Is there a list of 'Issue Types' available in Atlassian?

[Gemma FRENCH]

Our administrators have recently created a new project board, I am trying to add new issue types, but it is out of my control. 

Our administrators have asked what issue type I need to add and they will add it to the project. The problem is, I do not know what would be the best as I do not know what is available to add.

Is there a list stored somewhere which I can choose from?

[Hamza Chundrigar · Accepted solution]

Hi @Gemma FRENCH 

An issue type is just categorization or classification of a work item or task that needs to be completed. It represents a specific kind of work that you want to track or manage in Jira.

Like Ashish mentioned, Jira provides several pre-defined default issue types, such as Bug, Task, Story, Epic, Sub-task, New Feature, etc – depending on the type of project you create.

These default issue types can be used and typically suffice in many different scenarios. However, if you’re running into a scenario where you need to create a “custom” issue type to reflect a specific kind of work or process that is unique to your project or team – then one way to approach this is to think about the different kinds of work you're doing and how you want to track and manage them. You may also consider consulting with your team or project manager to get some guidance on what issue type and naming convention makes the most sense to use.

Cheers,

Hamza

[Gemma FRENCH]

Thanks for the information Hamza. 

Would 'New Feature' be a parent to an Epic or a child? 

[Hamza Chundrigar]

Hey Gemma,

Just to clarify, when I said:

Jira provides several pre-defined default issue types, such as Bug, Task, Story, Epic, Sub-task, New Feature, etc – depending on the type of project you create.

What I meant by that is that depending on the Jira template you choose, you get a set of pre-defined issue types. For instance, Jira Software projects come with Epic, Bug, Story, Task, and Subtask. This has a 3 level hierarchy with Epic issues representing the highest-level, then standard issues (i.e. Bug, Story, Task) and then Subtasks representing the lowest level.

Similarly, if you choose to create Jira Service Management Management (service projects), then you would have different issue types by default such as Change, IT Hhelp, incident, New Feature, Problem, Service Request, etc.

---

That being said, to your question:

Would 'New Feature' be a parent to an Epic or a child? 

A common practice I've witnessed is that a Feature is a child of an Epic. But it's worth noting that Agile frameworks like Scrum or Kanban do not enforce a strict hierarchy or structure for work items like Epics > Features > Stories.

If you're on Jira Cloud's premium plan (which I think you and your team are using), then you will have access to Advanced Roadmaps for Jira. This will give you the ability to add hierarchy levels above epics. So this means you could potentially rename Epics to Features, and then add another level of hierarchy which you can name it to "Epic" to better align with your naming convention, giving you more flexibility to manage and track your work.

I hope that helps,
Hamza

[Gemma FRENCH]

Thats brilliant, thank you. I will ask for this :) 

[Gemma FRENCH]

Hi Ashish

Thank you for youre response, I have already referred to the page and this doesn't help me. 

I am wanting to value slice an Epic, then create stories from that. 

I am also wanting to create a feature and have this as a parent to the EPIC. 

Is there an alternative list of issue types you know of? In my other projects (created befoe I joined the group) there are other issue types to choose from. 

[Ashish Bijlwan]

Hi @Gemma FRENCH 

Below are the issue type that comes as default in Jira Software. Jira Admin can create and add any issue type as per your project need.

Epic: A big user story that needs to be broken down. Epics group together bugs, stories, and tasks to show the progress of a larger initiative. In agile development, epics usually represent a significant deliverable, such as a new feature or experience in the software your team develops.

By default, software projects come with three standard issue types:

Bug: A bug is a problem which impairs or prevents the functions of a product.

Story: A user story is the smallest unit of work that needs to be done.

Task: A task represents work that needs to be done. By default, software projects come with one child issue type:

Subtask: A subtask is a piece of work that is required to complete a task. Subtasks issues can be used to break down any of your standard issues in Jira (bugs, stories or tasks).

Refer https://support.atlassian.com/jira-cloud-administration/docs/what-are-issue-types for more on Issue types

Thank you,
Ashish