Is there a way I can see only the first open issue for a project, then once that issue is closed the

[Brad Lynch]

I have 2 similar projects running at a similar time.  They have a similar issue structure.

Proj 1

   issue 1

   issue 2

Proj 2

   issue 1

   issue 2

In a board I want to only display proj 1 issue1 and proj 2 issue 2 until the issue is closed, then display the next issue, i.e proj 2 issue 2 (once proj 2 issue 1 is closed.

[Ste Wright · Accepted solution]

Hi @Brad Lynch 

Possibly - you'd need dynamic metadata to refer to do this - for example...

• At creation, use automation to...
  • Link all the Issues together (for future reference)
  • Add a label to the first Issue
  • When Issue 1 closes, assign the label to Issue 2, based on it being linked to Issue 1
• Set the board filter to only show Issues which are closed, or are open with that label

^ This could work - do you think this is suitable for your need? Happy to provide more specific instructions if needed :)

Out of interest - why is this needed? Why not just have all the Issues on the board?

Ste

[Brad Lynch]

Hi @Ste Wright ,  Thank you for your response.  Yes I think that could work.  I'm fairly new to Jira so more detailed instructions would be greatly appreciated.

As I might have 4 or 5 similar project on the go at the same time, I really only want to display what my next steps are for each project.

Cheers Brad

[Ste Wright]

Hi @Brad Lynch 

Did you get this to work?

You did ask for instructions above - these are below. This is an example of how you could do it.

In summary, we will create:

• A Board, and a Filter for one Issue at a time to display
• Automation Rule 1 - which will link all Issues together
• Automation Rule 2 - which will bring one open Issue to the board at a time

Note: 

• This is assuming the Issues are created in order (i.e Issue 1 is worked on first, then Issue 2, then Issue 3, etc). If this is not the case, the rules might look different.
• I've used a Company-managed Software Project. You need this so you can edit the Board filter.

---

Board:

To create a Board...

• Go to the search bar in the top-right, and select Boards from the menu at the bottom of the pop-up (in line with Go to all)
• Select the Create Board button
• Follow the steps to create a Board, creating the Board from an existing Project (choose any relevant)

Before editing the Filter...

• First, decide how to label the Issue as the one to display. You could use a label or a custom field. I'm going to use a label "Current"
• Create the field/label

Then edit the Filter...

• On your Board go to the 3-dots icon (top-right) > Board Settings
• Select General > Edit Filter Query
• Change the filter to include all Projects for this board, and the label - eg...
  • project in (ABC, XYZ) and labels = Current
• Save the filter, then return to your board

---

Automation Rules

You might choose to create this rule either per Project, or globally. To access these options...

• Project: You'll need to be a Project Admin, then go to...
  • Project Settings > Automation
• Global: You'll need to be a Jira Admin, then go to...
  • Jira Settings (cog-icon in top-right) > System > Global Automation

I'd recommend one set of rules per Project works best in this instance - i.e you'd need to follow the instructions below for each Project you have.

Before creating the rules...

• You need to set the first Issue's label - all other Issues will be handled by the rule. This will use the label from the board - i.e "Current"
• You need a method to identify the last created Issue. Again, you could use a custom field or a label - I'm going to use a label "Last_Created". You also need to add this manually to the first Issue.
• You need to decide which link type to use - I'm going to use blocks/is blocked by, but you could create a unique link type if preferred. You can do this as a Jira Admin via...
  • Jira Settings > Issues > Issue Linking

---

Automation Rule 1 - Link Issues

The rule will...

• Link the newly created Issue to the last created Issue
• Remove Last_Created from the previous Issue, and adds it to the newest Issue

To create this rule...

• Select Create Rule
• Set the Trigger to Issue Created
• Add a Branch - choose Branch rule / related issues. Then set...
  • Type of related issues = JQL
  • JQL - labels = "Last_Created"
• Within the Branch, add an Action - Edit Issue
  • Select Linked Issues from the drop-down
    • Set to blocks - Trigger Issue
  • Select Labels from the drop-down
    • In Values to remove, add Last_Created
      • This option is available through the 3-dots icon
• Next, click outside of the Branch, and create another Action - Edit Issue
  • Select Labels from the drop-down 
    • In Values to add, add Last_Created
• Give the rule a name, and publish it

---

Automation Rule 2 - Set Board Label

This rule will...

• Add the label Current to the next Issue in line, to bring it onto the board

To create this rule...

• Select Create Rule
• Set the Trigger to Issue Transitioned. Then set...
  
  • To Status = Done
• Add a Branch - choose Branch rule / related issues. Then set...
  • Type of related issues = Linked Issues
  • Link types = blocks
• Within the Branch, add an Action - Edit Issue
  • Select Labels from the drop-down
  • In Values to Add, add Current
• Give the rule a name, and publish it

---

There's still some things to decide above - and some edits you might make, for example...

• If you use a custom field, or a different label
• Whether you want to remove the "Done" Issue from the Board. I didn't in Rule 2, but you could...
  • Add this as an additional Action outside of the Branch (remove the Current label)
  • Or, manage this from Board Settings if you want to keep done Issues for a certain period, using the filter to hide older resolved Issues, or use the option Hide completed issues older than on a Kanban Board.
• How you manage reopened an Issue - does this mean you have 2 current Issues on the Board? Or is there another action to automate?

---

Let us know if this works for you - or feel free to reach out if you have any questions :)

Ste