Is there a way to customize the work item colors in TFS 2012 kanban board?

Question

I would like to differentiate the work item types (i.e. product backlog items vs bugs) using colors or icons, to improve the board visualization.

Answer 1

No, there is no non-hack way to change the color of the cards. This functionality is rumored to be "on the backlog" however.

Answer 2

It is possible in TFS 2013.

1. Open the Command Prompt
2. cd %programfiles(x86)%\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\Common7\IDE
3. witadmin exportprocessconfig /collection:your col. /p:project /f:file
4. Edit the exported file, see below
5. witadmin importprocessconfig /collection:your col. /p:project /f:file

The process config should contain a section work item colors, if the section is missing just add it (e.g. at the end just before the end of ProjectProcessConfiguration)

<WorkItemColors>
 <WorkItemColor primary="FF009CCC" secondary="FFD6ECF2" name="Product Backlog Item" />
 <WorkItemColor primary="FFF2CB1D" secondary="FFF6F5D2" name="Task" />
 <WorkItemColor primary="FFCC293D" secondary="FFFAEAE5" name="Bug" />
</WorkItemColors>

The primary color is used in lists and the secondary color in boards.

Answer 3

I had the exact same problem. The last 7 months or so I have built a chrome plugin that does this (and much more) in my spare time as a project to learn Javascript and to make my daily work easier. Our team and a few more is using it since a while back with good results. Now It is available for free in Chrome Store under the name TFS Kanban buddy.

https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/tfs-kanban-buddy/bnkanimchogkpkjbabhoficohanbhalp

The code is available on GitHub as well if someone feels like fiddling with it.