Will someone please explain what each option for Linking Epics does? E.g. "Relates to" and others

[Craig]

I don't understand the options for linking Epics. Will someone please explain each one?

• Is blocked by
• Blocks
• Is closed by
• Clones
• Is Duplicated by
• Duplicates
• Relates to

For Blocks and Is Blocked By - would this be blocked from starting or stopped from ending?

Happy to provide any other information. Thanks!

[Monika Rani]

HI @Craig Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

An issue link is a simple pointer from one issue to another.  The name of each link is supposed to tell you what the link is for.

They are mostly directional - in your list of six, you only actually have 4 link types there (assuming they are the standard ones - you can add your own link types and remove or rename all the system ones if you want).

• is blocked by / blocks  (e.g. ABC-123 blocks DEF-456, therefore DEF-456 is blocked by ABC-123)
• is cloned by  (has another side called "is a clone of")
• duplicates / is duplicated by
• relates to (this is directional, but it is generic - the opposite direction is also called "relates to")

[John Funk]

I agree with Monika - the linked issues is a simple pointer - it is not unique nor directly tied to Epics. The Epic Link field would be the appropriate field used to link an issue as a child to an Epic for Classic Software projects. 

[Craig]

Hi Monika and John, thanks for your answer. I'm still a little confused. Would you be able to clarify the 4 link types below:

• Blocks: Does this block the other Epic from starting? Or does it block the other Epic from ending? Or something else?
• Clone: What is a "Clone" in the world of Jira? If one Epic is a "Clone" of another Epic, what are the implications for the original and the clone?
• Duplicate: What is a "Duplicate" in the world of Jira? How is it different from a "Clone"? 
• Relates to: What does "Relates to" in the world of Jira? If one Epic "Relates to" another Epic, what is the implication for each of the Epics?

(I'm creating a Next-Gen project)

Thanks!

[John Funk]

The link types are just words - they are pretty much whatever you want them to mean. There is no built in functionality based one which one you use. It's really just a matter for your team or your organization to determine what they mean when you use them. 

Outside of that, you could pretty much just use the Relates to link type every time - the functionality is all the same. 

And the link types have no implication whatsoever for Epics. Within the Next-Gen project type, there is little to no control about the linkage for Epics - it's really a parent-child relationship and that's it. 

[Craig]

Thanks, John. This helps my understanding.

Strange 'functionality'.