Clarity on "Parent" vs "Parent Link" in Jira Data Center

[Dan Spearing]

I have seen conflicting information on the "Parent" vs "Parent Link" in Jira Commercial Data Center. I'm only a project admin so I can't see system settings. I don't see "Parent" as an allowable field in any of my Field, Screens, or Scheme configurations. I only see "Parent Link". 

Does Jira Commercial Data Center version 10.3.12 have the "Parent" field available? A couple things I can't find (and have had at other companies that had a different Jira version):

• Breadcrumbs in an edit screen.
• Ability to add Child Tasks from within an Epic edit screen.

I just want to make sure if the "Parent" field is simply not supported in 10.3.12 DC, or if my System Admin just needs to change some settings.

Thanks in advance!

[Hector Florin · Accepted solution]

Hi @Dan Spearing ,

I hope you're doing well.

I've done some research, and this is what I found:

In Jira Data Center, the Parent field is a core, internal Jira field that represents a true hierarchical (structural) relationship between issues. It’s primarily used for sub-tasks and is only exposed when an issue type is allowed to have a real parent.

On the other hand, Parent Link is an Advanced Roadmaps custom field used for higher-level planning (for example, linking Epics to Initiatives); it does not represent true issue containment and exists only when Advanced Roadmaps is enabled.

https://confluence.atlassian.com/roadmaps-kb/how-to-properly-configure-the-parent-link-field-on-screens-in-jira-data-center-1295682320.html

https://community.atlassian.com/forums/Jira-articles/Introducing-the-new-Parent-field-in-company-managed-projects/ba-p/2377758

I hope it helps.

Thank you.

Regards,
Hector

[Dan Spearing]

Thanks for the response @Hector Florin !

My desire is for a true hierarchical (structural) relationship between issues, and to be able to see these relationships in a Jira "Plan", which is what I "thought" was an Advanced Roadmaps feature. I can create a Jira Plan, and see issues that are linked using the "Parent Link" field. So that isn't too bad. But it sounds like you are saying that I "can't" have the "Parent" field and Advanced Roadmaps??? Also, I thought I read somewhere that the Big Picture plug-in adversely impacts the use of Advances Roadmaps or using the "Parent" field, but I can't find conclusive data on that either. We have the Big Picture plugin.

The things I want that I "think" are tied to using (or having the project configured to use) the "Parent" field are:

• Breadcrumbs at the top of an Edit/View screen. This is not showing, even when issues are linked with the "Parent Link" field.
• I want to see the table of child issues in an Epic's edit screen that had the "+" available to add a child issue directly to the Epic without the need to do one (or more) operations to create the Parent/Child relationship using a "Parent Link" field. 
• As a bonus, I would also like to have about 5 Issue Type hierarchy levels.

To add to all of this, I only have project admin rights so it is likely that I will have to walk the Jira System Admins through the process of making any configuration changes. This makes things rather tricky since I can't see the system configuration as to what options are available. 

I appreciate any insight/guidance.

[Dan Spearing]

We have Jira Data Center Enterprise 10.3.12. 

No "Parent" field, only "Parent Link".

Using Advanced Roadmaps.

No Breadcrumbs on issue screens. Some places on-line state breadcrumbs are created from the "Parent" field (which I don't have) and others state it follows the "Parent Link" which is not working for me.

Is this a configuration issue? 

Could really use a point in the right direction.

Thanks!

[Hector Florin]

Hi @Dan Spearing ,

Thank you for your update. 

What you’re seeing is expected behavior in Jira Data Center 10.3.12.

The Parent field is not configurable and only exists for sub-tasks.
Advanced Roadmaps uses Parent Link, which enables multi-level planning only inside Plans, not in Jira issue screens.

Because of this:

• Breadcrumbs will not appear

• Epic issue screens will not show child tables

• Admins cannot “turn this on”

BigPicture and Advanced Roadmaps each provide planning hierarchies, but neither changes Jira’s native issue screen behavior.

Optional but helpful:
If what you want is visible, structural parent/child relationships on issue screens (breadcrumbs, inline child tables, adding children from a parent issue), that’s not something Jira Data Center itself supports. Teams that need that often use hierarchy/visualization apps like BigPicture or Structure / Structure.Gantt, which provide their own UI elements independent of Jira’s built-in Parent/Parent Link behavior.

Helpful links:

• Atlassian on configuring Parent Link and how it behaves on screens: https://confluence.atlassian.com/roadmaps-kb/how-to-properly-configure-the-parent-link-field-on-screens-in-jira-data-center-1295682320.html

• Community discussion about using Parent Link with Advanced Roadmaps: https://community.atlassian.com/forums/Jira-questions/Advanced-Roadmap-Links-between-parent-and-child/qaq-p/2259715

• General Advanced Roadmaps documentation and tutorials: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/guides/advanced-roadmaps/tutorials
  
  

I hope it helps.

Regards,
Hector

[Dan Spearing]

Thank you @Hector Florin !

I came from a place that had Jira Cloud, which I know is different, and it had features that made so much more sense to me and my large team. We were using Advanced Roadmaps as well. Every issue type had a "Parent" without "special case features" based on where your issue was in the hierarchy (Parent in this issue, Epic Link in this Issue, Feature Link in this Issue, and Parent Link in this issue). Showed breadcrumbs for super-easy navigation and easy creation of child issues within an issue at any level. 

