How can i add a work type and change the current work type hiearchy?

[Kenny Chan]

Hello. 

Anyone knows how do i change the hierarchy of work types ?

Currently i have Epic, Tasks and Subtasks. 

I would like to insert User Stories in between Epic and Tasks in terms of hierarchy but cant seem to be able to do that, 

[Staffan Redelius]

Hi @Kenny Chan and welcome to the community

The default Work item Hierarchy in Jira is:

Epic - Level 1

Story/Task - Level 0

Subtask Level -1

So, Story and Task are both on level 0 and can contain subtasks.

Since you are on Premium you can add levels above Level 1 (Epic) but you can't add additional levels between Level 1 and Level 0. 

Best regards,
/Staffan

[Kenny Chan]

Thank you for the welcome Staffan.

Currently in my Work Type settings:

Story Hierarchy Level 3
Task Hierarchy Level 2
Epic Hierarchy Level 1
Bug Hierarchy Level 0
Subtask Hierarchy Level -1

I cant edit the Hierarchy Level part although i am an Admin and in the Premium package. 

Any ideas why the Hierarchy Levels are a bit odd? 

[Staffan Redelius]

Hi @Kenny Chan 

Under Settings (cogwheel) -> Work Items -> Work Item hierarchy you need to set Epic to Level 1 'All other standard work types' to Level 0 and Subtask to 'All subtask work types'

That means that:

• Epic will be level 1
• Story, Task Bug will be Level 0
• Subtask will be Level -1

This is the default setting in Jira so you don't really need to change anything since all other standard types defaults to level 0

I hope this helps,
/Staffan

[Kenny Chan]

Hi @Staffan Redelius 

Currently this is what is in my settings.

What i am trying to do is make the Story above Task in terms of hierarchy. 

This is my current Work Type Hierarchy. 



Any thoughts if it is possible? 

[John Funk]

Hi Kenny,

It is not standard agile practice to put Stories above Tasks. Those should happen at the same level. If you need to break the Stories down further, you should use Sub-tasks. 

[Staffan Redelius]

Hi @Kenny Chan 

No, what you are describing is not possible and it seems a bit unorthodox for a work item hieararchy.

It would mean that your top level would be Stories that includes a number of Tasks, that includes a number of Epics that includes a number of bugs. 

That is not how Jira is designed and I have never seen anyone use a hierarchy like that. Epics are per definition a "large body of work" (one team, several weeks) and contains several Stories/Tasks/Bugs. 

Best regards,
/Staffan

[Kenny Chan]

Thank you both @Staffan Redelius and @John Funk 

I was trying to make this hierarchy.
Epic - User Story - Tasks - Subtask. 

But now i would have to settle with Epic - UserStory,Tasks - Subtasks 
(with user story and tasks to be at the same level) 

I am used to User Story is one level higher than Tasks. 

It is fine, i will accept your comments and advice. Thank you!

[Trudy Claspill]

Hello @Kenny Chan ,

It is technically possible to achieve the hierarchy you desire, but the functionality may be a bit different than you expect.

In Jira there is specialized functionality associated with the system-provide item type named "Epic" out of the box. No other issue type at Level 0 will get the custom functionality of being included in the Epics panel of an agile board, or having a default swimlane/grouping available for it.

You can, technically, move the Story work item type from Level 0 to Level 1 (in the Premium plan), which would then enable Story items to be parents of Tasks. With this one change, having Epics and Story at the same level, Epics could not be parents to Stories. However, the Story work items would not then get a special panel or grouping like Epics have. With this one change any parent/child relationships between existing Epics and Stories would be removed, because item types on the same level cannot have a parent/child relationship.

You can, technically, move the Epic work item from Level 1 to Level 2, which would then enable Epics to be parents of Stories. With this change any parent/child relationships between existing Epics and items that remain at Level 0 will be removed, as Jira does not support skipping levels for a parent/child relationship.

I'm actually not sure what happens with the special Epic functionality in the event of this change.

Note that these changes affect all Company Managed projects in your system.

If you want your "Story" item type to have the current special functionality of the native Epic, then you could rename the native Epic work item type. You could then create another standard work item type, name it Epic, and move it to Level 2 to enable it to be a parent to your renamed Epic/Story item type.

[Nikola Perisic]

Hello @Kenny Chan , you need to be a Jira admin first. Then go to Work items -> Work item type hierarchy. You can find the full article here: https://support.atlassian.com/jira-cloud-administration/docs/configure-the-issue-type-hierarchy/