How to organise your Tests in Jira?

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To ensure efficient testing, your tests should be organized properly. Today, we would like to present two approaches you could implement with testing software such as QAlity or QAlity Plus. We will also mention the methods you can use that will help you navigate through them, avoid clutter, and not get lost in multiple issue types. 

Storing QAlity tests –  group QAlity test issues within the project

The first method is to create new QAlity test issues in the project you are currently working on. However, you might end up with a long and messy list of issues. To make navigating through them easier, you can use the most popular way and organize your test cases in folders and subfolders.

Folders give you endless possibilities when it comes to organizing your tests. You can easily group test cases that you want to keep together and access them quickly whenever you need, without worrying about them getting mixed up with other test cases. To view and manage your folders go to Repository -> Test Cases. You can create and access your folders and subfolders through the Test Cases panel on the left.

Another useful feature that can increase the efficiency of your testing and improve the effective navigation are custom test case execution statuses. You can manage them by clicking Apps -> Manage your apps -> QAlity Plus -> Test Case Execution Status.

Here, you can change the existing statuses and add new ones. Custom statuses allow you to  adjust the testing workflow to your needs and find more accurate issues while filtering.

Keep in mind that both folders and custom statuses are available only in QAlity Plus. However, if you’re using QAlity Free or just want to explore other methods of organizing your tests, here are some ideas:

• Add labels to your QAlity test issues

Labelling your QAlity issues will help you find the ones you’re interested in quicker. In order to create labels go to Project settings -> Issue types and choose Labels on the right:

Name the new label, give it a description if you want, and click enter in order to save it.

All labels created like that will later be visible in your QAlity test issue types:

Now all you need to do is click on the label of your choice and your QAlity test issue type will be labeled with it.

• Use custom fields to filter out the test cases you need

You can use checkbox custom fields to mark different types of test cases. In order to create them, go to Project settings -> Issue types -> Task and choose Checkbox from the list on the right.

Name the new field, and add options you want to be available for this field. When finished, click enter. 

Same as labels, they will later be visible in your QAlity test Jira issues. Tick one of the types you’ve created, and your QAlity test issue will be categorized with it.

• Link QAlity test issues to Jira tickets

You can create tickets and link QAlity Test issues to them. For example:

• Task - Regression = all regression tests as linked issues

• Task - Functional tests = all functional tests as linked issues

This method allows you to quickly access all the test scripts from one page. Also, you can conveniently navigate to those tests’ executions or execution history from a three-dot menu.

• Use backlog filters

As backlog shows all unresolved Jira issues that are not scheduled for any sprint, all your QAlity test issues will be displayed by default, too. However, a project admin can use filters to determine which issues should and shouldn’t be displayed in the backlog and that includes the QAlity test issue type. 

Open your backlog and use filters to choose what you want to be displayed. For example, you might want to hide QAlity Tests and see all other issue types.

If you want to save a filter to always have it close at hand, you can do it by choosing Quick filters -> Manage quick filters.

 

You’ll be directed to a settings page. Click Create quick filter in the top right corner.  Type the filter name and a JQL query. In our case, we typed: type != "QAlity Test"

It will result in displaying all issue types except QAlity Tests.

Storing QAlity tests – a dedicated project to share test cases

Another way to store your QAlity test issue types is to keep them in a separate project and link to them in particular tasks. This method is especially useful if you want to have full control over permissions to edit your tests. It also allows you to avoid cluttering the backlog since all test cases will be stored in a separate project.

To achieve that, create a new project. You can call it All tests. This is where you want to store all your tests. Manage permissions for this project according to your needs, for example giving testers access to edit issues. All the other users can have viewing permissions only.

Once you’ve done that, you can link tests from the All tests project to issues in your other projects. Users in those projects will be able to view the linked tests, but won’t be able to make any changes to them.

 

For example, I’ve just linked a QAlity Test issue from my All tests project to a Mayflower project, and can now view test details inside my Mayflower issue.

Please note that this method works best if you link issues between company-managed projects.

Summary 

You can organize your tests in Jira by either keeping them in a separate project or creating new QAlity test issues in the project you are currently testing. With the second approach, there are a few ways that will allow smoother navigation through them. These include: adding labels to your QAlity test issues, using custom fields, and linking QAlity test issues to Jira tickets. If you would like to explore more options with QAlity or QAlity plus, we encourage you to see our documentation. Remember that in case of any questions or troubles, you can always contact us or book a demo here.