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Modifying a JIRA scrum simplified workflow

Steve Titus

I'm a previous JIRA admin, but have been away for a couple years, and am now setting up JIRA at my latest job. I very much like the simplified workflow you get when you create a project by selecting 'Scrum Software Development' as the project type.

However, one aspect of the simplified workflow stinks – the restriction that the only Resolution that a ticket of any type can have under this workflow is "Done". This, even though there are all the usual suspect resolutions actually defined (Duplicate, Won't Fix, etc).

All I wanna do is allow the use of all the nice resolutions – when I drag a card to "Done", I'd like to be able to set the resolution...that's the ONLY change I really want to the simplified flow.

When I google on this, there's some confusion – you CAN edit the workflow (see https://confluence.atlassian.com/agile067/jira-agile-user-s-guide/configuring-a-board/configuring-columns/using-jira-agile-simplified-workflow) , but lots of people say "do not do that".

Obviously, I could start a new project using the JIRA flow, but then I'd have to dial back all the over-complicated stuff that I don't want from that flow (which I did in a past life, and would rather not do again. A lot of the chatter on this is pretty old, so I thought I'd ask anew.

What should I do – try to modify the simplified flow, or bag it and use the more complex flow which I'd probably have to modify to be simpler? Anybody else want to do what I am doing?

Thanks!

Accepted answers

Nic Brough -Adaptavist-

It's a grey area on the most part, but the results are black and white.

When you simplify a workflow, Software creates a perfectly standard JIRA workflow and associates it with the projects. Your users can then use the interface in Software to add/change/remove status, and all Software does is edit the resulting workflow directly (instead of a user interface with a diagram and text options)

So, the underlying workflow really is just a JIRA workflow. So, yes, once you have that, you can edit it in the normal editor and do whatever you want to it. Use resolution screens, add post-functions, new transitions and status and so-on.

That's the grey bit.

The black-and-white is simple - do not do that. If you use standard JIRA workflow setup, without simplification, you can do what you want, but the board admins can't change it. If you use a simplified workflow, then don't edit it. In most cases, it will work ok at first, but every time a board admin then changes a column or status, you could lose some or even all of the changes you've made.

A common trick is to use a simplified workflow for a while, and then, when the users have it "right" and want to add the clever stuff to it, de-simplify it (put it in a workflow scheme and apply that to the project(s)), so that your project admins can't trash it. It sounds like that might be your best bet here!

All comments

Nic Brough -Adaptavist-

It's a grey area on the most part, but the results are black and white.

Steve Titus

Nic,

Thanks for your answer! Looks like transitioning from Simplified to Standard as you suggest may be the way to go once we've 'converged' on what we want. Quick final question on that, though: if we've flown for a few months (a bunch of sprints) on the simplified, will the transition to the Standard scheme be seamless or difficult; i.e. when I 'copy' the current Simplified approach to a workflow scheme, will it be transparent to my users (old sprints, current boards won't 'break', etc) after it's done and then I can go under the hood and add resolution screens, etc while the system is 'in the air'...or will I need to do this over a day or two of having the system 'up on the lift' and not operating quite right when I make the switch?

Thanks,
Steve

Nic Brough -Adaptavist-

You can switch over at any time, and as the "new" workflow is a copy (or even just the original) simplified flow, there's no impact on your users.

Your non-simplified stuff should be done during or after the switch, so there's no chance of it being lost. I would plan some of it though - JIRA lets you edit Active workflows to some extent via its "draft/publish workflow" stuff, but there's a few things you can't do with drafts - most notably, delete steps from the workflow. You can mess with transitions and screens as much as you need though, so if all your changes are transition related, you'll be fine.

Steve Titus

Sweet, thanks!

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