# Change a field without opening the item

A bug turns out to be worse than it looked, or the wrong person is on a support
request. One field should not cost a dialog: click the value on the card
and change it there. The Priority row on "Settlement report totals differ by one
cent after a partial reversal", say, on the demo board for bugs when bugs are
tasks.

## Before you start

Only the fields configured for the card can be edited this way, meaning the list
on **Settings → Cards → Fields → Fields shown on cards**. The board must be live: an **As
of** snapshot switches inline editing off completely. And if **Hide empty fields
on cards** is on, a field with no value is not on the card at all, so there is
nothing to click.

## Steps

1. Click the field's value on the card. It turns into an editor in place.
2. For an ordinary field, type the new value and press **Enter** to commit.
3. For an identity field, meaning **Assigned To** plus whatever else the project
   reports as an identity field, the host's own people picker opens instead:
   start typing a name and select the person, which commits straight away.
4. **Iteration Path** and **Area Path** open a tree picker, the same shape the
   work item form offers: the box holds the full path, the project's own tree
   sits underneath (sprint dates included, collapsible branches), and typing
   narrows a **Suggestions** section that matches on the part you typed, so
   `sprint 41` finds `Claims Platform\Intake\Sprint 41`. Picking a node
   commits its full path; pressing **Enter** commits whatever the box says and
   lets the server judge it. On the card these two fields print only the last
   segment, `Sprint 41`, as the native board does, with the full path in the
   tooltip.
5. To back out, press **Escape** once, in the people picker and the tree
   picker too, even while the picker is showing suggestions. On an ordinary
   field, clicking away cancels in the same way, without writing anything.

## What you should see

The card shows the new value immediately, before the server has answered, and
the change is then written with a revision check. If a work item rule or a
permission refuses it, the card reverts to what the server says is true and a
toast carries the server's own wording, falling back to *"Azure DevOps work
item rules rejected this change."* when it gives none. If someone else edited
the item in the meantime, the board re-reads it and retries once; if that still
fails you get *"Someone else changed this item first. The board was refreshed
with their changes."*

![Editing a field on the card itself](https://anykanban.com/docs/_img/inline-field-edit.png)

## Notes

Some things on a card look editable and are not. Tags render as pills and have
no inline editor: they are changed on the work item form. Title, ID and
Work Item Type are never field rows: the title opens the form and the ID has
its own board option. The **state** is editable, but not as a field row.
Click the state name next to the dot and a dropdown offers the work item
type's own states, exactly the set its process defines, with a checkmark on
the current one. A state a process rule has closed off for this item is not
offered, the same filtering the Move-to-column menu applies, and the server
still has the final word, so a rejection reverts the card with the rule's own
message. Picking a state moves the card to that state's column. If no column
maps that state, the card moves to the **Unmapped** column on the right of the
board. If you pick a state in the Removed category, the board hides the card
and counts it in the note above the columns. The List view still shows it.

An empty value shows as **—**, except **Assigned To**, which shows
**Unassigned**; both are clickable. A value that was a number stays a
number, so a numeric field does not quietly become text. In the website demo
there is no Azure DevOps host to supply the people picker, so identity fields
fall back to a plain text box there.

## Related

- [Add an item without leaving the board](https://anykanban.com/docs/edit-in-place/add-an-item/)
- [Open the real work item form](https://anykanban.com/docs/edit-in-place/open-the-real-form/)
- [User Guide](https://anykanban.com/docs/user-guide/)