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Understanding Jira Issue Types, from Basics to Advanced Hierarchies
Rachel Wright
February 5, 2024
10
min read
What is an Issue Type?
In Jira, an issue represents an individual thing “to do,” like fixing a typo, signing a contract, developing a new feature, resetting a user’s password, or taking the intern to lunch.
Issues are the way to track work – large or small. All issues are classified by type. Example default types in Jira Software are bug, story, task, and sub-task. In Jira Service Management, example default types are change, service request, and incident. Additional issue types are present when new Jira projects are created from built-in templates. Jira administrators can also create custom issue types for additional use cases.
In addition to their classification value, issue types also allow issues to have different workflows, different sets of screens, or both. For example, a bug workflow might contain a verification step, but a task workflow might not. Issue types and schemes make different procedures and information collection possible.
Issue Type Relationships
By default, there are two issue type levels. Jira calls them “standard” issue types and “sub-task” issue types.
I find that wording a little confusing, however. I like to think of standard issue types as “parents” and sub-task issue types as “children.” For example, if the parent type is “Task,” the child type is “sub-task.”
A sub-task can be a child of any other parent issue type. For example, it’s common for development teams to break up the work required to complete a story into multiple sub-tasks.
Using Epics
In addition to the default levels for standard (“parent”) and sub-task (“child”) issues, Jira has another issue type called epic. An epic in software development represents a large initiative encompassing smaller issues. Other teams can use epics too, however. A support team might use one to represent a big effort like an annual hardware refresh. Or a business team might use one for a multi-month project like a new product launch.
Example Epic Use
The example epic (SCRUM-4) is for tracking a website redesign initiative. It’s quite a large effort, so it’s broken down into the four smaller issues pictured.
The example story SCRUM-8 is part of the SCRUM-4 epic. SCRUM-8 is further broken down into three additional sub-tasks.
Now, the issues are accomplishable in size, and each can be assigned to a specific team member for completion.
An Epic’s Special Level
Epics have a special relationship to other issues, so I refer to them as an unofficial "grandparent" level.
As shown in the diagram:
- an epic is the highest, at the pseudo-grandparent level,
- a sub-task is the lowest, at the “child” level,
- and all the other issue types are at the “parent” level.
.png)
New “Parent” Field
As announced in October 2023, a new “parent” field is launching for company-managed projects in Jira Software Cloud applications. The new feature is estimated to be available to all Jira Cloud customers by February 13, 2024. The parent field replaces the way parent issues are associated with epics. The original “Epic link” and “Parent link” fields are replaced by a single “Parent” field.
This new functionality strengthens the epic-to-parent issue relationship.
Note: Parent field functionality is already in place for team-managed projects in Jira Software Cloud. This change does not apply to Jira Server and Data Center. Those deployment types have a different field called “Parent link,” which is used with Atlassian’s portfolio planning features.
New Issue Type Level Numbering
In Jira Software Cloud, issue types have a numerical hierarchy level. Epics are at level 1, parent issues are at 0, and sub-tasks are at -1.
In addition to establishing the issue relationship, the numbering system lets you quickly find all issues at a certain level. For example, instead of manually entering all the parent issue types in a JQL statement, you can automatically include all types using the level number.
Here’s the difference:
Ways to Add Additional Hierarchy Levels
But what if you need additional levels above epic? There are two ways to expand hierarchical capabilities.
Using Built-in Features
In Jira Software Cloud, upgrade to the Premium or Enterprise plan to modify the default hierarchy levels or create new ones.
Read more about the different Jira Cloud plans at: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/pricing
Roadmap Planning Tools
Jira Software Cloud Premium and Data Center have advanced road mapping features to plan and track work across multiple teams and Jira projects. For Cloud Enterprise customers, there’s an even more advanced tool called Jira Align. These planning tools contain related features like unlimited levels of hierarchy above the epic level and advanced dependency tracking.
Using Apps
Another way to add hierarchy levels in Jira Cloud and Data Center is to use an app from the Atlassian Marketplace. Search for “hierarchy,” “portfolio”, or similar terms at: marketplace.atlassian.com.
