Jira and Jira Align Integration: Story Resolution Transition Best Practices

[#1]

Best Practice #1:

The transition for the "Done" status of stories must have a Post Function of, "The Resolution of the issue will be set to Done."  This also applies to all custom issue types that are being mapped to a story type in Jira Align on the Custom Issues tab in the Jira connector.

Why:

This is needed to make sure the resolution date is set.  The connector uses the resolution date from Jira to mark the story as accepted in Jira Align.

Action to take:

Perform the following steps in Jira.

1.  Click on the Settings cog

2.  Select Issues

3.  Click on Workflows

4.  Click View on the appropriate workflow

5.  Click on the Done status in the Transition (id) column

6.  Click the Post Functions tab

7.  Ensure there is an option listed for, "The Resolution of the issue will be set to Done."

Use these steps if the Post Function isn't listed.

8.  Click Create Draft

9.  Click "Done"

10.  Click the Post Functions tab

11.  Click Add post function

12.  Select the radio button for "Update Issue Field"

13.  Click Add

14.  Select "Resolution" from the Issue Field dropdown

15.  Select "Done" from the Field Value dropdown

16.  Click Add

17.  Click Publish Draft

Best Practice #2:

The transition for all other statuses of stories in the workflow must have a Post Function of, "The value of field Resolution will be cleared."  This also applies to all custom issue types that are being mapped to a story type in Jira Align on the Custom Issues tab in the Jira connector.

Why:

If the issue is moved from a "Done" status to a previous status, the value in the Resolution needs to be cleared.  Since the connector uses the Resolution Date to mark the story as "Accepted" in Jira Align, if the Resolution is not cleared, the Resolution Date remains.  This will cause the stories to be out of sync between the two tools or the story may revert to a "Done" status in Jira and "Accepted" in Jira Align.

Action to take:

Follow the same steps above but select a non-"Done" status for Step 5.  Then pick up here with Step 7.

7.  Ensure there is an option listed for, "The value of field Resolution will be cleared."

Use these steps if the Post Function isn't listed.

8.  Click Create Draft

9.  Click on Add post function

10.  Select the radio button for "Clear Field Value"

11.  Click Add

12.  Select "Resolution" from the Field dropdown

13.  Click Add

14.  If Post Function is added, click Publish Draft at the top

[Richard Wilson _Jarow Digital_]

Thanks @Rae Gibbs great article setting out all of the steps.  Jira Align at the story level does not have a story mapping and relies on the resolution date.   Make sure this is true for all Jira Story, Task, defect, custom issue types that get treated as a Jira Align Story (albeit of subtype). 

[Rae Gibbs]

@Richard Wilson _Jarow Digital_ Good callout!  I updated the article with that additional info.

[Allan Silva]

Great article, thanks for sharing at such a detailed level.

[Rae Gibbs]

@Allan Silva Thanks!  I struggle with not being an expert in Jira.  I know to tell Jira Admins what they need to do but haven't had the knowledge to provide them with direction on how to do it.  I figured if this helps me, it will probably help others.

[MichaelL]

This FAQ suggests that the Jira issue's Resolution field must be set or cleared by workflow post-functions; however, it is possible to prompt the user to specify a particular Resolution via the Resolved Issue Editing Screen.  I have been told that prompting for a Resolution will break the integration between Jira and Jira Align.  Please confirm whether this is the case, or whether it is possible for the Jira user to set a specific Resolution value via the "Resolved issue editing screen".

[Aline Chapman]

Hi everyone- How about the "Cancelled" status? Does that get "Clear Field Value" as well? Thanks!

[MichaelL]

The way my company uses Jira and Jira Align, Canceled status in Jira should get a Resolution value, so the Resolved Date is set.

I still want to know if there is an effective way to prompt Jira users for a specific resolution value (e.g. Done, Won't Do, Dupl;icate, etc.) , without interfering with issue status changes propagating from Jira Align down to Jira via WebHooks.

[Greg Mulligan]

Using Jira in many places I've worked, it is customary to have some resolution statuses additional to Done. When a user transitions a story into the Done column the transition dialog pops up with Done as the default. The user can either use this one and just click OK. Or they can select other values in the drop down (Duplicate, Won't do, Can't repro etc.).

These values are then used to report certain metrics.

With the Align integration we have lost this ability and the value is driven by the End state (Accepted, Cancelled etc.). And we can't add any new end states which would be an acceptable solution assuming that the list of Resolution statuses is not too long. But I've been told that this is not possible.

There don't seem to be any good options to retain this OOTB Jira functionality after an integration with Align. The suggestion to add a Resolution Type field and make it mandatory on transition to an end state is clunky and I am reluctant to suggest it to users.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. Changes to existing patterns without a good reason always make the adoption of a new tool that much harder.