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Can the EPIC field be renamed?

Ryan Deyer

Is there is a backdoor trick to rename the EPIC issue type and everywhere its referenced, to be called something else, such as Feature.

We are implementing the Scaled Agile Framework internally and we have a terminology gap in JIRA. From top down SAFe has EPICs > Features > Stories. In JIRA we have Initiatives (via the Portfolio plugin) > EPICs > Stories. The issue is what JIRA calls an EPIC is really a Feature in the SAFe framework.

If anyone has any SAFe/JIRA implementation tips or recommendations please let me know.

Accepted answers

schustbn

There is a way to achieve the desired outcome (at least with the server version; I've not tried it with the cloud version). It involves a two-step-approach:

- to rename the Epic "everywhere" create a new language by taking the current language .jar out of the jira-server download as a starting point and replace Epic (and Epics and sometimes epic) with Feature (or Features). Languages are added as Jira-Plugins and everyone using this language then has the SAFe terminology. Everyone not using the new language still has "Epic".

- for the custom fields (Epic-Name, Epic-Link, Epic-Color, ...) use the manual referenced by Radek Janata and then translate these fields for the newly created language as Feature-Name, Feature-Link and so on

This worked for me, even for more than one language.

All comments

Rahul Aich [Nagra]

Unfortunately not, the Epic custom field supplied by JIRA agile is system plugin which is locked and we cannot modify.

However, i would question the need to rename the issue type. There is nothing stopping you from using the tool the same wayas you would if the name were different.

Rahul

Ryan Deyer

You are correct the tool can be used the same way, independent of the name. The issue comes from the confusion outside of our scrum team. If we tell a business owner we are working on an EPIC, do they assume it's a Portfolio level EPIC (SAFe framework) or is it a Program level EPIC (JIRA structure)? The desire was to sync these to avoid confusion within the organization.

Mark Petty2

I totally agree. The word epic is ambiguous to many. Renaming 'epic' to 'feature' would fix so many of my issues!

Monica Sanchez

Ryan, were you able to solve this problem. I have exactly the same and I'd like to rename Epic to Feature if possible.

Thank you.

Ryan Deyer

No we were not able to solve this.

Daniel Lorch

We're facing the same question. There is an add-in called IPT (In-Product Translation) that lets you selectively "translate" strings e.g. change the word "Epic" to "Feature" on the agile boards. Caveat is that you have to apply these translations to all languages your platform offers.

I believe that you can even "translate" an issue type name only without any add-ins.

Tej_r8jhlw

Hi Ryan

Are you able to solve this issue by then or did you find any other way to achieve it?

advice needed

Ryan Deyer

We never found a solution

Radek Janata

If you mean Epic issue type, then you can probably rename it without any problems. I've just checked it on our testing 7.3 version. Alternatively, you can use Translate feature to provide it a different name.

If you refer to locked Agile custom fields, you may find this How-to article handy:
https://confluence.atlassian.com/jirakb/how-to-unlock-a-locked-field-779158866.html

schustbn

There is a way to achieve the desired outcome (at least with the server version; I've not tried it with the cloud version). It involves a two-step-approach:

This worked for me, even for more than one language.

france williams

Well, with server solution and admin rights, the Epic issue type can be renamed.

Go To Administration -> Issues Types. Edit Epic and rename

I have just started so if any issue is encountered, they will be shared.

Cheers!

Nic Brough -Adaptavist-

Please, put it back, it is going to break.

Feel free to translate it, but don't change the underlying one.

france williams

Thanks for the tip.

Now what is going to break? Just to understand.

Do you have any perspective when this major fault is going to be fixed?

Nic Brough -Adaptavist-

You'll be fine in plain Core Jira, but the issue types start to break in interesting ways in Software, like duplicating issue types into issue type schemes and not being able to link no-longer-Epics to issues. Service Desk will do odd things if you rename them to one of the other standard names. Portfolio stops being able to generate reports or schedule based on the Epic type.

It's not a fault, and it's not going to be fixed because it's not seen as a problem. Epics work as intended according to Atlassian.

Suresh_b3sg6g

Hi Schuster,

Could you tell me the process and steps to change the language.jar.
We need to rename Epic to Feature.

Regards,

Suresh

Nic Brough -Adaptavist-

create a new language by taking the current language .jar out of the jira-server download as a starting point and replace Epic (and Epics and sometimes epic) with Feature (or Features). Languages are added as Jira-Plugins and everyone using this language then has the SAFe terminology. Everyone not using the new language still has "Epic".

