How do I use Jira Wiki Markup in new rich text editor?

[James Adams]

I have text snippets formatted with Jira Wiki Markup I use for adding test steps as comments on my Jira tickets.  They cover some standard boilerplate, as well as headings and other formatting.  However, in the new Issue View, the description and comment fields default to a rich text editor, and I don't see a way to switch back.  When I paste my snippets, they get all screwed up.  I was able to work around the issue by switching back to the old view, but I expect that's going away soon.

The new rich text editor is nice, but we need an easy way to switch between plain text and rich text.

[Webel IT Australia]

I absolutely loathe being forced to use the new editor in comment fields on cloud JIRA.

Want to paste something with bullets into a quote ? It chops it apart.

Want to set the width on an image ? No obvious way to do it.

Select some text and try to turn it into a quote ? It creates a quote field below the text.

Want to indicate that something is {{code}} inline ? Won't do it.

Want to capture a bunch of links using Wiki Markup style and paste them ? The new system mangles them.

Have any kind of Wiki Markup template code from before an want to use it ? You can now chuck it in the bin. 

On and on an on. Annoyance after annoyance.

And the claim that you can reliably use the Wiki Markup and just paste it in still is patent nonsense.

An incredibly irritating and unnecessary change that can only annoy code-oriented JIRA users and developers, and all that is needed is a button to enable you to switch to markdown (which is apparently not available on the cloud version for reasons that beggar belief).

Atlassian, this one you got terribly, terribly, wrong.

[Webel IT Australia]

Related: https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Jira-questions/Ability-to-Disable-Rich-Text-Comment-Editor-in-Jira-Cloud/qaq-p/173326

[Louise Baker]

I'd like to give you a standing ovation for this rant. Truly! This is exactly how I feel too

[Florent Tatard]

(This post was initially published on 2019-07-11 but got deleted for no reason/explanation)

I'm also deeply annoyed by the new WYSIWYG, for the following reasons:

• Impossible to move {code} blocs. Once created, there's no way to move (cut/paste) it somewhere else.
• The new {code} block can no longer be collapsed/expended. Pasting large portion of text (logs for example) will create a huge post, thus forcing users to excitedly scroll down (I know I could use attached files for that)
• The new {code} block breaks on some character sequences. Some pasting failed  (but I can't seem to reproduce)
• The typing zone expends with the content, while the editor bar remains on top of the post, meaning I have to scroll all the way up to hit a button and then scroll all the way down to put the content.
• No link to post. Where's the anchor ? How am I supposed to share link to a specific comment now ?
• Link preview is broken in some case (when the source website requires authentication for example) and I found it rarely relevant. It would be nice to have an option or a 3rd button to disable it.
• Link preview prevents links edition. Once you paste a link, it got transformed to display the preview, there's no way to edit it.

And the list goes on.

I've been extensively testing the new editor for ~ a week now and I can't help myself but to switch to the old one.

@Brant Schroederplease consider all the people comfortable with typing markup tag and leave them the choice of using the new WYSIWYG or type the markup directly.

On the bright side, here's what I like about the new editor:

• Content autosave !! Macbook user suffering from the touchbar will appreciate it for sure
• Table creation is pretty neat
• Image integration has been improved

[Kevin Palm]

Please bring the markup editor back! (We switched to new issue view this week, and we are not happy about it)

[Connor Crothers]

Do not force us to have to use the new WYSIWYG editor. It is garbage, and markup will forever be superior. Keep JIRA how it was, and make these new features optional. And do not remove support for features introduced in the past.

[GM]

Sorry this is not an answer, but just want to share that I am also having issues with this -- its not just me, its not just you.

We are a small installation and Jira/Confluence have been fantastic values for us for about ten years.  But alas, perpetual licensing is not a great business model; today is the last day (ever) to purchase Jira Server.  Atlassian is moving everyone to the Cloud, so I must consider making the move as well.  I just setup a Cloud instance to dip my toe into the water.  The site came up easy and I tried to create a first issue as a test.   I immediately find the new editor lacking -- pretty bad.  With JIRA server I did most of my notes in an external text editor using limited formatting but heavy use of {code}... blocks. then pasting that in.  It worked well and allowed readable richtext notes online.  If I needed to edit something online, I would typically pop into text mode because visual mode would inevitably fight me in some way or other.  It appears that support for working in text mode is completely gone and pasting wiki markup seems to be not well supported.  I am strongly considering other options rather than making Jira Server my permanent home.  Maybe it will be better when/if I make the switch.

The text block editor is the one piece of the UI that is used again and again by everyone.  It needs to be a flexible, powerful, reliable, and efficient.  I have seen many excellent rich text editors on in other web products.   At a minimum should support plain text capture as a minimum.  I am a bit flabbergasted that this one basic function is not present.   

[Elliott Balsley]

The old style allowed much greater formatting options which aren't available in the new rich text editor.  For example {noformat} pre-formatted text blocks.  I used this a lot for log file snippets.  The new code snippet option is too big and I don't need line numbers.

