How to create global looping transitions in a Jira workflow

[Arjan Helmer]

Hi @Ignacio Pulgar , @Todd Hanson, @Esther Strom

I'm a designer working on the Jira Cloud team. We are currently working on bringing back 'global loop transitions' into the new issue view and I would love to have a short video call to learn about your use cases and get your feedback on some new designs for this. 

If you have time to spare for a 30 minute call we'd really appreciate your time and I can offer an Amazon gift card for $75 USD as a thank you.

You can book a time in my calendar here: https://calendly.com/jiradesign/interview?month=2020-1 Please do let me know if you have any issues finding a suitable time.

Kind regards,
Arjan Helmer

[Ignacio Pulgar]

Hi @Arjan Helmer ,

I'll be happy to help and have already booked a time in your calendar.

Best regards,

Ignacio Pulgar

[Esther Strom]

Thanks, @Arjan Helmer  - we aren't actually using global loops; when I posted the question last year I was just curious how it would translate to the new issue view if we wanted to use them.

[Diego Cela]

Great article @Ignacio Pulgar

Thank you!

[Ignacio Pulgar]

Thank you, @Diego Cela ! :)

[Ignacio Pulgar]

Hi @Arjan Helmer ,

Another use case of a global looping transition worth mentioning: Locking an issue to prevent concurrent editions.

Have you ever edited an issue's description and seen your changes disappear because another user was also editing it at the same time?

While this problem can be solved by third party apps like Issue Lock for Jira (who's editing), we are going to go through a native way of achieving the same goal.

1.- Create a new User Picker (single user) custom field and name it something representative, I recommend using Editor.

2.- Modify the Permission Scheme to grant Edit Issues permission just to User Custom Field Value (Editor).

3.- Add a global looping transition, called Lock Issue, and add a post-function to add the user that transitioned the issue into the Editor field. Recommended: Add a Condition to show the transition only if the Editor field is empty.

4.- Add a second global looping transition called Unlock Issue that clears the content on the Editor field. Add a Condition that shows the transition only if the Editor field contains a value.

In this use case, it would be recommended to order transitions with the ‘opsbar-sequence’ property so that global looping transitions show up at the top.

* Warning: if instead of the Condition described on step 4 you add a different Condition that only allows the user in the Editor field to unlock the issue, you run the risk of blocking the issue if the user forgets to unlock it. While the editor would have more control with this Condition, I wouldn't recommend setting it unless you counted with an automated way for unlocking the issue after some time had elapsed, like an Automation rule or a Script Job.

As Automation is bundled on all Jira Cloud instances, let's show how to set the automation to unlock issues:

Please, note that the Edit issue fields Action requires just to select the Editor field and save it (no value needs to be selected for the Editor field to be cleared).

Best regards.

[Arjan Helmer]

Ah that’s a very interesting use case! Thanks for sharing that!!

[Ignacio Pulgar]

I love the implementation of looping transitions in Jira Cloud!

This is how it is being currently shown when there's just one looping transition named "Do Something":

If multiple looping transitions are available, then they are grouped under the new Actions button:

[Ana Martinez Arroyo]

Hi Ignacio! 

Very nice article! 

I just wanted to ask you if its possible to create a global autotransition but excluding some status.  

Thank you! 

[David Harkins]

Hi @Ana Martinez Arroyo 

You could add a condition onto the transition so it only shows for nominated status'

[Ignacio Pulgar]

Hi @Ana Martinez Arroyo ,

The answer by @David Harkins is correct.

Under some circumstances, you might prefer to use a Validator rather than a Condition, especially if you can show an error message, but Conditions are generally preferable in most of the cases, since they completely hide the transition.

Regards

[Meet Darji]

This is incredible hidden solution.