Using Jira Forms in the JSM portal vs Creating custom fields to link to forms

[Dee B]

My team and I are trying to move forward creating various request types in our help portal. We have come to the point where we need to make a decision about how best to create all our forms. Here are our two options:

1. Create a custom fields for every question:
   • This way the field/question ALSO appears on the Jira backend creation screen when using the +create button (in case people do NOT submit through the help portal)
   • And this allows us to see the questions/answers populated directly into the ticket itself, rather than an expandable "form" 
2. Use Jira forms, without linking the Q/A to a custom field in Jira
   • We are worried that creating a bunch of custom fields for random questions like "troubleshooting steps taken" will gum up our custom field list, and this might cause problems later - so this is a better option
   • We'll then have a bunch of custom fields with long text random answers stored...
   • However, putting everything in Jira Forms expanded section without linking it to anything doesn't play well with reporting and automation. 

Anyone have a "best practice" suggestion here?

[Robert Wen_Cprime_]

Have you thought about option 3: A mix of options 1 and 2.

I generally only set up a custom field and link it to a form field IF it needs to be reported or is needed as a condition for Automation.  Otherwise, having the information in form fields works for me since I can attach the form to the created issue.