New custom field with default value - Not displayed in the issue screen

[Karthiga Sethuraj]

I added a new custom field and set a default value as well so that it gets displayed on the issue detail screen even if it is not filled in by the user while creating the issue. As we do not want this field to be a required field. But for some reason it is not showing up as expected.

Any thoughts?

Does it have to do anything with reindex?

I know JIRA Cloud does not have indexing option anymore. 

[Joe Pitt]

@Karthiga Sethuraj I would avoid putting a default value in the issue. I had a manager complain about not seeing the field and forced me to put TBD as a default. When more than half the issues were closed with TBD instead of the correct value they decided it wasn't a good idea. People tend not to put in values if there is already one there and you can't making it a required field during a transition doesn't work because it already has a value. 

[Karthiga Sethuraj]

Thank you for the inputs Joe. I understand the risk in pre-populating a meaningless default value for a field. We do not want this to be required field as this cannot be updated at the time of ticket creation. It is just a process that the project teams want to enforce and get into the habit of filling this field. 

[Karthiga Sethuraj]

Yeah I did the same and it is fixed now :) Thank you !!

[Alexey Matveev]

Hello,

In the view issue screen only custom fields, which have a value, are displayed. That is how Jira works. Your custom field does not have a value for this issue, that is why it is hidden. If you want a custom field to be always visible in the Issue view screen, then you should provide a default value for this custom field. That is what the message says.

[Karthiga Sethuraj]

Thank you Alex. I understood this error but didn't realize that I need to go back and update this field with the default value for all the existing tickets. 

[Alexey Matveev]

That is right. You can do it with the bulk edit functionality.

You should write a JQL like this:

yourcustomfield is empty

Then bulk edit your custom field with the defult value. You can find more info about bulk edit here:

https://confluence.atlassian.com/jiracoreserver073/editing-multiple-issues-at-the-same-time-861257342.html

[Karthiga Sethuraj]

Yeah I did the same and it is fixed now :) Thank you !!

[Mihai Vigu]

@Alexey Matveev is there any way to have the custom fields visible even without a defined value?

I defined a Single select custom field with values Yes/No, but the default is None (empty). I want this custom field to be a validator in a specific transition for a Status change so that not selecting one of the two options won't allow the Status change. Everything is fine, except the fact the field is not visible in View issue, only in Create/Edit or Detail view in a Board...

I guess this is valid only for custom fields, as there are lots of default fields that are visible with the None (empty) default value...

[Karthiga Sethuraj]