How do I remove Issue Key from Issue List?

Andy Mercer April 10, 2017

I've installed a trial version of JIRA to test it out. One thing that I've noticed is the Issue Key feature. It seems pointless and it shows on every single Issue in the list, taking up lots of vertical space.

I can't really find a way to remove it though. How do I do this?

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Sam Hall
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April 10, 2017

Hi Andy - Which list are you referring to?

The list on the 'Issue Navigator' page? (from the top-menu banner, select Issues > Search for issues to get there).

If it is that, you can change the columns which show there.

If not, give some more details here and I'm sure someone in the community will be able to help.

Andy Mercer April 10, 2017

The issue list I'm talking about is under the Projects tab on the top bar, when I click on a project. I see a list of Open Issues, with a preview pane beside it.

Each issue is two lines. The first is the key, and the second is the name/description.

Sam Hall
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April 10, 2017

Ah. This one?

issue-list.png

You can't change the bit I've boxed in red without coding, as far as I know.

It's fixed, because (as Nic mentions) the issue key is really quite fundamental to how JIRA issues are managed and organised.

You can switch your view to 'List View' if you want and hide columns (including issue key).

Andy Mercer April 10, 2017

Yes, but mine looks different. On the right side of your screenshot, I don't have the tabs, or that button.

Anyway, that's odd that you wouldn't be able to remove it. Most people I know swear by JIRA, but so far in my testing, it's a lot harder to use than Celoxis. Ah well. I appreciate the answer.

Sam Hall
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April 10, 2017

Ah. Like this one?

issue-list-two.png 

If that's what you see, you'd need to click the 'View all issues and filters' link at top right to get to the page I showed in my first screen shot.

I generally set-up more user-friendly keys for projects than your example of 'RIBU1C', because people really do end up talking about issues using the keys.

Check out the projects in Atlassian's own public issue tracker to see some examples of what they do. https://jira.atlassian.com

Andy Mercer April 10, 2017

Well in our case, each project is going to be a new product that is coming out. The project name isn't under my control.

Your link returned a 502 bad gateway error, btw.

Sam Hall
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April 10, 2017

The key doesn't have to be the same as the project name, if that helps.

On the bad gateway error: try again now or a bit later. jira.atlassian.com currently seems have an issue with degraded service

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Nic Brough -Adaptavist-
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April 10, 2017

The issue key is pretty important, it's the unique identifier for an issue, so I'm not sure why you'd say it's "pointless"?  You'll find people who have used JIRA for more than a few days start talking in terms of the issue key quite a lot because it's short and clear.

But, yes, you're right, sometimes you don't need it at all.  That leads me to the question of which "issue list" you want to remove it from?  I think of the "issue navigator" when you say "issue list" (which you can drop it from), but the key there takes up horizontal space, so I believe you are talking about some other view of issues in a list?

Andy Mercer April 10, 2017

Say I have a project called "RIBU1C". No one is going to refer to tasks as "RIBU1C-3", and "RIBU1C-5". People don't talk like that. "Hey Bob, did you get RIBU1C-3 done for RIBU1C?" No. They'd say "Hey, did you finish developing the housing specs for the RIBU1C, Bob?"

The issue list I'm talking about is under the Projects tab on the top bar, when I click on a project. I see a list of Open Issues, with a preview pane beside it.

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Nic Brough -Adaptavist-
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April 10, 2017

Generally, you will find people will talk like that.  If anything, you'll find them dropping an unpronouncable key in favour of something a bit more friendly, but sticking with the numbers because they're the unique identifier.  I would expect to hear people in your office saying "hey, did you fix ribbuk-see-4?"

The issue list you are referring to is a built-in report of a list of issues.  I can see why you'd say the issue key is taking up space, but you'll find your users want to have the key there, both to click on for the full issue view, and so they can yell "hey, did you fix ribbuk-see-4" across the office.

 

Andy Mercer April 10, 2017

Maybe software developers are different than electrical engineers, I don't know. In my experience, that's not the case. Regardless, that, along with not having native integrated Gantt charts, are the reasons that JIRA has been ruled out for us.

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