Child Issue Selection type Grayed Out

[David McKinnon]

We started having an issue in which the only type of Child issue that can be created is a Sub-task (not just a task).  The order we used to have is Story - Task - Subtask.  However, we can no longer create a child "Task" because the dropdown selection is defaulted to Subtask (i.e. Story - Subtask) and is grayed out.

Note:
- This happens on all of our projects (Team managed - free version)
- We don't have any filters enabled on the projects in question
- Tasks and Subtasks are enabled in the Issue Scheme (Default)

This only started occurring yesterday when I was trying to create a new Issue Scheme.  I was also adding/deleting Apps as follows:

     Added TeamBoard ProScheduler for Timer (not deleted)
     Added then removed: Clockwork Free for Jira Time Tracker

Additionally, we tried to create a new Issue Scheme but we deleted it so we're using the default issue scheme for all projects.  The default issue scheme does include both Tasks and Subtasks.

Lastly, we're not even able to change the parent of a Subtask - it will only go to a Story Level (not to the Task level which should be its parent level.  If we try to force it using "Change Parent" and specifically enter the desired Task (parent's) number it pops up a message "No Options".  Also, the Task is now only under an Epic and cannot be changed to being under a Story (which is how we always used to do them).

It seems that one or more of these may have created this behavior, but we're not sure.  However, it was after all of these that we started having the issue described above.

Thank you!

[Trudy Claspill · Accepted solution]

Hello @David McKinnon 

Welcome to the Atlassian community.

The default Issue Type Hierarchy in Jira is

Epic
|-- "standard" issue types (i.e. Story, Task, Bug)
    |-- subtask issue types

In this hierarchy you can create child issues only of the hierarchy level below your current issue.

You mention that your Project Types are Team Managed. Can you provide a screen image of the available issue types from the Project Settings? Example:

Notice the horizontal lines directly below Epic and above Subtask. Those lines surround the issue type that are at the "standard" issue type hierarchy level for that project. Because they are all at the same level, one cannot be created as a child of the other. Only a Subtask type issue can be created as a child of the standard issue types.

Likewise if you had multiple types of Subtasks, one subtask issue type could not have another subtask issue type as its child.

You also mentioned "Issue Schemes". Schemes are not used with Team Managed projects. 

So, can you first validate the type of the project where you are encountering the issue? Get that information by going to the Projects menu and selecting View All Projects. Then find your project in the list, and tell us what it says in the Type column.

If you are actually working with a Company Managed project, then we need to look at the Issue Type Scheme you are using for that project and ask a different set of questions.

[David McKinnon]

Trudy,

Thank  you for your thorough answer!

Yes, we're using a Team Managed project. Your explanation clarified everything. After reviewing everything we found that the similarities between the Task and Subtask Icons (i.e. a light blue, with white symbol in the middle) were easy to confuse for one another.  They're much larger in the image below than they are in the Jira platform. We're looking into creating a custom icon for the subtasks to make it easier to distinguish them.

 We're working on learning the eccentricities of Jira! Thank you for your help!

Dave