New Heirachy level not displaying as a level above EPIC in Jira Software Cloud Premium

[Carolyn Barbierato]

Hi

I have upgraded to Jira Software Cloud Premium in order to access Advanced Roadmaps and Hierarchy organisation.  I need to add another hierarchy (called "Initiative") and have followed the steps by adding the initiative issue type to my board and have also added it at the Level 1 heirachy level above Epic in the Hierarchy organization screen.   However, when I go to create a new Initiative issue in my Classic Kanban board, it doesn't show at a level above the EIC level, instead it gives me the same level as Story or Task.

Would appreciate the community's thoughts on what I am missing or doing wrong.

Thanks very much

Kind Regards

Carolyn

[Ste Wright · Accepted solution]

Hi @Carolyn Barbierato 

Aside from Sub-Tasks, all issues are classed as standard issue types - including Epic.

The Epic utilises a special relationship using the "Epic Link" field to become a parent of stories and tasks.

Initiatives (or any issue type) in the Advanced Roadmap hierarchy does something similar - you need to ensure you add the Parent Link field to the screen that Epics use. This will allow you to set the Epic as a child of the Initiative!

Just to note this doesn't effect how a board works - so there isn't an Initiative Panel or similar. If Initiatives are appearing on your board and you don't want them to, you'll need to modify the Board Filter to exclude this issue type.

Let us know if this answers your query - or if you need any specific instructions for adding Parent Link field or similar :)

Ste

[Carolyn Barbierato]

Hi Stephen, thank you for your response, it is really helpful and now I better understand how the hierarchies work in Jira.  Could you please point me in the right direction for the instructions on how to add the Parent Link in an Epic issue.  Thanks and Kind Regards, Carolyn

[Ste Wright]

Hi @Carolyn Barbierato 

To add the Parent Link to the Epic's screen, this is how to do it:

1. As a Jira Admin, go to Jira Settings > Issues > Screens
2. Locate a screen relevant to Epics, and press "Configure"
3. Scroll to the bottom and enter "Parent Link" into the "Select Field" box
4. Locate/add the field to the screen - then move it into the most appropriate position
5. Repeat for all screens relevant to Epics - so that the field is consistently available across all projects that need it

If you are not sure which screens are used by Epics:

1. Go to Jira Settings > Issues > Issue Type Screen Schemes
2. Select a scheme which has at least one project listed against it
3. Look which Screen Scheme is applied to the Epic - if it's none, the Screen Scheme for Default will be being used
4. Click into the appropriate Screen Scheme - and then into the Screen itself. There might be multiple screens to modify, split into different operations; Create, Edit and/or View
5. Add the field, then repeat the process for each Issue Type Screen Scheme

Ste

[Laura Spencer]

@Ste Wright  can you add 2 levels of hierarchy - for example Initiative > Feature > Epic > Story and see them in the roadmap view with premium?

[Ste Wright]

Hi @Laura Spencer 

You can, see instructions on how to do it on this page.

Whilst the instructions talk through adding the Initiative layer as an example, you can add as many levels as you require!

Ste

[Meital Adir]

Hi @Ste Wright 

Following that topic, I've added new issue type above Epic name "Feature", When I create issue in Epic I see feature type available for creation under the epic. is it possible to remove it when click on "Create issue in epic" button?

Thanks,

Meital

[Bart]

@Meital Adir I've encountered this too. This is a rather nasty bug I believe as this can break the plan:
https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JSWCLOUD-19128

[Ste Wright]

Hi @Meital Adir , @Bart 

A workaround I've used to counter this is to use an Automation rule - for example:

• Trigger: Issue Created / Issue Updated
• Condition: Epic Link is not empty, and Issue Type = Initiative, Feature, etc
• Action: Remove Epic Link
• Action: Send user who triggered the rule an email, stating that Issue Type cannot be a child of an Epic

^ It keeps the data integrity high, and helps users learn what the hierarchy should be :)

Ste