Fields missing from Issue Summary

[Phil Lehman]

We are using the cloud based JIRA, and I have created a custom field, "Test Environment" that is optional.  by that I mean I want the field to appear in the Create Issue screen and also show in the Issue Summary.

First I created the field as a Label type with no default value.  The intention here was that the issue creator could specify at the time of the issue entry what Test Environment they were using, or could leave it blank if that information wasn't known or not applicable.  My problem here is that if the field doesn't have a default value then it doesn't appear in the Issue Summary and can therefore not be edited later by users.

So I gave it a default value of "None_Specified".  This is not a desirable work around, but at least the field would then appear on all subsequent issues that were created in their respective Issue Summaries.  However, if you were to edit the field on the Issue Summary and remove the "None_Specified" and accidentally press enter or something before entering a new string, the field then disappears.

So I am looking for the proper way to make sure this field ALWAYS shows up regardless of its content.  If the answer involves making it required, how would I get around the forced default value issue?

Thanks.

[Frank D'Urso]

such as "n/a" for Non Applicable

.  

[Phil Lehman]

Yeah.  I'm calling it the Issue Summary screen, but it is the Issue details screen where the values can be edited (if the fields are visible, which is my issue).  It does appear that JRA-2997 is this issue as well, so I guess the answer is that I'm stuck?

[Ovidiu Vasilescu]

Depending on your workflow you can keep it optional and make it mandatory on a certain transition. Or just make it mandatory right from the beginning. 

[Joe Pitt]

Is it on the Edit screen?

[Ovidiu Vasilescu]

You can't force a custom field to be visible if it's empty, see this issue: https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRA-2997

You can make it required on creation and delete the default value. That way it can't be left empty and the user will be forced to select a (proper) value on creation.