What is the difference between project types? (JIRA AGILE)

[Nick]

This question has been asked already about standard JIRA.

https://answers.atlassian.com/questions/188911/what-is-the-difference-between-project-types

But in JIRA agile, when creating a project you are presented with six options:

- Simple Issue Tracking

- Software Development

- Project Management

- Agile Scrum

- Agile Kanban

- JIRA classic

I suspect that the Agile projects are just the Software Development project type with an agile board and workflow attached, but does anyone know for sure? Are there any other differences? It appears that I can't have a "traditional" software development project in JIRA Agile because (for example) the resolution field is managed by workflow and cannot be set.

[David Maye · Accepted solution]

Basically all the project types are the same EXCEPT for the associated workflow/workflow schemes and corresponding default issue types.

The reason they are different is to help you determine which workflow/issue types you should start to use depending on use case (hence the names: Simple Issue Tracking, Software Development, etc). Not all users of JIRA use it for bug tracking, thus why there are more than one.

The AGILE project types are exactly the same as the other types except the workflow is more conducive with project management using Agile (such as moving cards around in work mode and tranistions/steps are labeled a bit differently). Of course, all of the workflows/schemes/default issue types can be modified/changed later if someone so chooses. These are merely meant to be starting off points.

[Gareth Wilson]

The Diagrams above are perfect to help decide which project type to choose - Where can I see an overview of all 6 types please?

I should mention we are using Jira Agile and when I select a Project Type there is no summary given like that above

[Deleted user]

@david-maye-atlassian, where is the page/documentation that shows the images you posted above? Being able to see the default issue types and workflow for each template is imperative for making an intelligent decision when setting up a new project, and I still haven't seen any documentation for the details of each project type.

Can you please assist the community in this? It's obviously not easy to find, and I know others are spending way too much time with the same problem I'm having.

Thanks in advance!

[Eslam Almohandes]

These images appear when you select the project Type and click Next

[Petra Goldstein]

David, the first line of your response is the exact information I've been looking for for a long time. For some reason I have not been able to find those simple to-the-point specifics in the Atlassian documentation.

>>Basically all the project types are the same EXCEPT for the associated workflow/workflow schemes and corresponding default issue types.

Thanks!!!

[Richard Getz]

@David Maye your graphics were removed.

[Sean M]

While the accepted answer is a little helpful, what would be very helpful would be a single page of documentation that provides an overview of the six default templates mentioned by Nick in his original post. This would be very helpful for our group, who field several requests for new projects each week and want to point requestors to some simple documentation that will help them choose which template they need/want.

Does such documentation exist? If not, can one of those in the know at Atlassian create one?

[Deleted user]

Has anyone found documentation for exactly what each of these default templates includes? How is anyone supposed to make an informed decision about which project type is right for their project based only on the name of the template?

David Maye's image is helpful for the 2 templates shown, but I can't find even that minimal info on the other templates.

[Lauren]

Grant, thank you!  Right now I'm just trying to find a project for marketing content, but the one that's designed for that doesn't give us a backlog or the ability to create columns.  I'm semi-new-ish to Jira and wish there was a comparison table for me to find exactly what I'm looking for.  While I appreciate the project templates, I hate that they've taken features away (like editing columns or having a backlog) in certain projects.  UGH! 

[Javier Rivera]

For those who landed here like I did, description of the business project types at least:

• https://confluence.atlassian.com/jiracorecloud/project-management-with-jira-780866593.html
• https://confluence.atlassian.com/jiracorecloud/task-management-with-jira-780866594.html
• https://confluence.atlassian.com/jiracorecloud/process-management-with-jira-780866595.html

If anyone can find links for Agile projects, would be helpful.

[bcerk99]

This is not exactly it, but may be a helpful comparison:

https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiraserver071/jira-applications-and-project-types-overview-802592214.html

[Ryan Porter]

"Simple Issue Tracking" and "Project Management" appear to be identical.  Why are there two different options if they're the same, and why is it so hard to find documentation on that?

[Kasi Jammeh]

Where is a summary of ALL the project types?

[Cherene Etemadi]

I was responsible for migrating my marketing agency to JIRA. The obvious answer would have been to use a Business Project or Project Management project type for our marketing projects, but they're not customizable enough, in my opinion. I found that using JIRA Software Development projects for our marketing projects was the best option, although it required a lot of customization to do what we wanted it to do. However, that's why we chose JIRA in the first place: it's highly customizable. I wrote this detailed article about how our agency uses JIRA for marketing projects. I couldn't find anything online when I was researching how to do this. Has anyone done something similar? Would love some feedback. 

[Pedro Cora]

Hi Nick,

Actually, these are only templates that create schemes for you. The schemes associated with projects can be modified later. Also, you can use a tradicional development project without any problems.

[Nick]

Thanks Pedro - I know they are templates but the question is which template to choose when starting a new project? If there isn't any difference, why have different templates?

And yes, traditional works in Agile - it turns out my problem with traditional was something else...

[TJ Baker]

Does anyone know if we can edit these default types, and if so, where / how?  If not, can we create our own to be shown as the others for selecting when creating a new project?

[Nick]

I'm going to assume that my assupmtions are right (!) and close this question.