Add fields for tester/reviewer?

[Amir Colnect]

In the default software project scheme, each issue has a "Reporter" and "Assignee". We would like to add "Reviewer" and "Tester", both people on the team, and possibly change "Assignee" to "Responsible". What's the easiest way to achieve that and ensure these 2 new fields are found in every screen next to the previous two mentioned?

It doesn't appear that the custom field configuration is a very straight forward process

[Alexey Matveev · Accepted solution]

Hello,

Reporter and Assignee fields are not custom fields. These fields are system fields. You can not change the names of the fields.

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

But there's no harm in adding Reviewer and Tester as custom fields.  I'd suggest using the user-picker type for them.

[Amir Colnect]

Nic, could you please follow up with clearer instructions on how the fields would be added and included across the different screens of Jira?

[Alexey Matveev]

You can find info on how to create a custom field and add it to a screen here:

https://confluence.atlassian.com/adminjiracloud/adding-editing-and-deleting-a-custom-field-776636410.html

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

I can't add to Alexey's answer here - that's exactly the page I'd refer to as well.

[Robert Sieczkoś]

Hi Nic Brough can help me with my problem?

Below is me problem.

"

I have plugin Assets and Inventory on my Jira but i can not add info about expired date time of purchasing product to task in jira.

https://confluence.snapbytes.com/download/attachments/10027335/image2017-8-1%2022%3A4%3A41.png?version=1&modificationDate=1501614282925&api=v2&effects=border-simple,shadow-kn

Upper i add link with screen and what i would like to have.

Could You send me information how make to this ?"

[Amir Colnect]

@Alexey MatveevThank you for the link. As everything in Jira, it's much more complex than it should be. I added my two new fields and associated them with ALL SCREENS but they still don't appear. Nicely there's an "Admin" button and inside it "Where's my field?" which explains why they're not shown "The field 'Reviewer' does not have value for issue CMXS-9 and will not be displayed on the view issue page. Set value for that field so that it shows up."

But I want this field to ALWAYS be shown, even if no value is set to it. How can I do that?

This is so cumbersome really and considering the loading of every page takes ~3-8 seconds (Jira cloud is slowwwww....) it's quite frustrating... Thanks

[Alexey Matveev]

If a custom field does not have a value, then it will not be shown on the view screen. That is how Jira works. The only thing you can do is to specify a default value for this custom field.

[Amir Colnect]

Thank you for your answer. Jira has so many lame aspects it's surprising that it's still one of the top solutions on the market.

So I've added a default (for some reason I can't set "Unassigned" as default even though "Assignee" field has it) and of course it doesn't affect the other thousands of issues we have. Should I conclude there's no better way than assign a value as needed as an admin?

[Alexey Matveev]

Assignee is a system field, that is why it has the Unassigned option. Custom fields do not have it. You should add a default value, but this value will not be added to the old issues.

You should use the bulk edit feature to set the default value for the old issues.

You should go to the Issue navigator and type 

yourcustomfield is empty

Then you can set the default value for these issues. You can find more info about bulk edit here:

https://confluence.atlassian.com/jiracoreserver073/editing-multiple-issues-at-the-same-time-861257342.html

[Amir Colnect]

Thanks for the tips and I'll definitely use them. It is disappointing though that Jira isn't as flexible as one would expect.

[Max Cascone]

@Amir Colnect i mean this in the most friendly, welcoming way... get used to it. :)

[lauren_betz]

it is now 4 years later, any chance there have been any improvements in this area? Are there more built in features for tracking the review process?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

@lauren_betz - people add the fields they need, then automate the processes. So, yes, reviews work for most of us.  Where are you stuck?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

What would you expect as an "improvement", given that it has worked fine for a couple of decades now?

[lauren_betz]

Hey Nic, I want to add a reviewer field that can be assigned or unassigned. And ideally once the task is in review I would like that task to show up on a sprint board when the only the reviewer is selected. Is this currently possible using custom fields?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Yes, you can add a custom field (user picker) to do that.

[lauren_betz]

Ok great. In reviewing fields list I noticed there is a field called "Approver" that already exists, would it make sense to use this field for this? Or is there a reason a custom field would better solve this?

[lauren_betz]

@Nic Brough -Adaptavist-  any thoughts on the "Approver" field and whether it would be useful here?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

That's a good idea, and it's worth looking at!

It will be down to your processes though.  Generally an "Approver" is someone who would look at a new piece of work that is arriving through a Service Desk,

It's a bit earlier in the process - Jira tends to assume an approver will be looking at change requesta, a request for a new piece of kit like a laptop, holiday request, a demand for more expensive cat food (I get asked that every day, my approver turns them all down). 

It is mostly intended for "do not spend time or money on this until the approver says yes".

But if you don't have that role, or you've implemented it differently, then yes, approver would be a neat drop-in for reviewer.  It's just later in the process.  "I approve this thing" means "I've reviewed it and it's ready for the next steps"

[will_wilson]

@Nic Brough -Adaptavist- 
We also are looking at improving the review process just like the other two members above.

By default, Assignee is on and you can select from your company - great 
People can then click assignee to me and see everything they are on 
It also appears on the sprint board as a User icon

I would like the same to happen for reviewers when we do "people field" and name it reviewers - correct we do get a list of the company to select from - and it appears on the ticket - great

- However, it does NOT appear on the small cards (summary) on the board (it should) ie on left is the assignee (person responsible for the work) and on right is the reviewers so a few icons
- When you click on your name or "only my issues" to find items assigned to you - the filter does not take into account other people's fields only the main assignee one

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist-]

Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

Yes, that's correct, the assignee field is the person responsible for getting it done.  Your reviewer field is just someone associated with it as a reviewer.

I would probably take a look at copying the reviewer into the assignee field when the issue reaches the review stage.