Configuring a default description

You can configure a default value customization so that new work items include guidance in the Description field.

1. Open the Attribute Customization page.
   1. In the Team Artifacts view of the Work Items perspective, right-click the project area and select Open.
   2. Click the Process Configuration tab.
   3. Expand Project Configuration > Configuration Data > Work Items, and then click Attribute Customization.
      The Attribute Customization page opens.
2. Select Default Values and click Add.
   The Add Configuration dialog box opens.

   
   1. In the Name field, type a name that describes the customization.
   2. In the Provider list, select Multi-Line HTML.
   3. Click OK.
      The Add Configuration dialog box closes.
3. In the Configuration section of the Attribute Customization page, in the HTML field, enter the text that you want to include in the Description field of new work items.
   You can use formatting such as bold and italics.

   Tip: To add formatted text to the HTML field, create the text in another application and then paste it in this field.

   

   Click Save.

4. In the Configuration section in the left pane, under Project Configuration > Configuration Data > Work Items, click Types and Attributes.
   The Types and Attributes page opens.
   1. In the Work Item Types section, select the work item type, such as Defect or Task, that contains the attribute that you want to apply the customization to.
   2. Scroll to the Attributes section. Select the attribute to which you want to apply the customization and click Edit.

   Alternatively, you can click Add to add an attribute, and then apply the customization to the new attribute.

5. In the Edit Built-in Attribute dialog box, in the Default Value list, select the customization and click OK.
   
6. Click Save to save your changes to the project area.

Results

When users create work items, the Description field is populated with the guidance that you specified in the customization.