What is the point/difference between columns and statuses?

Question

I've used jira for a while and have recently setup a team-managed project. I've run into some quite baffling/frustrating issues:

* I map a status to a column, but then they seem to work completely independently of each other. Eg: I change a status but it doesn't move column, and vice versa. What is the point of mapping a status to a column if they don't have to match up?
* A status can only be mapped to one column. But for a status like "In Progress", I have more than one column. Eg: I have columns for "In Progress", "Testing", and "QA". These are all for In Progress issues, but I can't map that status to all columns. Why??
* When I setup columns/statuses, I get the option in the dropdown on an issue to "Transition to" another status. However, if I want to use automation rules to move the ticket to another column, it won't work for this transition. I have to actually make another custom transition for the automation to work. But then the dropdown has two transitions for the same move. This just become confusing and cluttered. Also when dragging between columns on the board, I get multiple "drop zones" for the same status. Why?

What am I missing with respect to columns and statuses? They would appear to do/be the same thing. But I find them utterly non-intuitive.

Ben Merven · Answer

Thanks Carlos, but I want it the other way around. I want a ticket to have a status of "In Progress" , but then visually move it across the board through different columns.

Eg: for column (top) and status (bottom)

| In Progress | Testing       | QA                |

----------------------------------------

| In Progress | In Progress | In Progress |

Further to your point, even if mapping multiple statuses to one column, it seems it is not possible to display the status in the card view when using next-gen/team-managed projects.

Ben Merven · Answer

Thanks Pramodh. But this is not what I experience. I have mapped Statuses to columns. But let's say I have a ticket in the backlog and I change its status to In Progress, the ticket does not move. It just stays in the backlog.

Pramodh M · Answer

@Ben Merven

In simple words

Columns are used to display the issues and issues will land into columns based on the status we mapped on the board. Nothing more

For automation to work, you should have a proper transition for the issue to make which is associated with the workflow.

Check the workflow and create the automation

Let me know if you have any queries

Thanks