Can global rank be removed once an issue is resolved?

Deleted user April 13, 2014

It stands to reason that the no1 issue for our business should be ranked no1 - however, it's currently ranked 1059, due to all completed issues still retinaing a 'rank'.

I don't understand the logic of a completed issue still having a rank - it's like Bjorn Borg still being the no1 ranked tennis player in the world, even though he retired 20 years ago..!

Is there a way the ranking can be removed as issues are resolved? Cheers.

1 answer

0 votes
Nic Brough -Adaptavist-
Community Leader
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April 13, 2014

Ranks are relative, not absolute, and the absolute number is not actually important if you're using it right - that is, you are ignoring the closed issues and using rank to order issues.

You could fiddle around removing a rank, but what's the point? The highest ranked issue is the open issue with the lowest value for rank. How would Jira know what to do with re-opened issues?

Deleted user April 13, 2014

thanks for the comment.. understand your point, but in truth there is no value to having a rank assigned to a resolved task.

If I have a to do list, I don't start my day with top priority 1059 (these things are resolved and archived, thus losing their ranking).

If something is re-opened, it should not be ranked in the same place it was previously - it would need to be re-queued, as we would have our daily stand-up in order to prioritise this work.. it wouldn't automatically hit workflow. So, I would rank it last, as I would with any new request, until it recieves a ranking and forms part of WIP.

I understand ranking is relative, but having a no1 rank assigned to something that was resolved a year ago is flawed (imho!)- yes, we are ignoring closed issues.. which means our top 3 ranked issues might be 1059, 1142, 1234 (for example). I reckon closed / resolved issues are put to bed - they shouldn't appear in a list sorted by rank (unless by exception / adcanced filter). As such, I just can't see the logic in ranking a closed issue.

thanks again..

Nic Brough -Adaptavist-
Community Leader
Community Leader
Community Leaders are connectors, ambassadors, and mentors. On the online community, they serve as thought leaders, product experts, and moderators.
April 13, 2014

Well, sort of - you're still seeing rank as a number, rather than a relation. That's not what it's for, it's really not supposed to be a number. The numeric values should generally be ignored because they're not for humans.

Even if you forced Jira to clear the value, it still wouldn't have a simple 1/2/3 counter value for open ones, because it's information that "this issue is above this one and below that one when you list them together". The physical number itself is not really of any use to the users because it's a way of representing relationships and not information in its own right - the value has a context.

The point about closed/resolved ones is just the way you want to work, but the "I don't want to rank a closed issue" is pretty pointless - you'd need to do a load of work to un-rank it, you lose potentially useful information about it's relative importance, and you gain absolutely no benefit from removing the rank because the number alone is not useful.

Deleted user April 14, 2014

perhaps we see rank as a number because it is a number and is displayed by default. again, understand what you're saying and can also see how deep into these systems you are. so, i respect that.

However, not sure where I've written "I don't want to rank a closed issue" - it's actually the opposite of my question. I've said - "closed issues should not be ranked".

I think I'd still stand by this statement, point being, if rank is not for humans (i.e. an algorithm of sorts), why display it?

Thanks again, Nic - just trying to clarify my understanding and use Jira effectively.

Nic Brough -Adaptavist-
Community Leader
Community Leader
Community Leaders are connectors, ambassadors, and mentors. On the online community, they serve as thought leaders, product experts, and moderators.
April 14, 2014

No, sorry, that's me thinking through the implications. "Closed issues should not be ranked" is not quite the same as "I don't want to rank a closed issue". However, it ends up the same when you go through the process. The fact you want to strip rank off the issues means the same thing whenever you look at the data - a load of issues with ranks, and a load you don't want to rank (because they're closed)

There is a point here - the rank is not really for humans, but some want to see it. It's useful to be able to drop it on to the issue navigator so that you can click-to-sort. It might be needed in export data. So you want it available. With two points though

1) it's not displayed anywhere by default - you have to choose to add it

2) It's well worth having this conversation with your users, so they understand that the number is valueless, other than for placing an issue between the one above and the one below it!

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