Creating Your First Project
In the Azure DevOps Organization- Part1 , we were prompted to create a project during the
process of creating a new Azure DevOps account. In this section, we will create
a new project from scratch.
Creating a New Project
1. Navigate
to New Project Page: Click on the New
project button located in the top right-hand corner to access
the project creation page.
2. Create
Project Dialog: Provide the following details in the project
creation dialog:
o
Name:
Enter a suitable name for your project.
o
Description:
Add a brief description of the project.
o
Visibility:
Choose between making the project Public
or Private.
o
Version Control System:
By default, Azure DevOps uses Git (a
distributed version control system). You can also select TFVC
if you prefer a centralized version control system.
o
Work Item Process:
Select one of the following processes:
§ Basic
§ Agile
§ Scrum
§ CMMI
Work Item Processes
Basic
The Basic process is the
simplest model with only three work item types (WITs):
1. Epic:
High-level business objectives (e.g., "Improve user experience").
2. Issue:
Shippable features of the product (e.g., "Add login functionality").
3. Task:
Smaller, actionable items (e.g., "Design login button").
Tasks implement Issues, and Issues implement Epics. This hierarchical
structure allows for organized project management.
Agile
The Agile process is suitable
for teams using Agile methodologies. The main WITs are:
1. Epic
2. Feature
3. User
Story
4. Bug
5. Task
Agile offers more flexibility compared to the Basic process, with separate
tracking for development and testing activities.
Scrum
The Scrum process replaces
"User Story" with Product Backlog Item (PBI)
and "Issue" with Impediment. It is
designed for teams practicing Scrum methodology.
CMMI (Capability Maturity Model Integration)
The CMMI process is for teams
requiring a formal approach with frameworks to track requirements, risks,
change requests, and reviews.
Selecting the Work Item Process
In this project, we will use the Basic
process. Click the Create Project button to
complete the setup. Once the project is created, the project summary page will
appear.
Project Settings
To customize the project further, navigate to the Project
Settings link in the bottom left-hand corner.
General Settings
Overview
·
Rename the project.
·
Change the work item process (note: this may
require manual fixes for task states).
·
Add administrators to the project.
You can also toggle Azure DevOps services (e.g., enable only Repos if you
need a place to store source code).
Teams
Under Teams, you can:
·
Manage multiple teams (e.g., developer, sales,
or support teams).
·
Add users to specific teams.
Permissions
Permissions here are project-specific and allow fine-tuned access control.
Service Hooks
Integrate third-party tools like Zendesk. For example, customer tickets in
Zendesk can be synchronized with Azure DevOps.
Boards
Team Configuration
Set working days for the team in this section.
GitHub Connections
Connect your GitHub account to associate a GitHub repository with the Azure
DevOps project.
Repos
Repositories
Create new repositories or modify the settings of existing ones, including
security and policies.
Cross-Repo Policies
Use branch protection settings to safeguard specific branches (e.g., the
master branch). Configure additional policies, such as:
·
Minimum reviewers for pull requests.
·
Linking commits to work items.
Summary
In this part we explored creating a new Azure DevOps project and customizing its settings. While this chapter focused on basic project setup, we will revisit some settings when working with Azure Boards, Repos, and Pipelines in next part.
