Can I Rename Epic to Feature?

[Aline Chapman]

We have recently adopted Jira Align.
We are having issues with the terminology from a user perspective, it is a source of confusion...
In Jira Cloud the issue type is called "Epic".
We have updated the terminology in Jira Align to read "Features (Jira Epics)".

Is there a way to rename the issue type "Epic" in Jira Cloud to say "Feature"?

What's the experience and recommendations from the community on this topic?

Thanks!

[Mark Cruth · Accepted solution]

Great questions @Aline Chapman ! If you're using Jira Cloud you can easily do this. When you go into Jira Admin > Issues > Issue Types you can simply rename the Epic issue type to Feature.

The one nuance with this that I have found is that it doesn't change the name of the Epic Link and Epic Name custom fields in Jira. This means that the issue type will now be "Feature" but those two fields will still contain the word "Epic" in them. There might be a way using some scripting to correct this, but I haven't come across it. 

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

There is no way to fix the names of fields, and that naming problem extends to things like the gadget names, epic reports and so-on.

The use of "Epic" throughout Jira is endemic, and can't (yet) be changed.  If you rename it to Feature, the issue (type) will work fine, but all the language will be confusing throughout!

[Vinay Sharma · Accepted solution]

@Aline Chapman It is possible to rename "Epic" issue type to "Feature" in Jira Cloud via Administration->Issues->Issue Types->Epic; click on three dots, which shows "Edit". In order to do that one should have Jira Admin access. Renaming is a global change (Configuration), it would impact all Jira projects in that Jira Cloud instance.

In my experience, organizations don't prefer to rename "Epic" to "Feature" in Jira. However, it requires good communication to the teams not to confuse it with Jira Align Epic.

[luke angel]

can you change the name in jira align to be what is currently in jira?

[Mike Goitein]

Hi Luke - Yes, that's what we had done in our system previously, but what we're now reverting back.

You just go to Settings >> Platform Terminology, and scroll to the line that has Feature

[Christian B.]

It works fine with single NextGen projects (team managed). With classic projects (company managed) the change is globally for all classic projects. In the following example I renamed "Epic" to "Konfektionierung" for a NextGen project.


You may also wanna have a look at Custom Epic Panel | Atlassian Marketplace.

[Aline Chapman]

Thank you @Mark Cruth and @Vinay Sharma for your feedback. Based on your experience, what is the impact of the rename on things like filters, dashboards, project configurations, etc. Does anything break?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

It will work fine, with three caveats. 

• There were some apps that broke if you renamed Epic, but the ones I remember breaking were all Server ones, and have all been updated so they don't break, it's been a couple of years since I've seen an Epic rename break anything.  It was just a recognition thing too - they just didn't see the renamed issue type as an Epic type, so treated it as standard issue type, no actual damage was done.  I doubt you'll find any apps that break now.
• Some filters may need to be edited, depending on how they've been built (if they refer to Epics by name rather than issue type), but that breaks in easily explainable and readily fixable ways - most people find their users are happy to update their saved filters when they try to use a broken one.
• As per my earlier comment - you're going to see Epic Name, Epic Link, Epic Colour, Epic Report, Epic Gadgets and so-on throughout the UI, all now reporting against Features rather than Epics.  It's purely cosmetic - it will not stop anything working, just look a bit odd for the humans.

[Helen Shaw]

@Nic Brough -Adaptavist- Could you please advise whether this comment is still current? Based on your earlier comment, I wonder if Atlassian has released any updates that address the drawbacks of renaming the Epic field.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

The first two points stand.  On the third one, if you have Advanced Roadmaps and you rename Epic in the hierarchy in there, then the cosmetic details do now change.

[Helen Shaw]

Thank you, great news. Since your earlier post, did you happen to come across any specific apps that are affected?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Nothing new, since 2021, no.

[Tyler Anderson]

@Nic Brough -Adaptavist- Just updated the Issue Type name in a test environment, "Epic -> Feature". After this, updated the Level name in Roadmaps also to "Feature", and still see the fields being labeled as "Epic Name". 

Is this what you meant above? Is there another step to get these fields updated? Or is there a specific Data Center Version you need to be on?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Yep, you can do it with Advanced Roadmaps now.  Not entirely sure what the exact version it arrived in, but you are definitely good from 9.0 onwards.

[Tyler Anderson]

Currently testing on v8.20.12. Did the updates and now doing a full system reindex. Wasn't seeing the updates flow through to the custom fields. Is there a step I could have missed?

Found that this needs to be done from the terminology section of the app. Once you do it there it does the updates successfully. 

[Mark Cruth]

Also, if you're a Jira Data Center user, the new Flexible terminology functionality can help do this same thing: https://www.atlassian.com/blog/jira-software/flexible-terminology-for-jira-data-center