Use Project as Template for anual event

[APG]

Hi

I am setting up my first own Jira Project mainly to organise a anual event. Coming form our Excel-Task file which was reseted every year I was searching for a way to do the same, but I failed in my first researches. So here my questions:

• Is there an effitient way to reuse the same Tasks and structures next year again?
• All Dates are related to the event-date in our Excel. Is there a possibility to set up a project like this?

Thanks for your help an best regards

Alain

[Brant Schroeder · Accepted solution]

@APG welcome to the Atlassian community

We do this with annual maintenance that we do multiple times a year.  We just maintain an Excel file with all the information in it and convert it to a CSV and then import it into Jira.  We update the dates and components each import.  We also maintain assignees, linked issues, etc.  This allow us to quickly setup the project every time it is needed.  Use external system import.

There are apps that allow you to copy projects but they cost money and have their own overhead to maintain the project.

https://support.atlassian.com/jira-cloud-administration/docs/import-data-from-a-csv-file/ 

[Ste Wright · Accepted solution]

Hi @APG 

Welcome to the Community!

I'd consider setting up a Jira Work Management Project for this - it sounds well suited.

In terms of reusing tasks (on a free instance) - you could...

• Keep them in an Excel file, in an importable format
• Import them into Jira - see how here: https://support.atlassian.com/jira-cloud-administration/docs/import-data-from-a-csv-file/

You can also use Automation to generate the details, building out a template in here, but you'd need to ensure this isn't limited by your execution limits, which are lower for free instances (100 per month).

---

For the date question, can I clarify what you mean here? Do you want dates to be populated into date fields? What kind of dates are they?

Ste

[APG]

I ment that I have for every Task a value for its due Date in the form of 100, 90, x days before the event. Then when I set the event-date in my excel all the dates are automatically calculated. 

But if I go on and import the event every time in Jira, I can do the calculation before in the excel ;-)

[Ste Wright]

Hi @APG 

Absolutely, you can do it in Excel prior to upload.

If you were going to do in Automation, you can use smart values to set dynamic information on fields like dates.

For example, date/time smart values could be...

• {{now}} - sets a field to current date/time
• {{now.plusDays(14)}} - sets a field to 14 days from now
• {{issue.duedate.minusDays(5)}} - sets a field to 5 days before due date
• {{issue.End Date.minusBusinessDays(5)}} - sets a field to 5 business days before End Date

Ste

[Luka Hummel - codefortynine]

Hi @APG

Transitioning from Excel to Jira can definitely streamline your planning and execution processes for recurring events.

To address your questions:

1. Reusing Tasks and Structures: In Jira, one effective way to reuse the same tasks and structures for annual events is by creating a project template. Jira doesn't natively support “project templates” out of the box, but you can simulate this by setting up a project with all the tasks and configurations you need and then cloning it each year.
   • Cloning Projects: You can use our app Deep Clone for Jira. Deep Clone allows you to bulk clone issues, issue hierarchies (Epic → Task → Sub-task), or even whole projects with the same structure and tasks, making it ideal for recurring events. You can easily reset statuses, adjust assignees, and more, with our Field Editor.
2. Dynamic Date Handling: Deep Clone also allows you to set field values like dates in the Field Editor with Jira expressions. These work similar to the Jira smart values mentioned by @Ste Wright and enable you to set the dates dynamically.

[APG]

Thank you for your fast and helpful answers!

[Brant Schroeder]

Glad we could help!