Backlog issues not showing for filter Epic when status is something other than To Do

[Brett Parkhurst]

We use an issue status called "Ready for Estimation" that happens before our To Do transition.  When stories are set to this status, they do not show up under the Epic in the backlog when you select that Epic.

If click into the Epic details you can see the issues are part of the epic with the Ready for Estimation status but in the backlog view they do not show up. 

How does Jira filter issues in the backlog when selecting an epic in the backlog?

[Trudy Claspill · Accepted solution]

Hello @Brett Parkhurst 

Are you working with a Company Managed project or a Team Managed project?

For a Company Managed project, when you select an Epic in the Epics Pane in the backlog, it will show you all the issues that are children of that Epic that are also within scope of the board filter AND for which the Status of the issue is mapped to a column for the board. So, check that the issues with status "Ready for Estimation" are within the scope of the board filter, and that Status is mapped to a column for your board (under Board Settings > Columns).

For a Team Managed project the answer might be different, but I'll go there only if that is the type of project you're using.

[Brett Parkhurst]

Hi Trudy,

It is a Company Managed project and the board filter does contain the issues that are "Ready for Estimation".  I can't figure out why they are not showing up when I click on the Epic in the backlog.

[Trudy Claspill]

Refer to my comments about the mapping of statuses to columns

[Brett Parkhurst]

What does the board have to do with the backlog?  I don't want those statuses mapped in our board because we use another board for estimation vs. working them through our Scrum workflow.

[Trudy Claspill]

This is simply how Jira is designed to work at this time. The board settings cover both the backlog screen and the board/columns display. For any issue you want included in either screen, the issue has to be within the scope of the filter for the board, and the Statuses of the issues have to be mapped to a column.

If you are using a Scrum board, the issues in those statuses appear in the columnized Board view only if they become assigned to an active sprint. Issues not in an Active Sprint will be visible only on the Backlog screen.

Some people have just one "To Do" type of status and it is used for the issues that are being groomed and estimated in the backlog and also is the first status of issues added to sprints, and is therefore mapped to the first column of the Board view. If you use To Do just for the first step in your active sprints, and want different pre-"To Do" statuses for the issues not ready to be in a sprint, those also have to be mapped to a column. I would map them to the left-most board column, recognizing that procedurally issues in that status will never be added to an active sprint and so will never actually appear on the Board view.

If you are using a Kanban board with a Backlog screen enabled, then you need to map 1..n Statuses to the "Kanban backlog" column on the Columns page in order for issues in those statuses to appear in the Kanban backlog. In that case, issues in those statuses appear only on the Backlog screen, because the "Kanban backlog" "column" maps just to that Backlog screen.

This is a difference between how the Scrum and Kanban boards work in Company Managed projects in JIRA at this time.

[Brett Parkhurst]

Thank you Trudy, I appreciate the very in-depth response and it worked for us.  I added the statuses to the board, even though we will never transition to those statuses on the board, and they showed up in the backlog.

Thank you for the quick response!