In addition to the sprint and backlog "folders", is there a way to create an "Old"/"Junk" folder?

[Jon A]

My backlog is starting to get incredibly long with some stories that are several years old. At first I was thinking of simply deleting them but then realized it was probably best not to do so for bookkeeping purposes and to have everything documented. As such, I was wondering if there is a way to create an "old"/"junk" folder where I can move old stories in the backlog that are most likely not relevant (but I don't want to completely lose visibility of). Any advice on how to do so would be much appreciated. 

[John Funk · Accepted solution]

Hi Jonathan - Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

We created a Discarded status with a Done category. Then we simply move the cards to that status. You will want to add a Post Function to the Transition to the Discarded status to set the Resolution to something like Obsolete or Will Not Do - whatever you decide. 

[Jon A]

Thanks @John Funk - any thoughts on instead creating a "deleted" or "invalid" in the resolution list and closing the issue with that resolution? If I mark as Done I believe they will then disappear from the backlog...

[John Funk]

You can, but I thought the whole point was to clear them out of the Backlog. You can always run a report that says Status = Discarded (or whatever status you choose)

My thought is that if nothing has been done with an issue for more than 6 months, it should be cleared from the backlog anyway - discard, delete, whatever. If it's that important to keep around, then clone that ticket and discard the old one. That way the clocks starts ticking again on the new clone. If that's too much trouble for someone, then they really don't want to do that work anyway.  :-)

[Jon A]

Makes sense - as long as these don't disappear and we have a way of reviewing those that were marked as "Discarded" then I think that should work. 

Can you explain a bit more what you mean by this please: "You will want to add a Post Function to the Transition to the Discarded status to set the Resolution to something like Obsolete or Will Not Do - whatever you decide."

[John Funk]

Yes, you will always be able to get to them as along as you don't delete them. 

Sure - you will need to edit the workflow used by the project to add a new status. Again, whatever you want to call it, but you should do it as a Done category. 

After you add the new status to the workflow, I would add a transition from the Backlog status to the new status. When you do that, you then need to click on the transition. That will popup a box on the right side with things like Triggers, Conditions, and Post Functions. 

Click on Post Functions. 

Then click on Add post function

Select Update Issue Field and click Add

Change the Issue Field value to Resolution.

Select a new value for the Field Value.

Then click Add.

Before you finish, you might want to add a Condition so that only Admins or Project Admins can actually move the card from Backlog to the new status. 

Finally, be sure to Publish the workflow to incorporate the changes.

[Jon A]

I see - this has been incredibly helpful, will let you know if anything else comes up...thanks for the support!

[John Funk]

You are very welcome and glad I could help! Would you mind clicking on the Accept Answer button above so we can close this one out? Thanks!

[Jon A · Accepted solution]

@John Funk since you've been so helpful - have another question: I'm thinking of creating a separate project to allow anyone in my organization to submit stories/feature requests. Whenever I deem each story/feature request to be appropriately written it would then be on me (as PM) to move it into the backlog in the proper Project. Would this work? Or do you foresee any major issues with this approach? 

[John Funk]

Since I do that all of the time, I see it as a good approach. haha

I would actually create a Jira Work Management (JWM) project - also known as a business project. That way you can create an easy form upfront for the users to send the request. 

Make sure you have some type of custom field available that captures a unique value for the project it should get created in when approved. 

Then add an Approved status and a Denied status to your workflow. Both of them Done category. Then you can create an automation rule that when an issue is transitioned to the Approved status, it will read a series of IF conditions based on your unique value in the custom field and then clone the issue into the appropriate projec.t 

Of course, all of that assuming you don't have a TON of different projects it might get cloned into. 

[Jon A]

I see. Would you recommend cloning issues instead of moving them into the other project? If yes, why is that?

[John Funk]

Either way will work. It's a lot easier to setup the rule if you clone it, otherwise you have to list every field on your form that you want to copy over.