Is it possible to automatically change Epic of tasks linked under Feature?

[Veronika Trokanová]

Hello,

for some time I´m not able to resolve this issue: I have Epic for quarters of the year and then I have features that are under those Epics. Then I have various tasks under the feature. Problem is that sometimes we can´t solve those tasks during that quarter so we change the Epic for the Feature to another one. I would expect that all the tasks under that Feature will automatically change the Epic as well - how can I do this? 

Example: 

Let´s say I have Epic "Q3" and in Q3 I want to implement Feature "XY". Under that Feature I have detailed tasks. But I can´t make it in Q3 so I´ll change the Epic of the Feature to "Q4". What I need to do/set when I don´t want to manually change the Epic for all the tasks under that Feature? 

[Petter Gonçalves · Accepted solution]

Hello Veronika,

Welcome to the Atlassian community!

Per your description, I understand that you are using three hierarchies here: Epics > Features > Tasks.

By default, JIRA works with three hierarchies as you are configuring, however, it would be: Epics > Standard issues (Task, Bugs, etc) > Sub-tasks.

That being said, I have two questions to better understand your scenario and make sure we are on the same page:

1 - Is the feature a new custom issue type you created?

2 - How are you linking the Features with the tasks? Are you using the default issue linking functionality or are you only linking both tasks and Features under the same Epic?

Considering the information you provided so far, I would recommend you to use sub-tasks instead of tasks under the Feature issue type. Doing this, you will be able to link the sub-tasks with the features, so when you change the feature to a different Epic all the Sub-tasks will be kept linked to the feature, so you would not need a link from the sub-tasks with the Epics. 

To know how sub-tasks works and how you can create it, check the documentation below:

- Configuring sub-tasks 

Let me know if this information makes sense.

[Veronika Trokanová]

Hello Petter,

thank you so much for the suggestion. Feature in our Jira is just standard issue type (I think it comes with Jira as default). Exactly like you´re saying, we are linking Feature with the Epic and also all the tasks under that Feature with that Epic. 

We can´t use subtasks because this is a project for a customer and customer wants us to use specific issue types such as Analysis, Development etc. (some more custom issue types). I wasn´t able to find out some way to do this - maybe there is some workaround or add-on? 

Example from our project:

We need to implement Feature 1 and Feature 2 during Q2 (Epic 1). We implemented Feature 1 but Feature 2 is not done yet and we need to move it to Q3 (Epic 2). It´s easy to change the link from Epic 1 to Epic 2 but the feature has 20-30 tasks under it and we need to manually change the Epic for all of them. A lot of times someone forgets to change it for some tasks or makes a mistake and then chaos begins :). 

[Petter Gonçalves]

Hello Veronika.

Thank you or your answer.

Could you please provide us more details about why your customer does not want to use sub-tasks? Is it only because of the name "Sub-task" or is it because of any functionality?

Just to give you more context about my question, you can create custom sub-tasks in JIRA, that you can add with the name you want (Analysis, Development, etc). In general, it will have the same functionalities as a standard-issue type, but you will be able to place it under standard issues.

Alternatively, you can use the bulk change feature to move all the issues from a specific epic to another one. These would be the steps:

1 - Create the new Epic you want to move your issues to

2 - Navigate to your issue navigator and create a filter to return all the issues from the Epic you would like to move the issues from, using the Epic link field. Then, click on the three dots menu > Bulk update issues:

3 - Click to Edit issues > change Epic link, moving it to the Epic you want.

Let me know if this information helps.

[Veronika Trokanová]

Petter,

thank you again for this. I wasn´t aware of the possibility to customize sub-tasks as well so this was very helpful. I´ll try it that way and hopefully customer will be happy with the solution as well. 

Have a nice day,

- V