To move a task to be a subtask of another task in a team managed jira cloud project

[Tim Ma]

In Team Managed JIRA Cloud project, there is a "Move" function that can move a task (with no subtasks) to be a subtask of another task. The questions are:

1. Is this function available to regular users?

2. Will this move effective to all users in the project or just the user who did the move?

3. Are there any potential issues with this transaction?

Thanks.

[Mikael Sandberg · Accepted solution]

Hi @Tim Ma,

Welcome to Atlassian Community! 

Yes, the move option is available to regular users, and yes, the move will effective for all users in the project, not just the one who did the move.

The only gotcha is that sub tasks have to be in the same sprint as the parent, you cannot have the parent in one sprint and the sub task in a different one. The sub task will always follow the parent.

[Anwesha Pan]

Hi @Tim Ma 👋🏻

First of all, welcome to community! ✨

To answer your questions:

1. Is this function available to regular users?
   

   Yes, but it depends on the project's Permissions scheme. Any user who has the "Move Issues" permission can perform this action.

2. Will this move effective to all users in the project or just the user who did the move?
   

   Yes. The "Move" function does not simply change how the issue displays on your personal board. It alters the underlying database properties of the issue (changing the parent link/issue type), meaning the new parent-child hierarchy will be visible to all users across the Jira instance.

3. Are there any potential issues with this transaction?
   

   Few points to note which you might already be aware of:
   - Subtasks cannot exist on their own and must have an active parent.
   - You cannot move a standard task/story to be a subtask if that task already has subtasks of its own. You would first need to convert the existing subtasks into standalone issues.
   - In many setups, subtasks automatically inherit the security restrictions, permissions, and active Sprint of the parent issue. If you move a task into a new, restricted parent, the user moving it may lose access to edit the task after the transaction is complete.
   - If the project configuration lacks the "Subtask" work item type, the move will fail.

I hope this helps. 🙂

Thanks,
Anwesha

[Mikael Sandberg]

@Anwesha Pan team-managed projects do not have a permission scheme, that only exists in company-managed projects (and only if you are on a standard plan or higher).

[Anwesha Pan]

Yes @Mikael Sandberg you are absolutely correct and I missed adding it. Thanks for mentioning it though! 🙂