Jira 101: How to create new epics (Step-by-step tutorial included)

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Epics are a powerful tool for organizing large projects and keeping your team on track. In this guide, I'll walk you through the process of creating epics in Jira, so you can start leveraging their benefits.

Understanding epics

Before we dive into the creation process, let's quickly review what epics are and how they differ from stories. 

Epics are large chunks of work that group related tasks. They have a broad scope and are typically designed for long-term planning. 

Stories, on the other hand, are specific tasks that describe a feature from the user's perspective. They have a narrow scope and are meant for short-term execution.

Epic structure example

Creating epics in Jira

There are a few different ways to create epics in Jira. You can use the global create button for quick access, the timeline view for a visual overview, or the backlog for organized planning. Let's go through each method step by step.

Using the global create button

1. Click on the Create button in the top navigation bar.

2. Select Epic as the issue type from the dropdown menu.

3. Fill in the required fields, such as the epic name, summary, and description.

Creating an epic

4. Click Create to save your epic.

Creating epics in the timeline view

1. Open your project's settings and enable the Timeline view.

Enabling a timeline view

2. Open the timeline in the left-hand menu.

3. Click on + Create epic directly on the timeline.

4. Enter the epic details and click Create.

Creating epics from the backlog

1. Navigate to your project's backlog.

2. Click on the + Create epic button on the left.

3. Fill in the epic information and create it.

Creating an epic from the backlog

Linking issues to epics

Once you've created your epic, you can start linking related issues to it. Here's how:

1. Open the issue you want to link to an epic.

2. Click on the Add parent button.

Adding a parent - epic

3. Select the epic from the list or choose View all epics to pick from your full list.

Your issue is now linked to the selected epic, making it easier to organize and track progress on related tasks.

Measuring epic progress

To ensure your epics stay on track, it's important to measure their progress regularly. Jira offers a few built-in tools for this:

• Epic reports: Provides a detailed view of all incomplete issues within an epic.

• Burndown charts: Visually represents your epic's progress over time.

Story points burndown chart

By keeping an eye on these metrics, you can identify any potential roadblocks and adjust your plans accordingly.

Creating Jira structures with epics

With epics, you can build complex relation structures in Jira. Typically, Jira supports a following issue type hierarchy:

- Epic

   - Story

       - Task

You can further expand this structure with sub-tasks or even virtually infinitely with initiatives. This process is explained in the Atlassian documentation.

You can simplify creating such complex structures with Issue Templates for Jira. Normally you would have to create such a structure manually every time, however, with this app, you can automate the process and prepare a reusable template.

A reusable epic template structure created with Issue Templates for Jira Cloud

Conclusion

Creating epics in Jira is a straightforward process that can have a significant impact on your project's success. Whether you prefer the quick create button, the visual timeline, or the organized backlog, Jira makes it easy to get started with epics.

To create epics (and whole structures of epics) automatically, try our app - Issue Templates for Jira.