Tuesday Jira Vibes — What was the most confusing thing about Jira when you first started?

[Daria Kulikova_GitProtect_io]

Hello New-To-Jira Community! 👋

It’s Tuesday — which means it’s time for another discussion where we share tips... and let's today laugh at our early mistakes :) It might help new Jira users learn from our confusion, not their own.

When I first started using Jira, I was completely overwhelmed. Confusing moments? Oh, plenty! I tend to focus on the complex things, so sometimes it’s the simplest detail that breaks my brain. Once, I opened my project and saw… nothing. My first thought? Data loss!
But no — the truth was far less dramatic. I just needed to switch the view: I had epics selected, but I was looking for tasks. A classic beginner moment!

And if you ask ten people what confused them most when they first opened Jira, you’ll get ten different answers — which is exactly why today’s discussion should be fun.
Jira is powerful, flexible, and incredibly customizable… but for newcomers, that often means one thing: overwhelm.

For many, the first “Wait, what?” comes from Jira terminology. Stories, tasks, epics, issues — aren’t they all just tasks? Others get tripped up by workflows. Why does one project have three statuses and another have nine? And what does “In Review” really mean?
Then there are the boards. Drag-and-drop feels simple until you realize half your tasks are missing because of filters, sub-filters, board settings, or some mysterious JQL you didn’t know existed.

So today’s question is simple: What confused you the most when you first used Jira?

Your story might be exactly what helps someone else finally make sense of it.

P.S. Don’t forget to check out other Tuesday-Jira-Vibes discussions!

[Varsha Joshi]

Interesting question @Daria Kulikova_GitProtect_io like you said plenty. But the one I struggled was Jira issues on the board (columns) not showing all that you see in the plain list view. It was confusing as why only some of them show up on the board. I was so happy when I resolved the mystery.

[Daria Kulikova_GitProtect_io]

Oh, I’ve been there too! When the board doesn’t match the list view, it can be confusing. Great that you solved it:) 

[Jimmy Seddon]

I think one that is still confusing to this day is that in order to change the work item type, I need to "Move" the work item into the same project with a different work item type selected.

Every time I have to explain this to one of my users it feels very unintuitive.  

[Laurie Sciutti]

I had a lot of trouble with the navigation part....I was put in charge of the application before I had ever used it so that may have just been me being overwhelmed...lol

[Daria Kulikova_GitProtect_io]

Totally get that! :) Getting thrown into a new tool without any prior experience can be overwhelming 😅

[Susan Waldrip]

Thanks for the question, @Daria Kulikova_GitProtect_io! Hands-down, mine was the difference between Create, Edit, and View screens. I was so confused when reading the documentation until I came across an article that called these "issue operation screens", then it became clear(er).

[Daria Kulikova_GitProtect_io]

Yep... sometimes just one well-written article can make everthing clear :) 

[Rune Rasmussen]

Getting the admin role almost from day 1 I struggled very hard with the concept of schemes.
Having to remember when a to use an Issue Type Scheme, a Screen Scheme, or an Issue Type Screen Scheme really wasn't something I was used to worrying about as a level one support agent.

What I hear from from our users these days is the understanding/comprehending that Work Items are just piled into one big stack of shit in a Space and then the boards/queues filter them out, rather than a work item being on a board or in a queue is difficult.