Custom Hierarchy Use Case
Here’s an additional hierarchy use case from one of my clients. Each year, the organization selects strategic priorities for the business to focus on. They have many diverse locations, so how the goal is accomplished often differs between continents or countries. What might work well in one part of the world might not in another. Or one country might have specific laws or guidelines that don’t apply to the next. So, the company adds additional hierarchy levels in Jira to divide and track the different work.
In the example, three new issue types are created and placed above the epic.
The highest level is for a strategic priority. The next level is for a specific area of the world. Then, there’s a level for a particular country or location. Next, an action to accomplish the goal is tracked at the epic level. The epic is further broken down into more manageable actions using tasks and sub-tasks.
Here’s an example hierarchy for the goal of increasing employee satisfaction.
The extra hierarchy levels allow the organization to keep everyone working towards the same strategic goal, even when the specific actions differ. All actions must have a Jira issue, and all issues must support the needs of the level above.
How do you use built-in or additional Jira issue hierarchy at your organization?
Resources
- Upcoming changes: 'epic-link' replaced with 'parent' – https://support.atlassian.com/jira-software-cloud/docs/upcoming-changes-epic-link-replaced-with-parent/
- Configure the issue type hierarchy – https://support.atlassian.com/jira-cloud-administration/docs/configure-the-issue-type-hierarchy
- Configure custom hierarchy levels in your plan – https://support.atlassian.com/jira-software-cloud/docs/configure-custom-hierarchy-levels-in-advanced-roadmaps/
- JQL fields: Hierarchy levels – https://support.atlassian.com/jira-software-cloud/docs/jql-fields/#Hierarchy-level
WRITTEN BY OUR EXPERT
Rachel Wright
Atlassian Consultant
Rachel Wright started using Jira and Confluence in 2011, became an administrator in 2013, and was certified in 2016. Rachel also uses Atlassian tools in her personal life for accomplishing goals and tracking tasks. Her first book, the “Jira Strategy Admin Workbook“, was written in Confluence and progress was tracked in Jira!
What’s next?
Knuckles has suggestions
Enterprise App Configuration. Re-Imagined.
© Copyright Salto 2024 | Various trademarks held by their respective owners
Sort by Topics, Resources
Topics
Thank you! Your submission has been received!
Oops! Something went wrong while submitting the form.
Salto for
Jira
Jira
SHARE
Understanding Jira Issue Types, from Basics to Advanced Hierarchies
Rachel Wright
February 5, 2024
10
min read
What is an Issue Type?
In Jira, an issue represents an individual thing “to do,” like fixing a typo, signing a contract, developing a new feature, resetting a user’s password, or taking the intern to lunch.
Issues are the way to track work – large or small. All issues are classified by type. Example default types in Jira Software are bug, story, task, and sub-task. In Jira Service Management, example default types are change, service request, and incident. Additional issue types are present when new Jira projects are created from built-in templates. Jira administrators can also create custom issue types for additional use cases.
In addition to their classification value, issue types also allow issues to have different workflows, different sets of screens, or both. For example, a bug workflow might contain a verification step, but a task workflow might not. Issue types and schemes make different procedures and information collection possible.
Issue Type Relationships
By default, there are two issue type levels. Jira calls them “standard” issue types and “sub-task” issue types.
I find that wording a little confusing, however. I like to think of standard issue types as “parents” and sub-task issue types as “children.” For example, if the parent type is “Task,” the child type is “sub-task.”
A sub-task can be a child of any other parent issue type. For example, it’s common for development teams to break up the work required to complete a story into multiple sub-tasks.
Using Epics
In addition to the default levels for standard (“parent”) and sub-task (“child”) issues, Jira has another issue type called epic. An epic in software development represents a large initiative encompassing smaller issues. Other teams can use epics too, however. A support team might use one to represent a big effort like an annual hardware refresh. Or a business team might use one for a multi-month project like a new product launch.
Example Epic Use
The example epic (SCRUM-4) is for tracking a website redesign initiative. It’s quite a large effort, so it’s broken down into the four smaller issues pictured.
