How can I transform a text field into a user field without losing existing values?

Question

Hei Community,

I have a text field in Jira that contains references to users (usernames). This field is used in an input form (single line) and needs to be transformed into a user field (User Picker). The challenge is ensuring that all current entries are correctly mapped to existing Jira users without losing any data during the transformation. There are currently hundrets of tickets that needs to be transformed.

Some specific concerns:

* What happens if the text in the field does not match an existing user in Jira?
* Is there a best practice or recommended approach for handling the migration and mapping of these values?

Thank you in advance!
Ivan

Mikael Sandberg · Accepted Answer

Hi @MidnightExe,

Welcome to Atlassian Community!

Once you create a custom field you cannot change the field type. Your only option is to create a new custom field with the correct type, and then either do a bulk update to set the values based on the existing field or use automation to do it.

Hannes Obweger - JXL for Jira · Accepted Answer

Hi @MidnightExe

welcome to the community!

Just to add to Mikael's great answer:

If you're open to solutions from the Atlassian Marketplace, you may want to have a look at the app that my team and I are working on: JXL for Jira.

JXL is a full-fledged spreadsheet/table view for your issues that allows viewing, inline-editing, sorting, and filtering by all your issue fields, much like you'd do in e.g. Google Sheets or Excel. You can also bulk edit your fields using copy/paste. This makes it very easy to copy values from one column (i.e., field) to another column/field, like so:

This is how it looks in action:

(I'm using the Assignee field here, but it would work the same with any other user(s) field.)

You only need to make sure that the pasted values fit the new field. If that's not already the case, you can e.g. copy your values to Excel, manipulate them there, and then copy them back to JXL. If a value doesn't fit, JXL will highlight the cell, and show an error flag explaining the situation.

I should also add that JXL can do much more than the above: From support for configurable issue hierarchies, to issue grouping by any issue field(s), sum-ups, or conditional formatting.

Any questions just let me know,

Best,

Hanes