Best practice for creating new workflows and projects

[Phil Bustin]

We have existing workflows and projects, some built by us and some by a vendor.  The vendor created our first JSM workflows and projects, as well as just plain Jira workflows and projects, in a new sandbox environment.  The vendor wanted to create these in production and turn them on when testing was completed, but was instead directed to create in a sandbox, and when testing was complete, re-create in a new production environment.

My question is: What is best practice for me to build new workflows, that need new custom fields, without adversely impacting our existing projects?  Work in an existing sandbox or a new one?  Create a separate production environment or use the existing one?  Also, is it best practice to create in a sandbox, and after testing, do a complete duplication of effort in production?  Create workflows and projects in production but don't publish, test with email turned off, and then publish the workflow?  What is best practice, and what procedures are required?  What is best practice for making modifications to existing projects?

Can I safely use our existing sandbox?  I recall that when I considered that months ago, the answer was no, because custom fields I create would appear in existing sandbox projects and items.  Related to this, In whatever workspace I use, should I create only new projects?  Will custom fields I create appear in existing projects and items, or will they be “invisible” unless the user clicks “More” in the right-hand display area of Jira items?  I know that any global changes I make would impact existing projects, but I may not need to make these.  Are there other impacts I need to be concerned about?

Are there courses that would definitively answer these questions?