Upcoming - Rename ‘epics’ in your company-managed projects

[Sanwar Mal]

An early release of this feature will help us a lot.

[Mark Thompson]

Is there a way to not take this update until Jan 2024.  Many companies have their most critical revenue generating period in Q4.  We can't really afford to have any type of process breakdown because of the epic switch to parent.  Yes I've been told everything will be updated.  I'm still expecting issues and confusion from my team (been doing this a long time).  I wasn't initially concerned about this change because the expected release date wasn't initially in Q4.  Now I'm concerned.

[Sanwar Mal]

It should be a choice not forced feature! In DC version it's choice where it's launched already.

[Daniel Capizzi]

Hi @Sanwar Mal

We have a beta program available for this feature if you'd like to start testing it early! It has a few limitations and usage restrictions, however if you're interested in joining you can read a bit more about these and the process of joining here: https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Epic-Renaming-Beta-Articles/Intro-to-Epic-Renaming/ba-p/2079709

[Daniel Capizzi]

Hi @Mark Thompson

Thanks for raising these concerns - as you've mentioned, existing data will be updated for all customers. The only process change that will need to be made when these updates roll out is using the parent field instead of the existing epic link and parent link fields, so we expect the rollout to be minimally disruptive process wise.

Unfortunately it's not possible for us to delay the rollout of features for individual customers, however if you'd like to ensure that new features are rolled out on a predictable cadence for your site you might like to look into Release Tracks. This is available on Premium plans and will ensure that updates to your site are all rolled out in a single bundle on the second Tuesday of the month, rather than on a continuous basis. You can read more about enrolling in Release Tracks here: https://support.atlassian.com/organization-administration/docs/manage-product-release-tracks/

[Sanwar Mal]

@Hi @Daniel Capizzi I Requested Atlassian TAM several times but still no access to Beta Program, The link you provided you gives me less privileges' message. 

Can you please help me to go in there? Thanks.

[Daniel Capizzi]

Hi @Sanwar Mal

Sorry about that link, it slipped my mind that it's a closed group - if you head here we can approve you to join it so you can access the article!

https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Epic-Renaming-Beta/gh-p/epic-renaming-beta

Regarding your TAM, it's possible they found your site doesn't meet the requirements for joining the beta, but if you have a read of that document and post in the group once you've joined we'll be able to help you more there.

[Hanna Torany]

@Rohan Swami We got an email from Atlassian that said:

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We need just to now the changes will roll out on March 22nd, 2023 or on !4 2023 as i see in the roadmap https://www.atlassian.com/wac/roadmap/cloud/flexible-naming-of-epics?&p=c0c344ce-98 ??

[Sanwar Mal]

Are they sending these emails to selected customers?

Hope I will get this information too. and the feature too :)

[Mark Thompson]

I'm basing our planning on Q4 2023 for this change to roll out.  I'm hoping the roadmap has and will continue to have the correct rollout date.

[Kate West-Walker]

Hey all, just want to clear up some confusion surrounding the release dates of various features contained here. 

The release that is going out in March is limited to what is described in this article here: https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Jira-Software-articles/Upcoming-changes-to-epic-fields-in-company-managed-projects/ba-p/1997562

The changes described on this page about being able to rename the epic hierarchy level, the deprecation of Epic Link from the UI, and the replacement Parent field, will not be going out in March. We are still working towards these, and these will be rolled out later in the year. It may be a little earlier than calendar Q4, but as you can understand, it's very difficult to give an exact timeframe for changes as large and complex as these. Rest assured we will notify you ahead of this on this blog when those changes are nearing release. 

Thanks again for your patience with these changes. 

[Kate West-Walker]

@Mark Thompson - I understand you are concerned about the timing of the changes; if this is likely to cause significant hardship for your business, could you please raise a ticket with support and we can discuss there the timing of this roll out for your Jira instance. 

