Multiple types of parent links not behaving the same.

[Christa Meck]

OK here's the diagram:

Can anyone explain this to me please?

If I use the red box Add a child issue OR the red box Parent, I'm bound by the Issue Hierarchy.  Child issues show up in the red box Child issues area, and the breadcrumb does it's thing (but only the immediate parent, apparently?)

But if I use the green Link Issue button, and I set this Epic as a parent of another Epic, why does it show in the Linked Issues green section with a Parent of descriptor?

If it's a parent, shouldn't the children be altogether?

Please do not lecture me on the finer points of project management and how making Epics parents of Epics shouldn't be a thing.  We can debate that in another thread somewhere sometime.  

[Trudy Claspill · Accepted solution]

Hello @Christa Meck 

The green Linked Issues area and the Link Issue function creates a generic link between two issues. Regardless of the visible label of that link Jira does not see that generic link as a true parent/child relationship.

Jira comes with built-in link types such as Cloners and Relates. Jira Administrators can create custom link types and give them any name that they want. All of these are consider "generic" by Jira. Because these are entirely customizable by Jira Admins, Jira cannot determine any specific relationship rules based on the link types.

The only parent/child relationships that Jira will recognize, and the grouping of issues in the Child Issues block, is based on the use of the Parent field and the Add a Child Issue option, and the Issue Type Hierarchy that is defined globally for Jira.

[Christa Meck]

I completely missed that Parent of/is Child of was configured in Issue Links.

Thank you!

- Christa