Is it possible to set a default value for the description field for a company-managed project?

[Peter Yoon]

I know that it is possible to set a default for the description field for a team-managed project but I was wondering if it was possible for a company-managed project.

I know that there are ways to input text after a ticket is created using automation. This is not a solution that works in this case.

I would like to be able to click on create and for text to appear in the description.
We are using a third-party solution at the moment but would like to know if this possible natively within Jira.

Thank you.

[John Funk · Accepted solution]

Hi Peter,

There's no way to do this in Jira Cloud. The closest thing you can do is create a new custom field that has a default value in it. And then either replace the Description field or add the new field near the top and the Description towards the bottom. 

[Trudy Claspill · Accepted solution]

Take a look at this post where the user found a way to pre-fill a custom Description field, to appear during the Create Issue process, and then copy that prefilled text to the system-defined Description field.

https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Jira-Core-Server-questions/How-to-create-a-template-for-issue-description/qaq-p/1041636

[Nick Perkins]

This is for server, not cloud.  

[Trudy Claspill]

Are you saying that it didn't work for Jira Cloud, @Nick Perkins ?

My response is months old, but I'm pretty sure some of us using Jira Cloud tried it and found that it worked.

[Nick Perkins]

I was unable to get it to work. Maybe the instructions I missed something but it was not working for me.

[Nick Perkins]

@Trudy Claspill I think now I understand the goal.  The goal is have them fill out the custom field.  When done the info is copied to description.  I was assuming it would copy when CREATE button was tapped.  That was my ignorance.  Thanks.  All good. it works!

[Nick Perkins]

@Trudy Claspill ok I do notice an issue.  When I CLONE a ticket it erases everything in the DESCRIPTION with the template.  Any thoughts on how to handle that scenario?

[Erich M]

I was able to accomplish this by creating an automation rule to fill in the description field with a template upon issue creation. Wouldn't this accomplish the goal?  I previously had a team-managed instance, and moved to a company-managed instance and lost the ability to use a default description, but this does the exact same thing for me.

[Trudy Claspill]

Hello @Erich M 

No, that does not accomplish the goal.

The goal is to see the template text in the Create Issue dialog so that the users sees the template while they are filling in the fields for the new issue and before they have saved/committed that issue to Jira.

Opening the Create Issue dialog is not the same event as Issue Created. Issue Created is the event that occurs when the new issue is actually saved into Jira. 

When you use an Automation Rule that is triggered by issue creation, the actions in that rule occur after the issue is created (after you click the Create button in the Create Issue dialog). 

[Erich M]

@Trudy Claspill - understood, and that makes sense.  I understand everyone uses it differently, but a lot of times when I am creating stories, I may not have all the details and I just want to create a story as a placeholder for me to come back to later with details or for someone else to fill in the details.  When clicking on "Create Issue" and the Create Issue dialog box appears, the only field required is Summary (story title), so I fill that in, click create, and then when I open it again, my description is filled in with the template that I want.  Again, this may not be adequate for others, but is how I do it.

I was going to try the custom field that was described above, but I don't have the permissions to create a custom field in a company-managed project.

[Katarzyna Pawlak _Appsvio_]

@Erich M , you can achieve this goal by using our free app Issue Templates Agent for Jira. With this app, the Jira administrator can create templates which can be used by users in Jira. When they open a Create issue dialog, fields will be automatically prefilled by values from template (if the template is set to default) or users will select a template from the Template custom field.

In case of automation, these rules work only on existing issues, so it's impossible to do anything when your issue doesn't exist yet.

[Erich M]

@Katarzyna Pawlak _Appsvio_  Thanks, I have requested this app to test with from my admins.  This would be helpful to many, I think, until Atlassian releases the feature that enables this ability natively.

[Katarzyna Pawlak _Appsvio_]

Hope it helps your team! In case of any questions, in the configuration LiveChat is embedded. You can always talk with us :) 

[Victor Debone]

Hello @Peter Yoon

In the 2 years since your question has been asked and answered, some new features have been released that address directly what you need. So I'm adding this answer for future references :)

Now it is possible to alter the behaviour of the fields inside the "Create" dialog by extending Jira using Forge, and more specifically, by using the UI modifications module.

There are a couple of apps in the Atlassian Marketplace that make use of this module already and can fulfill your use-case without requiring writing a new app.

[Jarosław Solecki]

@Erich M You can also benefit from that feature with Dynamic Forms for Jira. You will also gain a few additional features like abilities to set value based on condition, and conditional show/hide fields, making them required or read-only.

[Erich M]

Some of these apps for Jira would be great, but most of them are not allowed/approved for our organization.  We only have a select few that are approved that we have established vendor relationships with.

[Jarosław Solecki]

Sure thing. The app is based on Forge technology so it suits better enterprises and regulated companies where such approval is very often needed. 
Nevertheless, if you would like to chat we are open to establishing a new relationship! ;)