Create user identities that are not users

[tom-huguenard]

In tracking our projects, we have a frequent need to assign tasks to people outside our company. If we make all of them "users" we will face enormous costs, prohibitively so.

For this reason, we would like to be able to create "users" that are not real users. I.e. they are identities without the ability to log in. These identities should be able to be created as easily as we create projects, tasks, epics, etc. And should also cost zero, since they do not represent "JIRA users." Indeed, they CANNOT log into JIRA, so we should not be charged for their existence.

Our fallback position is to prefix the task with the name of the outside resource, in all caps. The task is then "assigned" to the project manager, but this is a crap solution to a serious real-world use case.

I know this is a community forum, but I am hopeful that an Atlassian forum visitor will see and respond. There does not seem to be a way to directly contact Atlassian with suggestions such as this.

Any assistance getting a spotlight on this issue is greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Joe Pitt · Accepted solution]

You can create 'fake users' that can't logon. Just take them out of any group with logon rights so they don't take up a licence. I've done it for a email distribution list. The user has to have at least browse rights to the project to get emails. 

[Raj Vora]

Hi!  Is the process to create a fake user the same as creating a real user with the exception that you remove them out of any group with logon rights so they don't take up a license?

[Joe Pitt]

Yes. I've never worked with a system with users linked to an active directory (AD) so I can't speak to that. 

[sparr]

When I remove the user from the group with logon rights I can no longer assign issues to them. When I add them back to a group with access to Jira Service Manager I think I get billed for them again.

[Joe Pitt]

That must be a cloud restriction. I've only used the server version and as long as the user is in the permission scheme as assignable it has worked. 

[Armand Carbonnel]

Hi Joe, 

I'm using Jira Software (cloud), and if my understanding is correct your solution wouldn't work to create "fake users". 

Would there be another solution? 

[Joe Pitt]

Not that I know of