How to create Dynamic Custom Fields in Jira Service Desk Cloud

[#1]

Extension for Jira Service Desk is our flagship app available on the Atlassian Marketplace. From the incentive of Marketplace, this product has been providing the most wanted features improving security, usability and appearance of Server instances on Jira Service Desk. Earlier this year, we became founding partners of Data Center Approved Apps program by Atlassian and added support for Jira Data Center with all features of the app, including displaying more issue details on the Request Detail View, building dynamic request forms, bundling custom fields, and more grained permissions for various elements. Recently, as an answer to many questions from our clients, we released the Cloud version of the app. For now, its functionalities are limited to the configuration of Dynamic Forms, but we'll be adding more features known from the Server version to that in no time.

Why dynamic request forms are a hit

The shorter the request form, the better the user's understanding of what we need from them. We already proved that point when we wrote about improving the customer journey through Jira Service Desk Server. To provide support of the highest quality, we need to ask our clients as clear and precise questions as possible. Of course, we can do it natively in Jira Service Desk Cloud by adding appropriate custom fields to the request type. However, it will also make the form longer which isn't that great for both us and the customer. The users don't want to spend their precious time on endless scrolling through the request form that requires many details because for example, they wanted to report a bug in their app.

 

Default and dynamic request forms in Jira Service Desk Cloud

Dynamic Forms enable us to avoid such a situation by shortening the form. We don't have to worry about the length of the request form, because we know that the suitable fields will show up after the customer chooses the appropriate option in the previous question. It's a simple top-down approach which makes it easier for the users to go from general to particular details about their problems.

Dynamic request forms already proved its value on Server  instances in Jira Service Desk. Let's use them on Cloud as well.

3 easy steps to create dynamic custom fields

The configuration of Dynamic Forms on Cloud is quite different from the one on Server. The main difference is that while in the Server version of the app, we configured only the main Dynamic Field and added the appropriate custom fields in the Request types, in the Cloud version we manage both the main Dynamic Fields and the ones that respond to it in Dynamic Forms for Customer Portal in the Project Settings. We can set all the fields and options there, and set up which custom fields are required and which ones should be displayed after selecting an option or providing a specific value on the previous step. Meaning that once we're finished with Dynamic Fields in this configuration panel, we don't have to go back to the Request types to add the same custom fields to the form.

Similarly to Server, the configuration is effortless. However, we recommend to configure dynamic forms which are Hidden from portal. Every change on a request type is automatically saved and visible on the Customer Portal.

To create Dynamic Forms on Cloud instances, we need to:

1. go to Issues in Jira Settings and create custom fields to the request form;
2. in Project settings, go to Dynamic Forms, choose the request type, click Manage Fields and select the custom fields created beforehand;
3. set:
   1. validators if a field is required among others options depending on the field type,
   2. conditions for each field to define which option or value provided in the previous step will display it.

Configuring dynamic custom fields on Jira Service Desk Cloud

Moreover, we can copy configured fields defined in the request form or in another Dynamic Form and use markdown to add Field help, for example when we want to list additional information, place a helpful table, graphic or link. We need to remember that for now this configuration doesn't support some of the field types, including: Attachment, Priority, Assignee, Issue Links, User Picker and Multi-User Picker. Also, we should avoid adding the custom fields used in the Dynamic Forms to the request type in the Request Types configuration. Otherwise, we'll see a notification about problems with the setting in the configuration panel, and if we ignore it, the users will see it as well with additional information to contact the Customer Portal admin.

Currently, we're working on adding more fields such as Attachment as a Dynamic Field, enabling displaying SLA metrics on the Request Detail View, and some more validators and conditions, among others. Stay tuned to get the latest news about upcoming features!

If you’d like to learn more about Extension for Jira Service Desk, read other articles about the app on the Community: 

• How to improve your customer's journey through Jira Service Desk Server
• A simple guide to set up Dynamic Forms in Jira Service Desk
• 7 most common concerns of Jira Service Desk users (and solutions to them)

[Gabriel Viger]

Hi Karolina,

I just activated the Extension for Jira Service Desk Cloud and wanted to create some Dynamic fields but I am really confused on how to configure it.

Example: On our New Employee Onboarding form, if from a multi-select, I select Jira, I want another field to appear which will ask: Will this user log his time in Jira? If Yes, who will approve his/her time sheet?

Couldn't figure how to do it :/

Can you please help me figure it out?

Thanks!

Gabriel

[Karolina Lasoń [Deviniti]]

Hi @Gabriel Viger ,

After you do step 1 and 2 from the article, you can add conditions to the fields - so when specific field should show up. For example: when we set condition for "Will this user log their time in Jira" field, the condition should look like this:

What tools will the employee use is checked Jira

Unfortunately, the app doesn't support User Picker field type yet, so we need to use i.e. Select List for "Who will approve his/her time sheet" question.

