How can I change the status of my column in my jira board?

Question

I have the following 7 columns on my jira board;

* Backlog
* To Do
* In Progress
* Blocked
* QA Ready
* Release Ready
* Done

However, irrespective of what statuses I have mapped to them, they show as follows;

* Backlog = Grey i.e. not in progress
* To Do = Blue i.e. in progress
* In Progress = Blue i.e. in progress
* Blocked = Blue i.e. in progress
* QA Ready = Blue i.e. in progress
* Release Ready = Blue i.e. in progress
* Done = Gree i.e. complete

I would like to change this as it skews my board metrics / reports and therefore provides me with inaccurate data.

What I would like the columns to emulate is as follows, which is how my workflow statuses show;

* Backlog = Grey i.e. not in progress
* To Do = Grey i.e. not in progress
* In Progress = Blue i.e. in progress
* Blocked = Grey i.e. not in progress
* QA Ready = Blue i.e. in progress
* Release Ready = Green i.e. complete
* Done = Gree i.e. complete

Is anyone able to help me or is this a bug with Atlassian?

Please see attached screenshots, it looks like it's defaults the left most column to grey i.e. to be done and the rightmost column to green i.e. completed. Can this default be changed to allow for more columns to be grey and green?

Katia Smiles · Answer

Hi Dick,

I am aware what John and yourself are referring to. What I am saying is that the statuses of my categories are as follows but that does not make a difference in my columns nor to my reporting.

As above, the colored line in my board configuration is not following my workflow configuration, which is what I am asking for help with.

See attached screenshot for reference, which shows the colour of my statuses are correct and my columns are not following them.

Dick · Answer

Hi @Katia Smiles

Your board is filled with statuses using the board configuration screen. There, you can add columns and drag the respective statuses under the colored line.

What @John Funk is referring to, is the internal definition of the statuses in Jira. During creation or editing of a status, you get to pick whether it's in the grey "open" category, the blue "in progress" category or the green "Done" category.

The colored line in your board configuration-columns screen follows these categories. Once you define them properly with proper categories, this will change and your data will not be skewed anymore.

Hope this helps you in finding the way through status land,

Dick

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Katia Smiles · Answer

So as I said in my post, my statuses in my workflow show correctly.

However the columns of my board aren't following my statuses. The columns seem to be set solely on position which only allows me to have one column as "not started" and one column as "completed", which doesn't reflect the true state of play and is skewing my data.