Unable to make "initiative" issue type as Number 1 in the Hierarchy even tough I'm a Premium Member.

[Ravi _Scrum Master_]

Unable to make "initiative" issue type as Number 1 in the Hierarchy even tough I'm a Premium Member.

Please refer the screenshot attached. 

[Mark Segall · Accepted solution]

Hi @Ravi _Scrum Master_ and welcome to the community!

You cannot adjust the hierarchy for Epic and below.  So if your intent is for Initiative to fall between Epic and Story, you're out of luck (at least natively). 

Jira does allow you to rename Epic though so you could potentially rename Epic to say, Initiative and then have Epic above the Initiative.  Note that if you go this route, the Initiative takes on the functionality of the Epic.

There are also marketplace apps that can provide a little more flexibility with hierarchy, but you'd basically negate the point of the premium licensing as Advanced Roadmaps will only acknowledge the native issue hierarchy settings.

[Mark Segall]

Thanks @Mark Segall for taking time and sharing your inputs. My intent is to bring Initiative above EPIC. Like Initiative -> Epic-> Tasks (or) User Stories. Would that be possible with Premium Membership or should I get some plug-in from Market Place ?

Yes this is totally possible and your configuration is setup appropriately.  The ranking is a little misleading as it shows in reverse order.  Epic is always #1, Initiative would be #2, if you add say, Theme above the Initiative, it would take #3.

So you should be all set on this.

[Ravi _Scrum Master_]

Hello @Mark Segall - My intent was to have Initiative above the EPIC so that I can have Initiatives to represent our digital strategies (we have around 5 items as initiative/digital strategy) and multiple Epics under each Initiative/Digital Strategy. So, the roadmap should display Initiatives with timeline + Epics under each initiatives. Is it possible to establish such hierarchy ? I've been requested by senior stakeholder of business to demo this capability to extend the premium trial version. I'm looking for a support. 

[Mark Segall]

Yes - Based upon your screenshot, you're configured properly.  You just need to add the Parent Link field to your Epic screen(s).  This field is what links the Epic to the Initiative.  From there, Advanced Roadmaps functionality is designed to read that in and dynamically present the hierarchy.

[Ravi _Scrum Master_]

Thank You @Mark Segall I'll give a try and keep you updated. 

[Ravi _Scrum Master_]

@Mark Segall I've managed to link the Epics to the Parent link (Initiative). However, I can still see EPIC and Stories but not the Initiative which DS-1 in my case as attached. 

[Mark Segall]

Thanks for the screenshot.  Now it makes sense.  There are two options for roadmaps.  The one you're showing is within the project and that is very basic, only showing Epic down.  To show above the Epic, you'd need to create a plan on Advanced Roadmaps.  Under your main navigation, you'd navigate to Plans >> Create Plan.  It will prompt for issue source.  You can use your project board and it will automatically populate accordingly.  It has a lot more features than the basic project roadmap.

FWIW, I believe the basic roadmap is undergoing a rebranding of "Timeline" to mitigate the confusion between the two features.

[Ravi _Scrum Master_]

Great thank you! It worked finally. 

[John Funk]

Hi Scrum Master - Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

What you have is correct - Initiative at level 2 is considered to be higher than Epic at level 1. Level 1 does not mean it is the highest. 

[Ravi _Scrum Master_]

Thanks @John Funk . As a follow up questions, I'm still unable to link an epic to an Initiative. Initiative issue type still behaves just like a task. 

[Mark Segall]

Are you using the "Parent Link" field on the Epic to link it to the Initiative?  That's the only way that Jira will recognize the hierarchy.

[Ravi _Scrum Master_]

Thanks @Mark Segall for taking time and sharing your inputs. My intent is to bring Initiative above EPIC. Like Initiative -> Epic-> Tasks (or) User Stories. Would that be possible with Premium Membership or should I get some plug-in from Market Place ?

[John Funk]

Premium subscription will do it.