Can fields containing no data be made visible in an issue?

Question

So - our issues screen has tabs. Each tab contains different fields. However, only the fields that actually contain data are visible on the tab. Fields which currently contain no data are not visible.  All fields are visible on the edit screen.

Is it possible to make fields containing no data be made visible in the tab.

I had thought this was not a good idea but was told some fields might actually contain no data, or rather have no "answer", which for that particular field is a valid - or expected - option - and people need to see this.

Another way at looking at this is: fields containing no data usually mean - there is nothing yet of value to see for a field. However, for some fields, NOT having a value is valid and that field must be viewable.

So is that a possibility?

Joe Pitt · Accepted Answer

No. The only work around is to have a default value. I had a manager force me to do this and the result was at least half of the people never entered the correct data. You can't make it required because there is already a value there so it fulfills the 'is required' rule.  We ended up with about half of the issues being closed with TBD in the fields.