jira work items table - is there a complete list of fields that are editable?

Chris Peake

When I embed a jira work items table in Confluence Cloud, some of the fields are editable directly in Confluence.  Currently I am able to update Summary, Priority and Status although I swear I could update many more fields until recently (e.g. Story Points and some custom fields).

I can't find any clear documentation of this feature.

Questions:

1. Where is a list that clearly spells out which fields are editable directly in Confluence and which are not?
2. Also, is there a way for our admin to modify that list?

Barbara Szczesniak

@Chris Peake When looking for information to help you with this question, I found that you can update Jira fields in a whiteboard with an action in a smart section (if you have Premium, which I do not). This sent me to this page: https://support.atlassian.com/confluence-cloud/docs/take-bulk-jira-actions-with-smart-sections/, which unfortunately does not give you a list of the fields.

So, thinking that the fields might be the same for a page as a whiteboard, I asked Rovo "what Jira fields can I update using an action in a smart section in a whiteboard?" 

The response:

You can update any Jira field that’s available on the “Edit issue” screen for that work type—as long as you configure it in the smart section’s action.

From Atlassian’s “Take bulk Jira actions with smart sections” documentation (https://support.atlassian.com/confluence-cloud/docs/take-bulk-jira-actions-with-smart-sections/):

“Choose a site, space, and work type from the options in the picker in order to configure an action, then fill in all the fields. Select Save. Start dragging Jira work items into the section to update in real-time and have this change reflected in Jira.”

In practice, this means:

What you can update via a smart section action

When you configure the action on a section, you can set values for:

• Standard fields (if they’re on the edit screen):

  • Status (via workflow transition if that’s what the action is doing)

  • Assignee

  • Priority

  • Labels

  • Components

  • Fix versions / Affects versions

  • Due date

  • Epic link / parent, etc.

• Custom fields, including:

  • Single-select / multi-select fields

  • Checkboxes, radios

  • Text fields and numbers

  • Other custom fields that are on the project’s Edit screen for that issue type

There’s no special “smart section–only” field list; the action UI just exposes whatever fields Jira makes available for bulk update for that work type.

Key limits / behaviors

• Only Jira items: “Smart sections currently only support Jira actions, therefore only Jira work items dragged into the section will have the action applied.”

• Field availability is project-dependent: If you don’t see a field when configuring the action, it’s almost always because:

  • That field isn’t on the Edit screen for that issue type, or

  • It’s not applicable to that work type (e.g., a Scrum-only field on a non-Scrum project).

• Bulk effect: Every issue you drag into that smart section will get the same field updates you configured in the action.

So… maybe it depends on the Jira project the items are from and the type of work items?

But maybe it's not the same when you try this from a Confluence page, in case you don't have Premium, so I asked Rovo "what Jira fields can I update from a Confluence page?"

The part of the response that is relevant to how you are trying to do this (not by opening the Jira issue) is:

Smart Links and inline quick actions

When you paste a Jira URL or issue key into Confluence, it becomes a Smart Link. Depending on your configuration and what’s supported in your site:

• The inline card/preview may allow quick actions like:

  • Transitioning the issue (changing Status via workflow)

  • Changing Assignee

  • Possibly other simple fields (e.g., priority) depending on the card view and product version

But for anything more complex, clicking into the issue opens Jira where you can edit all fields on the edit screen.

I hope this helps you in some way.