The example story SCRUM-8 is part of the SCRUM-4 epic. SCRUM-8 is further broken down into three additional sub-tasks.
Now, the issues are accomplishable in size, and each can be assigned to a specific team member for completion.
An Epic’s Special Level
Epics have a special relationship to other issues, so I refer to them as an unofficial "grandparent" level.
As shown in the diagram:
- an epic is the highest, at the pseudo-grandparent level,
- a sub-task is the lowest, at the “child” level,
- and all the other issue types are at the “parent” level.
New “Parent” Field
As announced in October 2023, a new “parent” field is launching for company-managed projects in Jira Software Cloud applications. The new feature is estimated to be available to all Jira Cloud customers by February 13, 2024. The parent field replaces the way parent issues are associated with epics. The original “Epic link” and “Parent link” fields are replaced by a single “Parent” field.
This new functionality strengthens the epic-to-parent issue relationship.
Note: Parent field functionality is already in place for team-managed projects in Jira Software Cloud. This change does not apply to Jira Server and Data Center. Those deployment types have a different field called “Parent link,” which is used with Atlassian’s portfolio planning features.
New Issue Type Level Numbering
In Jira Software Cloud, issue types have a numerical hierarchy level. Epics are at level 1, parent issues are at 0, and sub-tasks are at -1.
In addition to establishing the issue relationship, the numbering system lets you quickly find all issues at a certain level. For example, instead of manually entering all the parent issue types in a JQL statement, you can automatically include all types using the level number.
Here’s the difference:
Ways to Add Additional Hierarchy Levels
But what if you need additional levels above epic? There are two ways to expand hierarchical capabilities.
Using Built-in Features
In Jira Software Cloud, upgrade to the Premium or Enterprise plan to modify the default hierarchy levels or create new ones.
Read more about the different Jira Cloud plans at: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/pricing
Roadmap Planning Tools
Jira Software Cloud Premium and Data Center have advanced road mapping features to plan and track work across multiple teams and Jira projects. For Cloud Enterprise customers, there’s an even more advanced tool called Jira Align. These planning tools contain related features like unlimited levels of hierarchy above the epic level and advanced dependency tracking.
Using Apps
Another way to add hierarchy levels in Jira Cloud and Data Center is to use an app from the Atlassian Marketplace. Search for “hierarchy,” “portfolio”, or similar terms at: marketplace.atlassian.com.
Custom Hierarchy Use Case
Here’s an additional hierarchy use case from one of my clients. Each year, the organization selects strategic priorities for the business to focus on. They have many diverse locations, so how the goal is accomplished often differs between continents or countries. What might work well in one part of the world might not in another. Or one country might have specific laws or guidelines that don’t apply to the next. So, the company adds additional hierarchy levels in Jira to divide and track the different work.
In the example, three new issue types are created and placed above the epic.
The highest level is for a strategic priority. The next level is for a specific area of the world. Then, there’s a level for a particular country or location. Next, an action to accomplish the goal is tracked at the epic level. The epic is further broken down into more manageable actions using tasks and sub-tasks.
Here’s an example hierarchy for the goal of increasing employee satisfaction.
The extra hierarchy levels allow the organization to keep everyone working towards the same strategic goal, even when the specific actions differ. All actions must have a Jira issue, and all issues must support the needs of the level above.
How do you use built-in or additional Jira issue hierarchy at your organization?
Resources
- Upcoming changes: 'epic-link' replaced with 'parent' – https://support.atlassian.com/jira-software-cloud/docs/upcoming-changes-epic-link-replaced-with-parent/
- Configure the issue type hierarchy – https://support.atlassian.com/jira-cloud-administration/docs/configure-the-issue-type-hierarchy
- Configure custom hierarchy levels in your plan – https://support.atlassian.com/jira-software-cloud/docs/configure-custom-hierarchy-levels-in-advanced-roadmaps/
- JQL fields: Hierarchy levels – https://support.atlassian.com/jira-software-cloud/docs/jql-fields/#Hierarchy-level
Enterprise App Configuration. Re-Imagined.
© Copyright Salto 2024 | Various trademarks held by their respective owners