in a story i want to make a field mandatory

[manish a]

in a story i want to make a field mandatory however during the implemetnation of jira align i was told that none of the fields except description and summary can be mandatory for story otherwise any changes made in jira align for the issue type story wont get synced to jira. please suggest if there is a possibility. 

[Steve Sauser · Accepted solution]

@Manish

Here is a link to the documentation for default and custom fields  - https://help.jiraalign.com/hc/en-us/articles/360041832653-Configure-default-and-custom-fields

This will provide you details on how to create a field.  Remember there are a limited number of fields that can be created and limited types.  

If you want to sync the field with Jira you will need to leverage the Field Management and here is a link to that documentation - https://help.jiraalign.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000088453-Jira-integration-setup#h_27e03ed1-fdbe-4c10-8b2e-93d953568fd0

At current state though, these fields can ONLY be synced at the Feature level (not at the story level).  There may be opportunities in the future for this to expand beyond features, but at current state it would only be at the Feature level.  

[Steve Sauser · Accepted solution]

Hello Manish and thank you for your question.  

The ability to make fields required in Jira Align (Story, Feature, Epic, etc...) is through the Administration --> Settings (heading) --> Details Panels Settings.  

Here you can mark fields as both Active as well as Required (screenshot below). 

The key is to understand your sync pattern and the impacts of such (I am only going to address Story here as that is your question).  

• Bi-Directional Sync:
  • All fields that are required in JA are required at create and cannot be conditionally required nor can they be required based upon a movement in the workflow.  
  • All field that are required in JA must also exist in Jira, be part of the bi-directional sync, and be required at create in Jira.  
  • Example:  
    • Persona is made required in Jira Align, however Persona cannot be synced bi-directionally so any story created in Jira that should sync with Jira Align will fail to sync because the story cannot be created without the required data.  
• Jira - Jira Align Sync: 
  • In this pattern you would not mark fields as required in Jira Align because the ability to create/update stories directly in Jira Align should be suppressed (using Role Toggles, etc...).  

As a general rule we advise against making fields required at create because it raises the bar for entry (if I don't know all the details I cannot create the shell of a work item); required fields don't provide accurate information, they provide information (but it is often not trustworthy).  

In summary, you can absolutely require fields in Jira Align (at create), we would advise you to test this out in a lower environment and understand the impacts prior to fully implementing.  

[Jamie Giantonio · Accepted solution]

@manish a When it comes to mandatory fields, make sure anything made mandatory is a field that is synched between Jira and Jira Align and is mandatory in both places.

Fields that are NOT synced between Jira Align and Jira cannot be marked as required in Jira. If an item is created in Jira Align and there is a required field in Jira that does not sync with Jira Align, the sync will fail and the item will not be created in Jira.  This is because Jira is looking for the connector to pass this info from Jira Align but it doesn't exist in Jira Align.  Since Jira sees this as a required field for creation, it will not create it.  This is most common with custom fields.

Required Jira fields that ARE synced between Jira Align and Jira must have a value entered in Jira Align when initiating the sync from Jira Align. If you are making a field required in Jira that can be synched with Jira Align, make the field required in Jira Align as well. Doing this will help ensure the field stays populated and requirement of fields can be controlled by Portfolio. This can only be done by a user that has the appropriate permissions to access the Details Panels Settings in the Jira Align Admin Console. 

Check this out for more info: https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Jira-Align-articles/Jira-and-Jira-Align-Integration-Jira-Issue-Field-Best-Practices/ba-p/1537120

[manish a]

Thanks jamie for a detailed repsonse. one follow up question. we wanted to create a custom field (single select dropdown) in jira and make it mandatory. 

can you suggest how i can map the same to jira align field. should i be using the  "jira setup" under "jira setting" in setting. Here I can see bunch of fields in jira align which can be mapped to custom field most of them ask for a single line text field or multiple line text field in jira. attaching the screenshot. 

i know how to make it mandatory in jira align though the details. panel. 

[Jamie Giantonio]

@manish a you can add a custom field to Jira Align and then map it using Field Management. You are limited to the number of custom fields in Jira Align.

Here is some more info on Custom Fields and Field Management  (open link and search for Configure field management settings)

[manish a]

Thanks @Jamie Giantonio thats extremley helpful. However one more question I can see only feature in the field mapping option. I dont see option to do field mapping for story. 

[manish a]

Thanks jamie for a detailed repsonse. one follow up question. we wanted to create a custom field (single select dropdown) in jira and make it mandatory. 

can you suggest how i can map the same to jira align field. should i be using the  "jira setup" under "jira setting" in setting. Here I can see bunch of fields in jira align which can be mapped to custom field most of them ask for a single line text field or multiple line text field in jira. attaching the screenshot. 

i know how to make it mandatory in jira align though the details. panel.