Two projects with entirely different appearances

George Ebberson

This morning, I was setting up Jira Software for a new organisation, and I wrongly put the project name in the organisation field box - I got to the point of creating my first story when I realised my mistake - and so the cloud URL was incorrect. No problem, I thought, since there is no data to migrate, I can easily request deletion of this organisation and start another, no harm done.

So I went ahead and created a new organisation, which had a new cloud URL (this time correct), and my first thought was "this looks different". Jira Software I'm used to has a series of drop-down options across the top, ending with a "Create" button; now I have an inescapable sidebar for navigation.

So I went back to the (now pending deletion) original project, which looks as I expected it to, and compared some URLs. Navigating to e.g. <subdomain>.atlassian.net/secure/BrowseProjects.jspa shows the same information, but in an entirely different UI (sidebar, different colour scheme, and different way of navigating - where is the backlog?).

Is there any way for me to use the UI I'm used to on this new project?

Ste Wright

Hi @George Ebberson

Jira Cloud is receiving a refreshed UI at present which will move the sidebar from the left-hand menu to the top - see this article for more information or this help page.

Both have FAQs in regards to changing to the current experience:

How do I toggle on/off the new navigation?

When it's available for your site, you can individually toggle between the new and old navigation experiences by clicking your user avatar > Turn off the new navigation or Try the new navigation.

And how to locate boards:

Where are Boards? Why don't they appear in the top navigation?

We don’t plan to add boards to the main navigation bar in Jira Cloud. The main reason for this is to clarify the relationship between projects and boards. We create issues in a project, and boards are one of several ways to view those issues, along with the backlog, queues, and the issue navigator. From this perspective, it makes sense to navigate to a project that shows the various ways you can view and work on issues, including boards. Boards can show issues from multiple projects, but the vast majority show issues from a single project.

How do I get to my boards if they don't appear in the top navigation?

The quickest way from anywhere in Jira is by clicking the search field (or pressing / on your keyboard). You’ll see recent boards, projects, and filters in the bottom half of the search panel. We also recommend starring boards so you can quickly find them by going to Your work > Starred. When you’re in a project, you can also use the board switcher in the sidebar. Click the board name and choose a board or type in its name.

Let us know if you have any further questions

Ste