels.

Configuration Example

The following example shows a complete Project Plans widget configuration for a Scrum team running two-week sprints. It loads the last completed sprint and the next four, shows only Stories and Tasks, and enables capacity tracking using story points.

# Plans (Columns)
plansMode=PROJECT_PLANS
plansQuery=type:iteration
lastPlans=1
nextPlans=4

# Work Items
query=type:story OR type:task
wiType=
maxItems=500

# Capacity
capacityLoad=true
capacityField=storyPoints
hoursPerDay=8

# Assignment Mode (Rows)
assignmentMode=ASSIGNEE

With this configuration:

Columns show one past and four future iteration Plans.
Only Stories and Tasks appear as cards on the board.
The capacity bar on each column reflects story point totals.
Swimlanes are grouped by assignee.

Limitations

No multi-assignee capacity distribution: Capacity load in Project Plans mode does not distribute effort across multiple assignees on a single work item. Only the primary assignee’s capacity is affected. This is a known gap relative to Nextedy GANTT behavior.
Parallel sprint capacity: Capacity calculation behavior across overlapping/parallel Plans may not match GANTT’s calculation for the same items. If your team runs parallel sprints, verify capacity totals against the GANTT view.
Parent assignment mode incompatibility: planCellsMode (plan normalization) is not supported when the assignment mode is set to Parent Item. The Parent assignment mode does not support plan cells.
Plan names with dashes: Plan names containing dash characters (e.g., PI-2401, I-2401-1) were affected by a parsing bug causing incorrect column spans, zero capacity display, and missing plan shortcuts. This was partially fixed in version 23.8.0 and fully resolved in version 25.3.0. If you use SAFe-style dash-containing plan names, ensure you are running version 25.3.0 or later.

Plans (Columns) Parameters — full widget parameter listings for the Plans section
Capacity Parameters — capacity widget parameters
Capacity Properties — server-side capacity configuration
Plans Modes — overview of all available plans modes
SAFe Sprints — SAFe sprint-level plans mode reference
SAFe Program Increments — SAFe PI-level plans mode reference
Assignment Modes — swimlane row configuration
Plan Fields — all fields available on Plan objects

Sources

KB Articles

Swimlane Assignment Types
Introduction to Planningboard
Planningboard interface & basic interactions

Support Tickets

Source Code

PlanningBoardDataService.java
PlansMode.java
PlanningBoardWidgetRenderer.java
Config.java
PlanningBoardWidgetDependenciesProcessor.java

​Mode Overview

​Mode Identifier

​Plans Query

​Query Syntax

​Plan Count Controls

​Behavior

​Configuration Example

​Plan Link Template

​Supported Variables

​Work Item Assignment to Plans

​Assignment Logic

​Plan Items Section

​Work Item Query

​Sync to Parent

​Capacity in Project Plans Mode

​Capacity Tooltip

​Plan Object Fields

​Dependency Link Roles

​Example

​Plans Mode Comparison

​Configuration Example

​Limitations

​Related Reference Pages

Mode Overview

Mode Identifier

Plans Query

Query Syntax

Plan Count Controls

Behavior

Configuration Example

Plan Link Template

Supported Variables

Work Item Assignment to Plans

Assignment Logic

Plan Items Section

Work Item Query

Sync to Parent

Capacity in Project Plans Mode

Capacity Tooltip

Plan Object Fields

Dependency Link Roles

Example

Plans Mode Comparison

Configuration Example

Limitations

Related Reference Pages