I have developers on my new team that are also using "Linked Issues" to create all kinds of bad parent/child relationships. An issue can be "Parent of" 3 issues and also have children of 3 completely different issues, Epic Links set to great grandparents, and it appears that an issue can link itself as a "child of" multiple parents (I didn't select Save on the Link screen to know if it would actually complete this operation but it did allow me to select multiple parents in the dropdown), etc. All this is creating Projects that are confusing and do not display correctly in Plan views. May show up in Big Picture a little better in certain cases. I just don't "get it" I guess. 

Is the limitation because of the DC version of 10.3.12, or is it a Cloud vs DC thing? Does a newer version of DC act more like I experienced in the Cloud version?

[Hector Florin]

Hi @Dan Spearing ,

Thank you for your update. This is a great question, and your experience from Jira Cloud is directly relevant here.

What you’re running into is not a Jira Data Center version limitation (10.3.12 vs newer), but a fundamental difference between Jira Cloud and Jira Data Center. Even on the latest Data Center versions, Jira does not behave the same way Cloud does when it comes to hierarchy.

In Jira Cloud, Atlassian introduced a unified hierarchy model:

• Every issue has a single Parent field, regardless of its level

• A Story’s Parent is always its Epic

• An Epic’s Parent might be a Feature or Initiative

• Breadcrumbs are automatically shown at the top of the issue
  (e.g., Initiative → Epic → Story → Sub-task)

• You can create child issues directly from any parent issue screen

• Jira actively prevents an issue from having multiple parents

This creates a clear, enforced hierarchy that works consistently in both issue views and Advanced Roadmaps.

In Jira Data Center, the hierarchy model is legacy and fragmented:

• Parent exists only for sub-tasks

• Stories use Epic Link

• Higher-level relationships use Parent Link, which only exists inside Advanced Roadmaps Plans

• Linked Issues are generic and unrestricted

For example:

• A Story can have an Epic Link set to one Epic, while also being linked as “is child of” another Epic using issue links

• An issue can appear as a “parent of” multiple unrelated issues and also be a “child of” several others via links

• Jira allows users to create circular or contradictory relationships because links are not hierarchical

• These relationships may look different (or broken) depending on whether you view them in Plans, BigPicture, or standard issue screens

Because Jira DC does not enforce a single parent, this often leads to exactly the confusion you’re describing: inconsistent plans, unclear ownership, and hierarchies that only “sort of” make sense depending on the tool being used.

Upgrading Jira Data Center will not make it behave like Jira Cloud in this area. The Cloud-style unified Parent field, breadcrumbs, and inline child creation are Cloud-only capabilities at this time.

In practice, teams using Jira Data Center usually address this by:

• Defining strict rules around when issue links may (and may not) be used

• Treating Advanced Roadmaps or BigPicture as the single source of truth for hierarchy

• Actively discouraging the use of generic links to represent parent/child relationships

So, in short, this is a Cloud vs Data Center difference, not a configuration or version issue, and you’re not missing an admin setting that can be enabled.

I hope it helps.

Thank you.

Regards,
Hector

[Dan Spearing]

Thank you @Hector Florin !

This information was very helpful!

Is there any way to create a child issue from a Parent issue anywhere, other than from within the Feature Issue? I see that I can create children/parents from the Plan view but the issue types available to me are just showing me the Issue "Hierarchy" name and not the Issue "Type" name. For example, if I select the "..." next to a Feature issue in the Plan view, the only child "type" I can create is a Story issue type, even though my project has 6 other Issue types at the Story level. Is this functionality configurable?

It would seem that the only workflow in this case would be to create a Story, give it a Summary, select it to open it up and edit it, change the Issue Type, and fill in the details and required fields. 

Thanks!

[Hector Florin]

Hi @Dan Spearing ,

You're welcome, and thank you for your update.

Great question — and you’re interpreting the behavior correctly.

In Jira Data Center with Advanced Roadmaps, the only place where you can truly “create a child from a parent” across hierarchy levels is inside a Plan. However, that creation flow is intentionally hierarchy-driven, not issue-type-driven.

What that means in practice:

• Advanced Roadmaps lets you define hierarchy levels (e.g., Feature → Story)

• Each hierarchy level can contain multiple issue types (for example, Bug, Story, Spike, Tech Task all at the “Story” level)

• When you create a child from a parent in a Plan, Jira only knows “create the next hierarchy level down”, not “which specific issue type do you want?”

So in your example:

• You click … next to a Feature

• Jira knows the next level down is Story-level

• It creates the default issue type mapped to that level (usually “Story”)

• It does not prompt you to choose among the other issue types that live at that same level

This behavior is not configurable in Jira Data Center today.

You’re also correct about the resulting workflow:

Create a Story → open it → change the Issue Type → fill in required fields

That is, unfortunately, the expected and most common workflow in DC when multiple issue types exist at the same hierarchy level.

A few important clarifications:

• This limitation applies only to Advanced Roadmaps in Data Center

• Jira Cloud handles this differently and offers a more guided, issue-type-aware creation experience

• Admins cannot configure Advanced Roadmaps to:

  • Prompt for issue type at creation time

  • Create different default issue types per hierarchy level

  • Respect required fields or workflows for non-default issue types during Plan creation

Because of this, many DC teams choose one of the following approaches:

• Limit each hierarchy level to one primary issue type (to avoid rework)

• Accept the “create → change issue type” workflow as standard

• Use apps like BigPicture or Structure, which provide more flexible issue creation and hierarchy control

So in short:
Yes, what you’re seeing is expected behavior.
No, it’s not configurable in Jira Data Center.
And yes, the workaround you described is the standard approach in this setup.

I hope it helps.

Thank you.
Hector