Linking Epics to higher level initiatives

[Katie Planey]

Hello all,

I am stumped as to how to link a new issue type I have created, an initiative, to Epics. I followed this tutorial to create the customer issue type, but then at the bottom, it says I must add the "Parent" field to my issues.  I added the existing  "parent link" field, but I am stuck after that. WHen I create an epic, the "parent link" field is not showing up. And when I create a story, the "parent link" field is grayed out, and it says I need to use the Epic link. This makes sense for a story, but the story card is literally the only issue where the parent link field even shows up. When I create an initiative, there is no parent link either. Maybe this is the same issue this user faced, but I honestly am not clear on how they solved the answer - their response is not detailed enough https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Jira-Software-questions/Parent-Link-not-showing/qaq-p/1724859

It also seems as if I can't change the hierarchy of the Epic in my advanced roadmaps from "1", when I want the initiative to be "1" (see screenshot). I'm not sure this matters.

 

Am I supposed to rename Epics to "initiatives" and then create a new child issue under that initiative, to get the hierarchies to work? This Feb 2023 post seems to suggest that https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Jira-articles/Upcoming-Rename-epics-in-your-company-managed-projects/ba-p/1874726

I am a super admin/have all access rights needed to carry this out. 

[Katie Planey · Accepted solution]

I solved my problem, and I think I may have found a bug in the Jira roadmap: if you create an issue that is a new issue you defined, such as an initiative, directly in the roadmap/gantt view in the advanced roadmap, it assigns no ID to that issue! So you can't even actually click on it; it just takes you back to your project board, not an issue card. If you create the initiative/issue in your project, THEN it is assigned an ID, and you can start linking child issues to it, as defined by your hierarchy. You can also link the cards in the hierarchy directly inside the advanced roadmap. BUT if you link it inside the advanced roadmap, this too only "lives" inside the advanced roadmap. It's better to do the linking by directly editing the parent link in the issue card, inside your project once again. 

See the screenshot below for an example of an initiative issue I created directly in the advanced roadmap. It has not issue ID, so it does not really live anywhere else - and thus you can't open up the issue card or link a parent ID. "ACE1" is just the project prefix - there is not card ID attached to it. It's kind of like the Twilight zone...

[Katie Planey]

Of course I was able to just solve this; it looks like the Epic can be linked to the initiative card now. I still can't get the initiative to link as a child to the highest level hierarchy I created, a "major theme", so any suggestions still welcome here!

[Fernando Eugênio da Silva]

@Katie Planey Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

Have you tried to use the Find your field option on your Epics and look for Parent Link field? If you added the field 'Parent Link' in Epic Screens and the field still doesn't appear, the feature Find your field will help you to see where is your field and what actions take to use him.

See how to use Find a field on the issue view

To be honest you don't need change anything. Just ensure that the Parent Link field is added for Epic screens and fill the field with the Initiative key.

Let me know if you have questions