Looking for basic information on how to set up a Jira project

[Sean Burns]

Hi!

I'm trying to make a Jira project to track progress on testing some widgets. just looking for some basic information on how to get started, what types of things can be done and what can't, etc. Is there a "getting started" or "Introduction FAQ"? So far I'm thinking to assign an issue to each widget and use a set of statuses (one for each test station). Timestamps will be applied during transitions between statuses to keep track of how much time each widget spends at each test station. Is it easy to create a report listing each issue showing it's timestamps and any notes it collected along the way?

Best,

Sean

[Ste Wright · Accepted solution]

Hi @Sean Burns 

Welcome to the Community!

I'd check-out these resources to start with:

• Getting Started - https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/guides/getting-started/basics
• Administering Jira, including Project creation - https://support.atlassian.com/jira-software-cloud/docs/lead-agile-projects-with-jira-software-cloud/
• Atlassian University - check out the Project Admin or Jira Admin learning paths for some great information - https://university.atlassian.com/student/collection/850385-learning-paths

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How to best setup your Project will depend on what Project Type you're using (Team or Company-managed? Software or Work Management?)

I'd take into account based on your requirements...

• If you're doing testing, is this the only set of statuses relevant? Or is there more to the workflow than this? If the latter, should test stages be statuses, or sub-tasks? You could also consider if a testing app would be useful - see options here.
• How do you need to report on these issues? For example...
  • Jira will record every comment you make, and every status transition in the issue history.
  • Key dates are visualised for use in JQL/filters/dashboards - created, updated, resolved.
  • Are you doing reporting in a BI tool, where you can visualise the other data from the API? Or do you need to have additional custom date fields recording different transitions, set by automation?

I would recommend you map out your process flow, important field information, work types, etc before you setup your Project. This will help you understand how you work today - and how best to visualise this in Jira!

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Let us know if you have any additional questions or queries!

Ste

[Sean Burns]

Thanks for the quick and information-rich answer! I'll look at the links to help understand how this works better. Yes I did a basic process flow to get started, might be a good time to update it. Regarding the link to test apps, are any of these specific to testing hardware?

[Ste Wright]

Hi @Sean Burns 

In terms of testing Apps, not that I know of - although some are flexible enough to offer different types of testing.

Could you clarify what types of test tracking, features, and reporting would be required for your hardware?

Ste

[Sean Burns]

Hi @Ste Wright ,

Thanks for the follow-up. For our testing report, I think the main information that we want to track is the time spent at each test station and any notes that the issue has accumulated along the way. Test report would be indexed based on serial number. I'm thinking that each unit under test could be an issue and the issue summary line would just be it's serial number.

In terms of test tracking, we’re hoping that a board will be sufficient. If each status represents a test station or a queue for a test station, then we should be able to see from the board where everything is at any given time I think. Being very new to this, I’d be interested to learn if this is considered a good and proper use of a board. Or if there are alternative / better ways to track.

 Best,

 Sean

[Carlos Garcia Navarro · Accepted solution]

Hi @Sean Burns ,

Welcome to the Community! This can help to get started: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/guides/getting-started/basics

[Sean Burns]

Thanks for the warm welcome and for the link!