[Idiyana Binti Ahmad Salim]

why there is no issue type hierarchy scheme? different projects might need different issue hierarchy. please let me know if it is actually available

[Jens Götz]

Please note that there is also a use case to have issue types of the same hierarchy level, including the same issue type, as parent - fore example, Epics nested under other Epics.

[Ondřej Medek]

Is making Epic Name optional part of the March 22nd, 2023 release, too? It has not been mentioned in the email, but the change is described in article Upcoming changes to epic fields in company-managed projects: "The existing Epic name field will remain available, but will be optional when creating a new epic.".

Note: I have asked similar question on developer forum, too: The “Epic Name” still required

[Daniel Capizzi]

Hi @Idiyana Binti Ahmad Salim - Unfortunately we don't support issue type hierarchy schemes - the hierarchy defined will apply to all Company Managed Projects in your instance.

As Jens has mentioned though, it's possible to place multiple issue types on the same hierarchy level, so by having different issue types for different project it's possible to define project level hierarchies in this way.

[Daniel Capizzi]

Hi @Ondřej Medek - I can confirm that as part of the epic field changes being rolled out soon the Epic Name will become optional, so it won't need to be populated now that it's no longer being used by the UI.

[Rahul Pandita]

I want to create a hierarchy like Epic>Feature>Story>Task> Sub task.

How can I implement this hierarchy? Also, I want to see the option of adding feature or story or task as a child under an issue rather than creating a link under issues.

[Sundar Narayanaswamy]

Hi @Daniel Capizzi  - When is the capability to have Features as the parent of stories, rather than epics planned to be rolled out in the Data Center version?

[Daniel Capizzi]

Hi @Rahul Pandita - once the changes described in this blog post are released you will be able to rename your existing "Epic" level to "Feature", then create a new level above that and name it "Epic" to make the hierarchy you've described

While this functionality has not been released yet, you can track the progress of it on our public roadmap, and we'll be sure to make announcements on the Community as we are getting ready to roll it out as well.

https://www.atlassian.com/wac/roadmap/cloud/flexible-naming-of-epics?search=epic&p=c0c344ce-98

[Daniel Capizzi]

Hi @Sundar Narayanaswamy - welcome to the Atlassian Community!

Jira Data Center version 8.17 and above already support flexible naming of epics (and sprints). You can use the Terminology configuration page in your Administration settings to rename your Epic level to Feature - I've linked the documentation for this below.

I believe you need to be a site admin to access this page, so you may need to contact someone within your organisation to help make these changes.

https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiraserver/configuring-terminology-1063561685.html

[Sundar Narayanaswamy]

Hi @Daniel Capizzi - Thanks a lot for your quick response. Appreciate.

I also understand from your response to @Rahul Pandita that the capability to create a hierarchy Epic>Feature>Story>Task> Sub task  will be available in Cloud version in Q4 of 2023.

Will the same capability be available in the Data Center version by Q4 2023?

[Daniel Capizzi]

Hi @Sundar Narayanaswamy - no problem at all.

In Data Center it's already possible to create the hierarchy you've described. To do so, first use the Terminology configuration to rename your Epic level to the 3rd level of your hierarchy, in your case Story. Once that is done you can create new issue types for Feature and Epic and put them on the hierarchy levels above.

Documentation for renaming your Epic level can be found here:
https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiraserver/configuring-terminology-1063561685.html

Documentation for updating your hierarchy levels can be found here:
https://confluence.atlassian.com/jirasoftwareserver/configure-your-jira-software-instance-for-advanced-roadmaps-1044784156.html#ConfigureyourJiraSoftwareinstanceforAdvancedRoadmaps-CustomHierarchyLevelsARJ

If you have any problems getting that set up you can get in touch with us over at the Advanced Roadmaps Community and we'll be able to help you further there.

[Ramon Salla]

Looking forward to this change?

[Sundar Narayanaswamy]

Thanks much for your response @Daniel Capizzi . We will try the solution you laid out and get back.