Changing Custom Field Options - impact on reporting

[smp5917]

I don't spend any time in Jira, but I'm working on a project that involves sending emails to Jira to create new issues.  The client would like the form to show new options in the dropdowns for fields like Department, but the field options in Jira have not yet been updated.  She's concerned about reporting on historical data. 

For example, if a unit was previously called "ABC" but is now "CBA", would it be better for reporting purposes to add the option "CBA" to the custom field, or to rename "ABC" to "CBA"?  What impact would changing the option have on their reporting of current and historical data?

[Benjamin · Accepted solution]

Hi @smp5917 ,

It depends on what exactly the user wants to report on would determine what option suits best. 

If you add the option CBA, then the end user will need to pull the field for both values. However, this maybe less confusing to explain to all end users in case they notice the value in their ticket change without their input. If the option is modified, then all the values will swap to the new value. In theory, there is no impact to reporting.

Hope this helps.

[smp5917]

Thank you, Benjamin!

Making sure I understand,

if they modify the option in the Department field:

1. All current and past tickets for ABC will show the new Department name CBA
2. Any custom reports for ABC will need to be updated to search for CBA?

if they add CBA:

1. Existing tickets for ABC will remain ABC
2. New tickets can be made with CBA (I did read that you can disable options and maintain historical data, so people wouldn't be selecting the old value)
3. If they have custom reports for ABC, they will need to update those to include both ABC and CBA

In this particular case, the unit's name was changed YEARS ago (before I got here, 6 years ago) so there shouldn't be too much confusion over the change in the system!

[Benjamin]

All tickets should change once the value is modified. It will show up properly in reporting depending on how that report is curated. If it's store in a cache or in its own database, then the data will reflect differently and should be tested. But if its pulling data right into the report after the change, then it should be fine.

If you add the new value instead, then you would query with both values so your counts are not skewed in your report.

since it was changed years ago, then probably easier to go with the first option. I would just setup a bogus field and test it against the reports to make all the report outcome is as expected.