Is it possible to change the color of status (other than to do, in progress, done)

[Charles Delaporte]

Hi,

I have a workflow with statuses (with more statuses than just ToDo, I Progress and Done). I would like to color them differently. 

Is this possible ?

Thanks for your help

[Stephen Wright _Elabor8_]

Hi @Charles Delaporte 

The status colours refer to status categories - To Do (Grey), In Progress (Blue) and Done (Green)

On classic workflows, you can change the colour of a status between these categories - but this is applied site-wide rather than per flow. To do this you'll need to be a Jira Admin:

1. Go to Jira Settings > Issues > Statuses (on the left-hand menu)
2. Press Edit next to the status you want to change the category for
3. Change the Category and press Save

Next-Gen works differently - as the workflow is based on the board, the first column/status is in the "To Do" category, the last in "Done" and everything inbetween is in the "In Progress" category.

If you want more colours, you'll need to get an app for this - such as New Status Colors PRO for Jira Cloud

Ste

[Lacey McDonnell]

When was this change implemented for Server? I've seen Blue - Amber - Green on most versions until we just updated to 8.5

[Stephen Wright _Elabor8_]

Hi @Lacey McDonnell 

I don't know which version it was but it wasn't recent - likely an update as part of Server Version 8.

Its been in Cloud for the last 2-3 years.

Ste

[Chrisjir Parkin]

Following your instructions, I'm able to change the category of the status label, say, from "to do" to "in progress". 

I think what people are asking is "Can we have the old color scheme back?"  In particular, can a Jira Administrator edit the color that is associated with all of the "in progress" status categories so that it is the old amber color rather than the new blue color?

[Stephen Wright _Elabor8_]

Hi @Chrisjir Parkin 

Not natively, you'd need to use an app like suggested in the answer below.

Ste

[Cristhian Benitez]

Its posible to use a custom color to a custom status?

[Stephen Wright _Elabor8_]

Hi @Cristhian Benitez 

If you want custom colours, you'll need to get an app for this - such as New Status Colors PRO for Jira Cloud

Ste

[Chris Christensen]

Does that add-on work with next-gen? I am trying this out now and cannot figure out how to get it to work.

[Michael Chewning]

Nope, absolutely not. We are already paying for a Jira license, I'm not going to pay more just to have colors. Instead I'm going to look for better more flexible project management software!!!!!!

[Bárbara Rodriguez]

The app New Status Colors PRO doesn't work with Work Management

[Todd Dowty]

Found this thread while trying to figure out how to solve the same thing.

I'm amazed we can't set our own categories and colour schemes for those categories and statuses. I am a bit of a Jira fan, but this might be a deal breaker for me as it stops me getting the boards to flow in same way as our company processes (which are colour orientated)

[Stephen Wright _Elabor8_]

Hi @Todd Dowty 

The colours are just to differentiate the category names - which do more than just colour the Statuses.

Some alternatives are...

• Use Card Colors on a Board, to highlight each Status
• Use an App - such as New Status Colors PRO

You can also see a good (albeit old) explanation as to why Atlassian won't add custom colouring on JRACLOUD-36241 

Ste

[Todd Dowty]

Hi Stephen.

Thanks for your reply.

Card Colors isn't available and the New Status Colors is not free. I am not inclined to pay for a feature that I expect to be built in. 

I've not decided yet, but I suspect I'll switch over to ClickUp as that provides the flexibility I need. 

[Stephen Wright _Elabor8_]

Hi @Todd Dowty 

Why isn't Card Colors available? Is it a Team-managed Project?

Ste

[Todd Dowty]

I search for it under apps and nothing comes up.

Yes, a team-managed project. Is that why I can't find it - Does it need to be a company managed project?

EDIT: Just had a quick play around with a company managed sand box project. Nothing doing. Found card colours under board settings, but that's not what I need. Such a shame as I like Jira but, with such limited flex for board layout, I simply can't get it to fit with my processes.

[Michael Chewning]

This is really annoying. I'm blocked from being able to use my own color scheme because atlassian basically says so. Cool well good to know. My company has been evaluating different project management solutions for awhile. I won't be recommending one that doesn't give me the flexibility I need. 

I need to be able to color code the timelines and only have three colors to use is just worthless for my purposes.  

Also, what's with the icons?! How does this help!? They are so arbitrary they make no sense. Not like a color code.

[Todd Dowty]

@Michael Chewning I 100% agree. I've moved away from Jira because of it. Been using ClickUp since April instead.

[Samuel Westen]

I don't understand why Confluence has coloured statuses but not Jira.

[masqu3rad3]

So I can create a 'Rejected' status and it will have the same colour (green) same as 'Done' or 'Resolved'...

I have a hard time believing this.
First of all, this is not a hard thing to implement.

Secondly, colour coding is the 101 basics of project management. How can this be missed or ignored?

[Todd Dowty]

@masqu3rad3 Yes, I know, it's mind boggling. 

I'll be honest enough to admit that I've moved back to Jira.

I had moved to ClickUp as that is way more flexible in letting you set up your boards how YOU want them not how THEY want them. But....

The free plan didn't support story points after X number of points. And that was completely useless. Worse than a lack of colour co-ordination. And I wasn't prepared to step up to a paid plan without being sure it was the right choice (which I wasn't at that stage). 

So, for the sake of decent story pointing and reporting, here I am back on Jira bitching about the [lack of] colours! LOL.

[masqu3rad3]

I will be also honest enough to say I wasn't thinking to move somewhere else :)
My company (and many other companies I have worked for and heard) uses Jira so I am familiar with it and willing to keep using it for my personal projects.

The only thing I am having a hard time understanding is that it looks like a really simple thing. I would understand if they were limiting this colour-coding functionality for non-subscription users but apparently, it applies to paid plans too.

I can only hope if we complain enough they may fix it.