Jennifer Zou

What about the JIRA Cloud? Can I rename it? I really hope I can rename it to sth else, because Epic is just very confusing.

schustbn

Hi Jennifer,

I've not tried with Jira Cloud so far, sorry.

I've not even tried Jira Cloud so far and therefore I cannot say whether this might work there as well or not.

Tova Pozen

@Whittingly

In the Backlog screen EPICS still appears (along with VERSIONS) on the LH side for grouping. Is there somewhere to translate this? (I noticed it remains as EPICS even if changing to other standard languages and also using the translate tip: i18ntranslate=on, it doesn't show up with a translate code.)

Try clear browser cookies. On my case it worked for translating the EPICS on the backlog grouping.

David Oyler

I understand the underlying request to rename the Jira native epic is the goal, but I used the following hierarchy in Jira Portfolio to give functionality to both SAFe and non-SAFe users:

Level three maps both to the created SAFe Feature issue type and the standard Jira epic issue type. This allows the SAFe users a way to stick with the terminology of SAFe For the non-SAFe users, they can use Jira Portfolio without having to give up on the standard agile terms.

Alan Williams_yoi63v

David: This doesn't take advantage of the native parent child relationships Jira offers (example would be JQL function: issuefunction in epicsof).

It also doesn't change the backlog panel from Epic to Feature. So you will have an issue type of feature but a backlog panel of "Epics"

Simon Logan

Is there a reason why it's better to use translate rather than just to edit the issue type Epic to, say 'Features' ( as 'Feature' is already used ) ?

I can see fields like 'Epic Link' are locked, but they can be unlocked on the DB, amended then locked again can't they?

Changing the issue type appears to work with Portfolio too, after changing the hierarchy config.

Are there any disadvantages in this approach?

Are there any things to look out for such as:

upgrade issues
plugin issues
workflow issues
issues with db joins

We're running JIRA 7.5 server by the way.

Any advice appreciated!

Regards,

Simon

schustbn

Hi Simon,

I can only come up with two reasons, why to translate the issue type name rather then renaming:

Then there is the possibility to have the renamed version, like 'Feature' whereas other parts of the company (or whoever else is using the same Jira instance) can still use the original issue type name; just bei selecting which "language" they select.
I kind of remember reading a blog post by Atlassian, that it is definitely not recommended to change the issue type name Epic

That's why I recommend to translate the issue type name. However maybe the recommendation is different now; I just don't no.

Best regards,

Björn

Simon Logan

OK, thanks a lot for the response Bjorn.

We're aiming to do it later this week, so if there are any major issues I'll let you know!

Regards

Simon

Simon Logan

Hi Bjorn,

We made that change about a week ago now, and seemed to go relatively smoothly. There was a problem with 'issue scheme types' retaining epics, but when they were edited and saved, they changed to features.

Now we're aiming to change 'epic link' label and other locked fields.

Regards

Simon

John Horwath_8e6q8o

cPrime has a $90 add-on that does this quickly and it is ease. It was created to support a SAFe implementation. John

Yagnesh Bhat

Hi Nic, Will this allow the user the ability to switch between English and English with SAFE terminology, by changing the language preferences in his JIRA profile?

Zubin Irani

We actually developed a plug-in (app) exactly for this purpose as a number of our clients were asking the exact same question!

https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1218959/safe-epic-to-feature-translator-for-jira?hosting=server&tab=overview

Super easy to setup and we have it deployed at numerous large scale clients (10,000+ users) without any performance issues.

Rebecca Velasco

cPrime has solved this with their add-on SAFe EPIC to Feature Translator for Jira

Rebecca Velasco

Ryan, the cPrime add-on can solve this for you SAFe EPIC to Feature Translator for Jira, give a try.

Rebecca Velasco

SAFe EPIC to Feature Translator for Jira

Liza Ridgway

Monica, happy to discuss with you and add to your licensing!

Heather Glahn

This is super cool! But is there anything like this for JIRA Cloud?

Liz O'Connor

Hi @Zubin Irani, that plugin is exactly what we need but we're using Jira Cloud. Do you know of any way to rename Epic to Feature in Cloud? Or is there any plan to provide the plugin for Cloud in the future?

Thanks, Liz

william.krambeer

Similarly, I see that you can change the label for the Epic issuetype for the cloud version. Anybody ever done that?

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