Project lead as default assignee in service desk does not work

Question

Hi! 
Even though my project lead is set as the default assignee for new tickets - by default a new issue is not assigned to this project lead.

I did find that in all my 'request types' the assignee is a hidden field - which is set to a name - but can't be set to automatic. As a consequence - if I want to change my default assignee I have to change every single one of my request type - rather than just switching my project lead around.

Moreover, in a different service desk where the assignee field has been left untouched - I see an error message: "This field type cannot be shown - you must provide a preset value". But as soon as I enter a name - I cannot change it back to 'Automatic' - which is the default value and assigns the new issue correctly to my project lead.

All in all very confusing and not user friendly. 
Is this a bug? Any suggestions on this?

Thanks!
Bob

Brittany Wispell · Answer

Yes, if the assignee field is not added as a variable then it is already set to 'Automatic'. Adding the 'assignee' as a hidden value is for when you want to have it assigned to a specific person outside of the default in your case 'project lead'.

For instance, you want to have all "request type 1" assigned to "person 1" but the rest of the request types you want assigned to the project lead then just remove the assignee field from the hidden value on the request types you don't need a specific person besides the assignee added.

Bob Winters · Answer

Hi Brittany,

Thank you for your reply. I am using the cloud version.

Apparently this whole issue can be solved by removing the assignee field as a variable from the service desks (hidden input) in the request types. Than, by default, the request will be assigned to the 'project lead'.

The odd thing here is that when I add the field 'assignee' and don't fill in anything - it is set by default to 'automatic' (hence - to my project lead). But when I entered a name in this assignee field - I can not change it back to 'automatic'. It prompts the error that a name must be assigned.

Very double... But removing the assignee field does solve the issue - but this is more a workaround for me.

Regards,
Bob

Brittany Wispell · Answer

Hey! @Bob Winters

Are you using Cloud or Server version of Jira Service Desk?

In Server you'll want to make sure that the assignee is not hidden with preset values. If it is hidden and already set to a name currently it will default to that name. If you want it to be set to the project lead you'll need to have the assignee not on the request type fields.

If you have questions please let me know. If you're in Cloud I will do some more research.