How to show the sprint timeline/gantt?

[David Thomson]

I have allocated 3 example issues to an example sprint, each with 1 day durations, and have created links/dependencies between the 3 issues in the sprint.

How do I view the 3 planned issues in the timeline or Gantt Chart, with the little lines that show the dependencies, so that it's obvious the pending issues that are planned to start on upcoming days?

All I've got so far is the one sprint line, which can't expand.

Also, in the 'active sprints' section, I can't move an issue to another column, by right clicking and dragging, unless there is another pre-existing Issue in that column. If there is an other Issue in the column I want to move the issue to, I can I move the Issue by dragging it so that the blue line appears at the bottom of the existing Issue. Otherwise I have to go into the Issue and select the correct column (besides the actions, above the details).

Also, should I not be able to move them into the different columns without their dependencies being completed?

[Trudy Claspill]

Hello @David Thomson 

You appear to be accessing the basic Timeline feature, which is the one available from the panel on the left.

For that feature: the timeline will show Epics and their children. It won't show subtasks nor issues that are not children of Epics.

So, first make sure your issues are children of an Epic that is in the same project and included in the board.

Second there may be some settings that need to change. When you click the tree dots button in the upper right and click Configure what do you see for settings?

[David Thomson]

Thank you - I see 'Configure Timeline', which brings me to a page which shows 'Enable the timeline for ES board' and 'Child-level issue scheduling' options, both of which are enabled.

In the first setting's hint it has a ' Learn more about the timeline' hint, which I am checking out now.

[David Thomson]

I have added the issues to an epic, which allows them to be shown on the Timeline.

I tried to move the Issues to a different date, but they do not move.

I added the 'Start Date' field to every single Screen Scheme, and have adjusted the Example Sprint project Issue's Start Date from their info pages, but they are still not moving on the Timeline.

I can, however, apply their dependencies, and see the line attaching them.

... I assume then that Issues need to be under an Epic to see them in a Timeline?

... I can't just throw them in a Sprint and adjust their start dates, and length from the Sprint Timeline?

[David Thomson]

What's the point of a Sprint if I can't see the planned sprint Issues in the Timeline? 

[Trudy Claspill]

When you configure the Timeline to display child issues you can choose to show the child issues on the timeline based on the Start date and Due date, or based on the dates of the Sprints to which they are added. Which option did you choose?

... I assume then that Issues need to be under an Epic to see them in a Timeline?

... I can't just throw them in a Sprint and adjust their start dates, and length from the Sprint Timeline?

Correct. The basic Timeline feature, which is what you are accessing, shows only Epics and their child issues that are contained within the scope of your board, and the board scope can be only one Project. It will not show issues that have no parent Epic.

If you want more complex/sophisticated options for gantt chart management you will need to explore the options available under the Advanced Roadmaps feature. You tagged your post to indicate that you are using the Premium versions, so that feature will be available.

https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/guides/advanced-roadmaps/overview#what-is-advanced-planning

[David Thomson]

I appreciate that. I just re-watched a tutorial, and have realized the Timeline is Epic based. So all Issues must have an Epic to be seen in the Timeline.

Despite having put the duration of the Issue at 1d, they still show for the entirety of the Sprint, so I acknowledge that the Timeline is not for any scheduling whatsoever, it is for organization, i.e., Sprint allocation (not sure what the point of setting the duration of an Issue is then, or even the Start Date?).  

The Timeline shows which Issues will get done in which Sprint, so long as they are part of an Epic, and can show their dependencies. ... That about it?  This is for a Scrum project, perhaps the Timeline shows differently for a Waterfall project. Waterfall projects deal more with exact dates and estimates.

I am new to project management, so I assume from this Timeline that I will eventually learn that setting start dates and durations for a scrum project are not applicable.

[David Thomson]

Hello, can you please provide a link to a comprehensive video tutorial in which the Plan is thoroughly explained?

If there is a video, then please disregard these following comments/questions :) 

When in the Plan section, when I hover over the TimeLine area (which shows a floating bar), and then when I click on the TimeLine and the bar is placed, representing the amount of time that Issue is scheduled to take, can you please tell me if there is some other way to remove that TimeLine bar, other than the 'Review Changes' section? I have to assume I have placed that bar there like every other first timer, who has then had to struggle endlessly to remove it. 

Can you please confirm that there is no point in assigning different Issue types below Epics, as everything is organized by Epics, making Issue types redundant?

Basically any Issues not in an Epic will not fit in the general the work flow, even if classified by Issue Type.

I have added 4 projects to a Plan - there are 20 Epics, and 149 Issues without a parent.

Not sure what to do now or how do I organize this. 'Initiatives' are only available in the Project settings, but I am not sure why Initiatives are in the Project settings when they are supposed to be a level above them?

[Trudy Claspill]

Despite having put the duration of the Issue at 1d, they still show for the entirety of the Sprint, so I acknowledge that the Timeline is not for any scheduling whatsoever, it is for organization, i.e., Sprint allocation (not sure what the point of setting the duration of an Issue is then, or even the Start Date?).  

With the basic Timeline feature you can schedule the issues on you timeline based either on Start date and Due date fields (not Duration) or based on the Sprints to which they are assigned. The options are shown in the Configure Timeline screen. See the descriptions of the options on that screen.

I am not a Project Manager, so I am not in a position to advise you on the best use of the Jira Timeline or Advanced Roadmaps Plans features for project management.

I don't have any links to videos about the feature, but I'm sure if you search the internet for jira cloud advanced roadmaps video tutorial you will find several. You can also check https://university.atlassian.com to see if there is free training on the feature.

https://university.atlassian.com/student/catalog/list?search=jira+cloud+advanced+roadmaps

Can you please confirm that there is no point in assigning different Issue types below Epics, as everything is organized by Epics, making Issue types redundant?

I can't confirm this because I don't agree. Different issue types under Epics is useful for identifying the type of work being done.

Not sure what to do now or how do I organize this. 'Initiatives' are only available in the Project settings, but I am not sure why Initiatives are in the Project settings when they are supposed to be a level above them?

I don't quite understand your question/statement here.

The default issue hierarchy in Jira is:

Epic > standard level issue type > subtask level issue types.

With the Premium subscription and Advanced Roadmaps Plans you can create additional issue types (i.e. Initiative) and extend the hierarchy upwards above Epic using those new issue types: i.e.

Initiative > Epic > standard level issue types > subtask level issue types

The extended hierarchy can be used in the Plans. To really understand the full potential of Advanced Roadmaps Plans, though, you should review the available documentation and training. As I said, I'm not in a position to provide complete guidance on it.