How do I put a time limit on a column?

Question

I need to put a time limit on columns in Jira. I have a way to put a limit on the amount of issues in the columns but I need a time limit so it is easily shown if I am using more than 1 day on an issue.

It can also be solved by creating a  quick filter showing the issues where the time in source status (under transitions) is more than 1 day. However I cannot find the right JQL for this.

Any solutions to this?

unknown · Answer

We are talking about boards? Then the question is not about Jira Core but Jira Software. check @Inactive Stephen answer

Inactive Stephen · Answer

Hi @Pernille Kjær Aagaard

There's no method to set the column based on time - so to turn a column red if the issue has been in that column more than 4 hours.

But there's an alternative I've seen used before using Card Colours:

* Create a filter to search for issues transitioned in the last X hours using a history search - eg. status changed during (-4h, now()) 
* Save this filter and note the Filter ID (it appears in the URL and should be a couple of numbers)
* Go to Board > Configure > Card Colours
* Set Card Colours using JQL
* Set the JQL to give the card a red-line if the issue is in a status (in a column) and it has not been transitioned in the last 4 hours in that it does not equal the filter you created - eg. status = "In Progress" and filter != XXXXX

If you have multiple SLAs depending on the status you'll need to create multiple time-based filters and multiple card colour JQLs - if it's all just 4h per status, you could be as simple as: filter != XXXXX

Another option I've seen work well is to have different colours to show if it's approaching an SLA - eg:

* If transitioned in under 2h, make card colour green
* If transition between 2-4h, make it orange
* If transition is over 4h, make it red

You could achieve these with more history searching - see this article for some great information on this!

Ste

Pernille Kjær Aagaard · Answer

I will see if I can explain it differently

It is possible to put column constraints on a columns, so fx it is only allowed to have 10 issues in one column, and if there is more, it turns read.

I need some way to do this but with time, so if issues are in a column longer than fx 4 hours, the column or the specifik issues turns read.

OR, I need to know th JQL to just filter out all the issues that has been in the same column for more than four hours. I thought the JQL would be something like timeinsourcestatus<4h, but that is not possible to choose

Does it make more sense now? :)