Here's a short gif, just in case :) I hope it works! 

[Gabriel Viger]

Hi Karolina.

Thanks for your quick reply.

I understand a bit more how it works and will make more test.

Could you produce a GIF with a slower playback please? lol

Thanks :)

Gabriel

[Karolina Lasoń [Deviniti]]

@Gabriel Viger 

Here you have it:

Fingers crossed!! In case of any questions, I'm here for you

[Gabriel Viger]

Hi Karoline!

I am now an expert in dynamic fields (lol) thanks to your example.

Thanks again for the support!

Gabriel

[Karolina Lasoń [Deviniti]]

Yay! Congrats @Gabriel Viger! Glad I could help :) 

[mittapalli m]

Hi guys,

I appreciate your responses and i understood this is for portal only but i am looking for Dynamic custom fields for Jira cloud but not for portal.

Thank you.

[Karolina Lasoń [Deviniti]]

Hi @mittapalli m 

Unfortunately, Dynamic Forms are only available on Jira Server.

Right now, Atlassian doesn't provide an API to dynamically edit the Create Issue screen in Jira Cloud.

Regards,

Karolina

[Sebastian Reichmann]

Hello @Karolina Lasoń [Deviniti] 

Exist a roadmap if and when Dynamic Fields will be available for the JIRA Service Desk Cloud version?
We are looking for a solution to implement dynamic form fields on the JIRA front-end.
Many greetings
Sebastian

[Karolina Lasoń [Deviniti]]

Hi @Sebastian Reichmann

Dynamic Forms are available on the Jira Service Desk Cloud version :) Here's link to our documentation if you want to learn how to set them up: https://deviniti.com/support/addon/cloud/extension/latest/dynamic-forms/

Regards,

Karolina

[Sofia Grunspan]

Hi! If I create one custom filed (field type: select list cascading) and I want some options in one request type and different options (from the same field) in other request type, can I do it with this app?

Thanks for your anwer

[Steve Dignard]

Hi, is there a way to change the order of a dynamics field in the form or it have to stay in the bottom ?

[Dzmitry Hryb _Deviniti_]

Hi @Sofia Grunspan

Sorry for the late response. On Cloud, you configure the display of a custom field's options with conditions, so basically it seems like you could do what you've described.

Hi @Steve Dignard ,

For now, the Dynamic Fields section has to stay in the lower part of the screen. This is due to technical limitations imposed by Atlassian that we can't override. Hope this is going to change in a while, though.

[DaveMenc]

I appreciate your product; it definitely fills a gap!

One small bit of advice: your cloud version documentation always starts with "In server we did XYZ. IN cloud here are the differences" -- that is, you're always explaining the cloud version in terms of the server version.

This is perfectly understandable: you understand the server version and have been working with it for years and built the cloud version as an extension from that.

But it makes NO sense from a user perspective. Many of us HAVE come from server and, who knows, maybe some of us used your product on server. But the vast majority of us, a fraction that will increase over time as server is EOL, don't know Server and don't care.

So my recommendation is that you have STAND ALONE Cloud documentation that assumes we know nothing about your product (we didn't see it on Server) and nothing about Server (we never used it). Even people who used the product on Server will find that documentation easier, I predict. It's MUCH easier to understand things when they aren't entangled with other things...

On the whole the documentation is good and I'm sure I'll be able to figure this out. Thanks for all you do!

Dave

[Raffaele Ziraldo]

Sorry...but is still available this extension for Cloud?!

[Dzmitry Hryb _Deviniti_]

Hi @DaveMenc ,

Thanks for your feedback! I've handed it over to the product team.

Hi @Raffaele Ziraldo ,

Yes, it's one of the core features in Extension for Jira Service Management Cloud.

[Alejandro Yudis Amaya Bonilla]

I have customizable fields, but I see that the app does not recognize them, is that normal?

[artsiom.halaveshka]

Hi to all. How to add custom fields to configuration list in the "Dynamic Forms" on the Jira Cloud version? Other words, how to make custom fields usable in "Dynamic Forms"?

It is clear how to do it for Jira Server (add key:val pair to config file). But it is absolutely not clear how to do it for Jira Server.

[Dzmitry Hryb _Deviniti_]

Hi @alejandro yudis amaya Bonilla and @artsiom.halaveshka !

Sorry for the delayed response.

On Cloud, we need to mark the chosen fields as "dynamic" separately per each request type, which allows for more flexibility. The feature also still has some technical limitations, which is why some fields can't be used to the full extent. Feel free to discover more details in the app's documentation or file a request to our Support Team.