What Good are Jira Project Categories?

[#1]

To me, Project Categories are unsung heroes in the Jira ecosphere. They seem to be very rarely used in instances that I have had access to - both now and in the past. I think that's probably due to few people drawing attention to them and how they can be used. 

The most obvious use case is for searching for certain types of projects while on the list of projects screen. As the field name implies, it's a way to categorize your projects. In effect, to group projects together that are related in some way. 

Just a note, this is not the same Category field used by Business projects. I really don't know why Atlassian continues to use the same name for different components in the Jira infrastructure. Or why they continue to allow custom fields to be created with the exact same name. But I digress...

Where Do I Access Project Categories?

Let's deal with the basics first. To use the field, we need to add a value to it for each project that we want to track, categorize, or use in some way with automation. Where do we do that? 

Access the field, you must be a Jira Administrator or a Project Administrator for the project. Click on the Project Settings option in the left-hand menu while on the project, or click the 3 dots (ellipsis) menu to the far right of the project name while on the list of projects. 

This typically bring you to the Project Details page, which is exactly where you want to be. In the middle of screen, you will see the dropdown field for Category. Most of the time, the field will be blank. 

To add a new value, click on the Manage categories option in the dropdown. This will bring you to the Add project category screen. 

Alternatively, you can get there by navigating to Settings > Projects > Project categories.

Simply put in a Name for the category and a Description if you like. And then click Add. 

If you need to modify the name, add new categories, or delete one, you simply navigate to the same location. 

Now that the category has been added, you can return to the Project Details screen and update the Category field with the new value. Don't forget to click the Save button at the bottom of the screen. 

How Can I Use It?

Again, the most obvious use is to help you find related projects while on the Project List screen. Especially if you have a lot (dozens or hundreds) of projects.

Okay, that's nice, but what else? Maybe you want to create a "template" project and base the creation of future projects on this existing project. If you have a value in the Category field of the "template", this Category value will get copied to the new project when it is created. Now you you can find and use the project in more meaning ways that just sorting.  So what give me another example, you say. 

Automation

Most recently, I have been making use of the field in Automation rules. You can't really create a "template" project with existing issues in a single shot unless you are using a third party tool to clone the project in some way. But what if you create an automation rule that creates some base issues when certain projects are created? 

Automation now has a trigger available for Project created. You can future identify the type of project that is being created to enhance performance of the rule. 

The next step would be to use a {{smart values}} Condition to identify the Category of the project. Use {{project.projectCategory.name}} for the First value, equals for the Condition, and then the name of your project category. 

Add another {{smart values}} condition if you like to identify some text in the Project Name if there are multiple types of projects you are creating under the same Category.

Now you can add actions to create Tasks or Stories or Epics, or whatever Issue Type you like. Even create an Epic, add a Branch and then create Tasks under the same Epic on the project - all at the same time!!

Here's what the whole rule might look like. 

How about you? What do you use the Category field for with Projects? Share in the Comments below.

[Lianne Geerlings]

A couple of months ago I discovered this category function. Since them I am using it to differentiate different type of products for specific teams. It really brings added value.

I'd also love to try your suggestions with the automation.

[Matt Doar _Adaptavist_]

I've used it in places that have multiple levels of archiving projects using different permission schemes for each level and then project categories to keep track of the stages, e.g. "Read only", "Project Admin Only", "Archived"

It can also be used to display similar projects to users when doing a self-service app for Jira. For example "does your new project sound like it should be in one of these categories"

The only wrinkle is that a project can only have one project category at a time, and there is no history kept of the project category value

[Monika Rani]

@John Funk, I agree that categories are unsung heroes in Jira Instance. I used the same automation rules 25 days ago, and they saved me lots of time. Thank you for sharing this valuable information.

[John Funk]

@Lianne Geerlings  - Let us know how the automation goes!

@Matt Doar _Adaptavist_ - That's ingenious for tracking the "phases/stages" of the project! Agreed - having the ability to have multiple values like with Components would be super helpful. 

@Monika Rani  - Glad to hear someone else benefits from the automation ability, too!