[fbaudouin_jve]

+1 ; i was a heavy noformat user too :(

[John Rocha]

Add yourself to the Atlassian bug for this issue:

https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JRACLOUD-72631

[Suhhoruki Mihhail]

I have the same kind of use case and rich text only broke it. The issue is more than a year old and this week they also broke the workaround - issues aren't being rendered in old view mode. I guess atlassian doesn't care.

[Florent Tatard]

May I know why my comments have been deleted without notice @Brant Schroeder ? :/

[Brant Schroeder]

If rich text editor is enabled then you have to toggle at the bottom.  You can also disable rich text editor if you would rather just use text.

[James Adams]

I don't see a toggle between rich text and plain text.  Here's what the comment editor looks like for me:Am I missing something?

[Brant Schroeder]

Looks like you are using cloud, if that it true then markup went away with the new wysiwyg editor.

[James Adams]

Well that sucks.

Another cool feature of the WYSIWYG editor: if you paste something in there, and it doesn't like it for some reason, it won't tell you why, and it won't save your content.  No way to resolve without switching to old view with the editor that actually works.

[T Chambers]

I thought it would suck, too, but then I copied the text from Jira's rich text editor into a Google Doc and was pleased that the rich text is preserved. As long as I can export this easily, I don't miss the markup language. It was different between Jira and Confluence and IIRC neither was fully compatible with "official" Markdown (markdownguide.org) anyway. Good riddance. Good job, Atlassian, this is progress!

[Paul T]

We see several users who end up posting poorly-formatted comments in JIRA (server, v7.13.5) that becomes harder to read as a result of using the "Visual" mode (a.k.a., Rich Text Editor).

Just like what I'm typing right now, the RTE should also not try to be smart with line spacing.  Let users figure out how the line spacing should be between paragraphs.

I do not appreciate the fact that if you make the mistake of just touching a key while in Visual mode, JIRA changes the markdowns that you've carefully composed in "Text" mode (e.g., bullet point asterisks become indented, {{bq.}} replaced with {{\{quote\}}}s, etc.).

The old (read-only) "Preview" + "Text" possible modes work better for us.

[T Chambers]

That sounds strange to me. It's "what you see is what you get" (WYSIWYG) for good reason. If you are writing and don't like what you're going to get from what you see, then edit until you like what you see … and you will get it!

For instance, I instinctively hit return twice between paragraphs. But I did not like what I saw / got, so I edited more.

Or maybe I'm not understanding your complaint, @Paul T

[Paul T]

For instance, I instinctively hit return twice between paragraphs. But I did not like what I saw / got, so I edited more.

If I only hit Return once, the line spacing isn't tall enough between paragraphs, i.e., don't separate the paragraphs enough.

If I hit Return twice, it's too tall.

What if WYSIWYDU (Deem Unacceptable)?

There must be a better CSS for that, e.g., get rid of that top margin of 12 pixels for paragraphs (to allow users to manually/explicitly insert an empty line) or, if really wanting to save people from having to hit Enter twice, make that margin be taller.

The easiest is to just let users hit Return twice like what you said most of us have "instinctively" been doing for years.

I used to be championing JIRA but no longer during the last 2-3 years with the various UI iterations Atlassian has been doing.

[Jeff Hanna]

SOLVED!! You can add this to the URL of the ticket and it will give the old view (markup)

?oldIssueView=true

[John Rocha]

@Jeff Hanna - good tip, but not solved. It's a workaround. Especially since Atlassian has indicated this is a temporary ability.

There is also a great chrome extension "Old Issue View for JIRA" at https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/old-issue-view-for-jira/gieljallemhjkenmfmdpppdncfcgiceg

It does't always work though. Such as from search queries, but you can usually reload the page or open the page in a new tab and it adds the `?oldIssueView=true` suffix.

[Kerry Wang]

@Jeff Hanna Thanks for sharing!! Good enough to see what  is the original wiki markup text of table. 

[Troy Anderson]

So can I not paste wiki markup code into the Description and expect the text to format properly?  I am spending time converting existing HTML content from an outside system, but is this pointless?  Cloud-based

[Troy Anderson]

I have answered my own question....which is usually how it works....

Wiki markup is not the standard for formatting in the new editor, Markdown is.  This is completely frustrating for previous users who had their processes built around the markup support, but for a new implementation such as my case, converting HTML content to Markdown is way more straightforward.

Good luck out there!

[John Rocha]

@Troy Anderson, you cannot with JIRA's new WYSWIG editor. It's a source of major annoyance for many of us.

Although there is a workaround that you can do.

Add the suffix string
    ?oldIssueView=True
to the end of the URL and it will go to the old interface that allows you to paste wiki markup code.

i.e if your URL address shows:
https://<your.base>/browse/ATR-733

then change that to:
https://<your.base>/browse/ATR-733?oldIssueView=true

and the old interface is available.

Note this enables the ability to type the classic wiki JIRA markup such as outlined from
https://stratovan.atlassian.net/secure/WikiRendererHelpAction.jspa?section=all
not the newer markdown format.