Where are the basic reporting and bulk operations features?

Question

I'm evaluating Jira as a bug tracking tool for my software company. I just created a trial account 15 minutes ago. I'm browsing Jira now and I don't understand how to use it. I can't figure out how to do many of the basic things you need to do when bug tracking.

To start with, I uploaded about 75 issues as a test. Now I can't figure out how to get Jira to show me a decent list of those issues. If I click on "All issues" I see the issues crammed into a narrow column, split over multiple pages. I can't group them (e.g. by release). I can't copy-and paste them. I can't create a table that shows me, for instance, the summary, assignee, and due date. These are all basic things that I would expect to be able to do. Is there a Jira reporting module hidden somewhere that I haven't discovered yet?

Also, I can't figure out how to do the most basic of bulk operations. Suppose I want to reassign all of Jane's tasks to Bob. I can see how I would search for all of Jane's tasks, but how do I apply a bulk operation, like changing the assignee, to a set of issues?

I'm sure Jira is a fine tool, but either I misunderstand its purpose, or I'm just not clicking with its user interface. I figured I would post here and see what replies I get before I move on and look at the next bug tracking tool in my evaluation list.

T C_m23zre · Answer

Jack, Thanks for the detailed reply. I can see now that the bulk update feature is quite extensive. I just didn't think to look for that feature behind an ellipses in the corner of the screen before.

I also found the button that switches between detail and list view. I didn't see that before because the button is unlabeled and inconspicuous.

In any case, it's beginning to look like Jira has the features I was expecting. Thanks again.

Jack Brickey · Answer

Hi TC, most if not all of your concerns can be alleviated. I thing you are experiencing new user issues. I will try to offer a bit of help but encourage you to look at the documentation at Support.atlassian.com As it will provide a wealth of more details.

* seeing many or all issues - you can create filter in Jira and save them that are queries of the issues based upon your needs. You can also select which fields (columns) you wish to display. Click on the magnifying glass and choose advanced search. Here you will be presented with an option to use Basic or JQL to build your filter. You can click on any column to sort ASC or DESC
* you can build Dashboards and Kanban or Scrum boards to better view and manage issues
* Bulk updates can be done at the filter results level. Once you have the issues shown that you want to bulk edit click on the ellipses in the upper right corner and choose build edit.

as I said there are are a lot of details in the docs that will help you get started.