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Clarity on "Parent" vs "Parent Link" in Jira Data Center

Dan Spearing_30hyf8

I have seen conflicting information on the "Parent" vs "Parent Link" in Jira Commercial Data Center. I'm only a project admin so I can't see system settings. I don't see "Parent" as an allowable field in any of my Field, Screens, or Scheme configurations. I only see "Parent Link".

Does Jira Commercial Data Center version 10.3.12 have the "Parent" field available? A couple things I can't find (and have had at other companies that had a different Jira version):

Breadcrumbs in an edit screen.
Ability to add Child Tasks from within an Epic edit screen.

I just want to make sure if the "Parent" field is simply not supported in 10.3.12 DC, or if my System Admin just needs to change some settings.

Thanks in advance!

Accepted answers

Hector Florin

Hi @Dan Spearing ,

I hope you're doing well.

I've done some research, and this is what I found:

In Jira Data Center, the Parent field is a core, internal Jira field that represents a true hierarchical (structural) relationship between issues. It’s primarily used for sub-tasks and is only exposed when an issue type is allowed to have a real parent.

On the other hand, Parent Link is an Advanced Roadmaps custom field used for higher-level planning (for example, linking Epics to Initiatives); it does not represent true issue containment and exists only when Advanced Roadmaps is enabled.

https://confluence.atlassian.com/roadmaps-kb/how-to-properly-configure-the-parent-link-field-on-screens-in-jira-data-center-1295682320.html

https://community.atlassian.com/forums/Jira-articles/Introducing-the-new-Parent-field-in-company-managed-projects/ba-p/2377758

I hope it helps.

Thank you.

Regards,
Hector

All comments

Hector Florin

Hi @Dan Spearing ,

I hope you're doing well.

I've done some research, and this is what I found:

I hope it helps.

Thank you.

Regards,
Hector

Dan Spearing_30hyf8

Thanks for the response @Hector Florin !

My desire is for a true hierarchical (structural) relationship between issues, and to be able to see these relationships in a Jira "Plan", which is what I "thought" was an Advanced Roadmaps feature. I can create a Jira Plan, and see issues that are linked using the "Parent Link" field. So that isn't too bad. But it sounds like you are saying that I "can't" have the "Parent" field and Advanced Roadmaps??? Also, I thought I read somewhere that the Big Picture plug-in adversely impacts the use of Advances Roadmaps or using the "Parent" field, but I can't find conclusive data on that either. We have the Big Picture plugin.

The things I want that I "think" are tied to using (or having the project configured to use) the "Parent" field are:

Breadcrumbs at the top of an Edit/View screen. This is not showing, even when issues are linked with the "Parent Link" field.
I want to see the table of child issues in an Epic's edit screen that had the "+" available to add a child issue directly to the Epic without the need to do one (or more) operations to create the Parent/Child relationship using a "Parent Link" field.
As a bonus, I would also like to have about 5 Issue Type hierarchy levels.

To add to all of this, I only have project admin rights so it is likely that I will have to walk the Jira System Admins through the process of making any configuration changes. This makes things rather tricky since I can't see the system configuration as to what options are available.

I appreciate any insight/guidance.

Dan Spearing_30hyf8

We have Jira Data Center Enterprise 10.3.12.

No "Parent" field, only "Parent Link".

Using Advanced Roadmaps.

No Breadcrumbs on issue screens. Some places on-line state breadcrumbs are created from the "Parent" field (which I don't have) and others state it follows the "Parent Link" which is not working for me.

Is this a configuration issue?

Could really use a point in the right direction.

Thanks!

Hector Florin

Hi @Dan Spearing ,

Thank you for your update.

What you’re seeing is expected behavior in Jira Data Center 10.3.12.

The Parent field is not configurable and only exists for sub-tasks.
Advanced Roadmaps uses Parent Link, which enables multi-level planning only inside Plans, not in Jira issue screens.

Because of this:

Breadcrumbs will not appear
Epic issue screens will not show child tables
Admins cannot “turn this on”

BigPicture and Advanced Roadmaps each provide planning hierarchies, but neither changes Jira’s native issue screen behavior.

Optional but helpful:
If what you want is visible, structural parent/child relationships on issue screens (breadcrumbs, inline child tables, adding children from a parent issue), that’s not something Jira Data Center itself supports. Teams that need that often use hierarchy/visualization apps like BigPicture or Structure / Structure.Gantt, which provide their own UI elements independent of Jira’s built-in Parent/Parent Link behavior.

Helpful links:

Atlassian on configuring Parent Link and how it behaves on screens: https://confluence.atlassian.com/roadmaps-kb/how-to-properly-configure-the-parent-link-field-on-screens-in-jira-data-center-1295682320.html
Community discussion about using Parent Link with Advanced Roadmaps: https://community.atlassian.com/forums/Jira-questions/Advanced-Roadmap-Links-between-parent-and-child/qaq-p/2259715
General Advanced Roadmaps documentation and tutorials: https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/guides/advanced-roadmaps/tutorials

I hope it helps.

Regards,
Hector

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