How to create Checklists in Jira (2024)
In the world of Jira, every critical piece of information, every crucial interaction, and every important update revolves around your Jira Issues. They represent tasks, stories, bugs, and other components that drive your project forward. Managing these issues efficiently is crucial to a project's success.
One way to organize work even more is by using checklists in Issues. Checklists have been a part of our everyday lives for as long as we can remember. From shopping lists to daily to-dos, they've proven invaluable in helping us stay organized and efficient.
In Jira you can use checklists for example:
Definition of Done
Acceptance Criteria
Code review
Onboarding
etc.
How to create checklist(s) in Jira?
In Jira, administrators can create different “Checboxes” type custom fields with different set of options.
These custom fields can then be placed on Issue Screens.
By default, these custom fields will be displayed on the right side of the issue as a “context field”, but it can be configured as a “description field” to be always present.
The result will look like this on an Issue.
What are the pros/benefits of using the Checkboxes custom field?
Any changes in the options will be saved and can be reviewed on the Issue history.
Since we are talking about custom fields and screens, you can assign different checklists to different Issue Types or transition screens.
Admins can create workflow validators based on these checklists, eg. preventing a transition when not all options are checked.
What are the cons/weaknesses of this approach?
Be honest… Checkboxes are not exactly look like checklists on the issue screen and can be confusing for your users.
The list itself is static and determined. Users won’t be able to add new options, or edit them, and the options cannot be reordered.
While the variety based on Issue types can be enough, usually complex workflows require a more dynamic approach.
These checklists do not display the actual progress.
There is no way to separate your option, only by creating and adding new custom fields for different types of lists.
There is no field permission in Jira, meaning all users who are able to edit the Issue can mess with the checklist.
…and the list goes on.
Is there a better way to use checklists in Jira?
Yes, there is! There are plenty of tools on the Atlassian Marketplace
These tools provide the necessary features that are missing using the custom fields:
Well… they actually look like a checklist!
The lists are not static, and users can add new items, modify and reorder them.
Users can instantly see the progress of a list.
With many app you can organize your options with headers or create multiple checklists without the administrative need of creating a new custom field.
With many apps, users can create reusable templates that can be shared and used on any Issue.
Some apps provide various permission controls over the checklists.
A few apps provide the same functionality for worklog validation or saving changes to the Issue history.
… and there are more benefits if you are using a third party tool for checklisting.
Can it be even better with a little magic?
Creating and managing checklist(s) under Issues manually can be even a burden sometimes. Could it be better than this?
Artificial Intelligence has transformed how we work, making tasks quicker and reducing unnecessary manual labor. So, why not leverage AI's power to make Jira work for you, instead of the other way around? That's exactly what we thought when developing our Jira app, Issue AI Checklist. By integrating AI technology, we're offering a solution that will make it easier to track progress and stay organized within your Jira Issues.
The AI-Powered Checklist App for Jira
With our new Issue AI Checklist app, you can create one or multiple checklists within your Jira Issue, allowing you to track progress, break down tasks, and ensure nothing is overlooked. You can save or load these checklists as templates, making it easy to reuse them across different projects or issues. This feature is particularly useful for teams that work with standard procedures or have repetitive tasks.
But the most exciting feature is the AI-powered checklist generator. With just one click, our app can analyze the description of a Jira Issue and automatically generate checklist steps or action points. This makes it easier than ever to break down tasks into manageable chunks, saving you time and effort. The AI interprets the context of your issue and suggests relevant steps, allowing you to focus on execution rather than organization.
Choose the right tool for you
As you can see there are multiple ways to add checklists to your Jira issue. Some of them are more streamlined and some need a little bit more labour work. Consider choosing one based on your needs and requirements. You can try Issue AI Checklist by downloading it from the Atlassian Marketplace.