Adding Outlook Emails to A Jira Project as a Work Item or Task

[#1]

You can use Outlook to create Jira Work Items and Tasks!

Did you know you could take an email in Outlook and add it to a Jira Project with the click of a button (or a few)? You can add a Jira Work Item to a Project, or add a Jira Task to an already existing Work Item. Some of you may already know about this, but for those of you who don't, it can be quite helpful.

A Bit of Background

With the Jira Cloud App in Outlook, you can easily take an email you want to add to a project and move it into Jira as a work item, or add it to an existing work item as a Task, all without having to open Jira. I learned this while working on a project where we track Customer requests for information. All of the important information in your email, including attachments, can be added to the work item of your choosing. This helps for reference later, without ever even having to open your Jira application. 

App Installation Instructions for Jira Cloud

• To download the App, click the "More Apps" button in the left side panel menu of your Outlook application.
• Once there, search for (or click on if available) the Jira Cloud App.
• Once you have added this App, you can also add it to your ribbon it Outlook for ease of use.

Using the App in Outlook

• Once you have the Jira App installed and have added it to your ribbon (if you like), go to (highlight) the email you would like to turn into a Work Item, or add to an existing Work Item as a Task.
• Click on your newly installed "Jira Cloud" application, where a drop down menu will appear.
• Choose from one of 3 options, including "View Issue", "Create Issue", or "Send to Issue", based on what you would like to do.
• Once you have made your choice, a Jira Cloud box/menu will appear on the right hand side of your Outlook Application.
• Choose your Jira site you use, and then choose which project you would like to view, add to, or send to.

Important Additional Information

• Different fields will then populate based on the specific project you have chosen.
• Your description field, any added fields, and any added information in the "Details" box for your specified project will appear in this window for you to fill out. This way, you can fill out the information directly through Outlook, without having to open Jira and create a work item.
• When you are filling out the information in the window for creating the item, you can also choose what attachments from the email you would like to add to your Work Item or Task. This is helpful too, as some people have jpg items in their signatures, so you can remove those from the attachments it is trying to include.
• Once you are done filling all applicable fields (they can also be left blank if you choose), click the "Create" (or "Send" etc based on the option you have chosen) button to create your item and add it to Jira. When you go to view your project, you will have the Work Item you added to the chosen Project, or the Task you added to an existing Work Item in the chosen Project. 

I hope this is helpful to some of you, and if you have any questions, please comment them! If I do not know the answer to your question, I will research the answer and let you know!

[chad_leblanc]

Sending this to my Admin!  This will be super helpful!

[Sara_Schneider]

@chad_leblanc Awesome that's super exciting! If you have any questions feel free to reach out! I would have made it more of an instruction if I could have easily added screenshots lol. I also forgot to add that when you are filling out the information in the window for creating the item, you can also choose what attachments from the email you would like to add to your Work Item or Task. This is helpful too since some people have the little jpg items in their signatures and whatnot, so you can remove those from what it is adding.

[Ivan Bigelow]

Hello @Sara_Schneider I am attempting to use the plugin with Outlook. I have it connected to one site, but I need to connect it to an additional site. However, it does not work for the second site. It is intermittent. 

So the 1st site works without issue. When I attempt to connect to another site the option to connect to the 1st site comes up. Can you direct me to where I can get some support for the plugin?

[Sara_Schneider]

Hi @Ivan Bigelow,

Sorry for the late response, I was on vacation. I am not sure whic sites you're trying to connect to exactly, do you mean 2 Jira sites? I am not sure if it is capable of doing that properly, but I have never tried. I believe that you would have to contact Microsoft for that to see if the plugin can work with both of them at once (with full functionality). Sorry I don't have a better answer! If you find out, let me know what they say! Thank you :)