> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://learn.nextedy.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Filter the Unplanned Sidebar
> Narrow the Unplanned backlog of a Nextedy SCHEDULER board with saved queries, swimlane filters, free-text search and parent grouping.
export const LastReviewed = ({date}) => {
if (!date) return null;
const formatted = new Date(`${date}T00:00:00Z`).toLocaleDateString("en-US", {
year: "numeric",
month: "long",
day: "numeric",
timeZone: "UTC"
});
return
Last reviewed on {formatted}
;
};
The **Unplanned** sidebar on the right of the board is the backlog you plan from.
It lists the work items the board loaded that are not on the timeline -- because they have no dates, because they are not assigned to any row the board shows, or because **Old as Unplanned** is on and their start date falls before the beginning of the timeline window.
Dragging a card out of the sidebar onto a row is how work gets scheduled.
On a real project the backlog is long, so the sidebar has its own filters: a funnel with saved queries and swimlanes, a resolved-items toggle, a search box, and an optional grouping by parent work item.
All of them narrow the **sidebar list only** -- the tasks already on the timeline are never hidden by a sidebar filter.
## Show or Hide the Sidebar
The toolbar button **Show unscheduled items in sidebar** toggles the whole sidebar.
It is on by default; switching it off hands the freed space to the timeline, which then spans the full width of the board.
See [Toolbar Controls](/scheduler/reference/toolbar-controls) for the rest of the toolbar.
## Filter with the Funnel
The funnel at the top of the sidebar carries the label **Unplanned**.
Click it to open the filter menu:
| Menu entry | Effect |
| ------------- | ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |
| **Unplanned** | Clears the filter and lists the whole backlog again |
| **Queries** | Submenu of saved queries -- pick one to keep only the items it matches |
| **Swimlanes** | Submenu with one entry per swimlane row -- pick one to keep only the items belonging to that row |
The two submenus are mutually exclusive: choosing a saved query clears an active swimlane filter, and choosing a swimlane clears an active query filter.
Use **Unplanned** to get back to the unfiltered backlog.
### Saved Queries in the Submenu
The **Queries** submenu lists saved queries under group headings:
* **Queries** -- the queries defined on the widget itself, under the **Queries** parameter, each with the **Name** you gave it.
* **Global Queries** -- saved queries available across the Polarion instance.
* **Project Queries** -- saved queries belonging to the project the board is in.
So a filter your team already maintains in Polarion -- one that excludes drafts, or lists only unassigned items -- is available in the sidebar without being redefined on the board.
Adding a **Query** to the widget parameters is the way to offer a board-specific backlog cut that does not exist as a saved query in Polarion.
Give it a **Name**, and it shows up in the **Queries** group of the submenu.
### Swimlane Entries
The **Swimlanes** submenu holds one entry per row of the board, labelled exactly as the row is: the user's display name in assignee mode, or the enumeration option in enumeration mode.
Picking one leaves only the backlog items that belong to that row, which is how you plan one person's or one team's work without reading the whole backlog.
See [Configure Swimlanes](/scheduler/guides/configure-swimlanes) for how the rows are defined.
## Show or Hide Resolved Items
Resolved work items are hidden from the sidebar until you ask for them.
The toggle at the left edge of the sidebar header, next to the funnel, switches them on and off.
A resolved item that is already scheduled stays on the timeline -- the toggle governs the sidebar list, not the board.
Resolved tasks on the timeline are drawn in grey and are read-only; see [Colours and Load Thresholds](/scheduler/reference/colours-and-load-thresholds).
## Search the Backlog
The **Search...** box in the sidebar header filters the list as you type, a moment after you stop.
The search is case-insensitive and matches the text of the card -- work item ID, title and the fields shown on it -- as well as the parent heading a card is grouped under.
Search combines with the funnel filter and with the resolved toggle: the list shows the items that satisfy all of them.
Clear the box to drop the text condition.
## Read the Item Count
Under the search box, the sidebar states how much of the backlog you are looking at:
| Line | Meaning |
| ------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| **N work items** | Nothing is filtered out -- the sidebar lists every unplanned item the board loaded |
| **N out of M work items** | A filter, the resolved toggle or a search is hiding items -- N are listed out of M loaded |
The second form is the quickest check that a filter is still active.
The footer of the board gives you the other half of the picture with **Items loaded** and **Scheduled**.
## Group Cards Under Their Parent Work Item
By default the sidebar is a flat list of cards.
Setting **Load Parents** in the widget's **Unplanned Sidebar** section to `1` or more makes Scheduler walk up the parent links of each backlog item and group the cards under a heading for the parent work item.
Open the page that hosts the board, click **Expand Tools**, then **Edit**.
Select the Scheduler widget and choose **Edit widget parameters**.
In the **Unplanned Sidebar** section, set **Load Parents** -- `0` by default, which means no grouping.
Increase it to load the parents of the backlog items, and set **Parent Roles** to the link role or roles that lead from a backlog item up to its parent.
Grouping also needs at least one role in **Dependency Roles**, in the **Work Items** panel -- with that parameter empty no parent is loaded, whatever **Load Parents** says.
Save the page.
Reload the board.
Cards are now sorted by parent and each group carries a heading naming the parent work item.
Items with no parent are collected under a heading reading `-- NO PARENT --`.
Grouping is useful when the backlog is a set of children under a few epics or features: instead of scanning IDs, you plan one parent's children at a time.
Loading parents means loading more work items per board.
Raise **Load Parents** only as far as your hierarchy actually needs -- one level is enough to group children under their immediate parent.
## Verification
Working through the sidebar you should see:
1. **Show unscheduled items in sidebar** hides and restores the sidebar, and the timeline widens when it is hidden.
2. The funnel opens a menu with **Unplanned**, **Queries** and **Swimlanes**.
3. Picking a saved query or a swimlane shortens the list, and the count line changes to **N out of M work items**.
4. **Unplanned** restores the full list and the count line returns to **N work items**.
5. Typing in **Search...** narrows the list a moment later; clearing the box restores it.
6. The toggle at the left of the sidebar header adds resolved items to the list and removes them again.
7. With **Load Parents** above `0`, cards appear under parent headings, with `-- NO PARENT --` for the rest.
## See Also
* [Schedule and Reschedule Tasks](/scheduler/guides/schedule-and-reschedule-tasks) -- drag a filtered card onto a row
* [Navigate the Timeline](/scheduler/guides/navigate-the-timeline) -- the toolbar controls around the sidebar
* [Configure Swimlanes](/scheduler/guides/configure-swimlanes) -- what the Swimlanes entries are built from
* [Add the Scheduler Widget](/scheduler/guides/add-the-scheduler-widget) -- the board query that decides what reaches the sidebar
* [Widget Parameters](/scheduler/reference/widget-parameters) -- Queries, Load Parents and the other parameters with their defaults