Why do I need to know html to Edit Descriptions and Some Other Product/Pricing Questions

Question

I was just taking a look in JIRA Core at the sample tasks created for me as part of learning how to use the application.  Looking at the existing task–it looks great.  Formatting, images, etc.   As soon as I click to edit, everything turns into a form of HTML rather than WYSIWIG.  Is that right?  This seems very unfriendly for end users–especially since JIRA Core is targeted for non-IT users.  I'm not even sure how to edit this.

On a separate note, I'm new to JIRA.  I am a project manager working on a project that has a few teams (both IT and business users).  Would it be best if I use JIRA Software, Service Desk, Confluence, and JIRA Core?  Or do I need only some of these?  I have heard JIRA favorably recommended by several people and I want to love it.  But I'm a bit discouraged when the first thing I see is a bunch of code when I go to edit a description.

Also, it seems like JIRA Capture is something that would be included in Service Desk rather than an add-on for another $10 per month.  It looks like JIRA Capture is primarily for taking screen shots which I can do with Snag-it.  What is the advantage of JIRA Capture?

If I get JIRA Software, Service Desk, Confluence, JIRA Core, and JIRA Capture, now I'm looking at $50 per month.  I am operating as an indpendent consultant I'm planning on evaluating/learning these for a month or two before deciding to recommend to my client(s), so it's starting to look pricey if I have to get everything separately.

Thanks,

Bill Marshall

Here is what the description looks like that I was trying to edit.  This seems to be too much for even myself much less my non-IT business users.

!Workflow.png|align=left!
h4. Workflows - What you need to know
{color:#707070}Workflows define steps to get a task to done. To see the workflow this tasks goes through, click on 'View Workflow' above. {color}
h4. Status
{color:#707070} A status represents the “state” of a task at a specific point in your workflow. The current status of your task can be viewed in the 'Details' section above. Once you're ready to move to the next step, click on the appropriate transition button. {color}

Next: [Editing tasks|TEST-3]
{color:#707070}Previous:{color} [This is your first task.|TEST-1]

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[Learn more about workflows|http://blogs.atlassian.com/2015/11/how-to-set-up-business-workflows-in-jira-core/]

Nic Brough -Adaptavist- · Answer

Well, to start with, that's not html at all, it's a "markup" language which uses a set of text conventions to format text.  It's a lot more simple to write and structure than html, and it's actually very simple to use.  The main advantage for a lot of users is the ability to simply type everything without having to click anywhere to do any formatting.  I've written this reply without taking my paws off the keyboard or even tabbing around - putting a pair of asterisks around a chunk of text emboldens it (although this editor does not store it like that, unlike JIRA, the markup still works in the editor)

It's totally optional, you can ignore it completely and just write text, and you can even turn it off for a field completely (looks odd though, because existing fields using it will display as it does in your question).  Later versions of JIRA have an improved editor which hides it from you a lot more.

For your other questions:
>Would it be best if I use JIRA Software, Service Desk, Confluence, and JIRA Core?  Or do I need only some of these?

Depends on what you need.

* JIRA Core is an issue tracker
* Confluence is somewhere to write things - technically, it's a wiki, but it does a lot of other things that wikis don't do as well (It's not a document store or a formatting platform, it's still a wiki, for writing stuff fast, collaborating on it and getting it to end users instantly, without sending docs around via mail or shares)
* JIRA Software is an application that adds a lot of Development-oriented functions to JIRA - Scrum and Kanban boards are the most visible things, but it adds integrations with development tools as well
* JIRA Service Desk is another application that layers a help-desk like interface over JIRA projects, simplifies them for the end users, and adds queues and SLAs for the agents

Note that the last two are added to JIRA Core, and add optional functions - typically you find users will use JIRA Core, and then your more Agile developers will use Software, and you'll get some teams who talk to customers convert some of their projects to Service Desk.  All of them continuing to use "plain" JIRA projects for some stuff.

Capture is pretty much aimed directly at testers.  I don't see a lot of consultancy work on it, even in places that have huge amounts of testing - I think it's got a distinct niche use-case, and the type of people likely to use it seem to find it simply works without them needing any help (or not, so they just use other things)