Missing Quick Add item from Azure Boards with Custom Board Levels

Question

I have a set of custom boards that mirror the default SCRUM boards, so that I can work with different Work Items then the rest of our project.

In the below image, I can quickly add a Project to an Organization (not shown), or a Task to a Phase by clicking the little + on the left hand side. However, that + is missing from the Project, so I am not able to easily link a Phase to a Project.

Screenshot of Azure Backlog with missing + button

However, if I switch to a board of a team using the default WIT, then I am able to quickly add those together.

I have read through the documentation for Azure Devops but I am not able to determine why it is missing.

Edit:

Here is a copy of how the process is currently setup, I have them setup in paralle with similar colours. So Organizations is comparable to the default Epics, Projects with Goal. From what I can tell, everything seems to be set correctly and I am just missing some other little check box. Devops Process

Answer 1

You haven't shared how you define the backlog levels in your custom process. Assuming that you have defined the backlog level as below, where the Level 1 includes Organization, Level 2 includes Project, Backlog items includes Phase,

I can create new Phase with the help of the + button in front of a Project.

Please check if you have defined the work item type Phase under the level of Backlog items

UPDATED

Based on your update, I can reproduce the issue, when there is no enabled work item type directly beneath the backlog level Consultant Projects. (The work item type of Epic on the Epics level is disabled in your screenshot.)

Even Epic is enabled, you can only add new Epic items with the + button in front of a Project item, because it is the work item on the backlog level directly beneath Consultant Projects level.

Per your original expectation to add new phase items with the + button in front of a Project item, if you expect phase to stay as a requirement backlog, you should modify your backlog levels of this process like below and make sure there is no other backlog level between Consultant Projects and Backlog Items

Hope the analysis could help resolve your concerns.