how to change default work type hierarchy in JIRA tool

[Rajesh Vaidya]

how to change default work type hierarchy in JIRA tool. I am looking for Epic, Feature, User Story, Sub Task.

[Rik de Valk _Brainboss_]

Hi @Rajesh Vaidya , 

Since early 2024 Atlassian has made it poassible to rename the 'Epic' consistently across the platform (also renaming the Epic panel into a Features panel and such. See the (old) announcement here: https://community.atlassian.com/forums/Jira-articles/Beyond-epics-Flexible-naming-has-landed/ba-p/2609733

The docs about changing the work item type hierarchy is written here: https://support.atlassian.com/jira-cloud-administration/docs/configure-the-issue-type-hierarchy/

But that doesn't specifically go into changing from the Epic > Story to Epic > Feature > Story hierarchy. 

You would first have to rename the Epic work item type to Feature. Then you create a new work item type called Epic. 

And finally you can create the new Work Item Hierarchy level for Epics, above the Feature layer. 

Be aware that this is a generic setting that will affect your entire Jira instance; all Spaces, regardless what their type of team is (Marketing, HR, Finance). So be careful what you wish for 😄. Your entire organisation will have to plan Features instead of Epics on their backlogs...

Have a nice day! 

Rik 

[David Nickell]

Agree with Rik.  Note -- you have to have a Premium License to do more than 2 levels.  You describe the need for three.  

If you want to save yourself a ton of potential problems -- come up with new name for the top of your list.  (I see Initiative used frequently).

So you'd have Initiative > Epic > Story  

instead of Epic->Feature->Story

Then none of your current work items are impacted.

[Olga Cheban _TitanApps_]

hi @Rajesh Vaidya !

To change the default hierarchy, you need to have a Jira Premium or Enterprise plan. In this case, you will have access to Jira Plans, where you can add custom levels and build the hierarchy that you want. 



However, you still won't be able to add Feature below Epic as additional hierarchy levels can only be added above Epic.

But you can add Initiative above Epic, then you will have: 

Initiative (instead of your Epic) -> Epic (instead of your Feature) -> User Story -> Sub Task.

Another approach is to add a new level of hierarchy below subtasks with the help of checklists. This will give you the required three levels of hierarchy below Epic, even though named differently. Here's what it looks like:

Checklists can be easily used instead of subtasks. Each checklist item has its own workflow status, an expandable section for details, and it also allows you to tag responsible people, add deadlines, and much more. 

You can add such feature-rich checklists with our solution, Smart Checklist for Jira. Please let me know if you have any questions!