Is it possible to create a reusable Project Template in Jira?

[Lena Boiser]

Hello. 

I was thinking if there is a way to create a reusable project template in Jira. For example when implementing a new app for a client, the tasks for the team are quite routine and similar. So I was thinking of creating a project, customizing the workflow, and then also creating the specific task tickets that the team needs to execute. Then I'll create new projects based on the configuration and defined tasks from the template project.

I know there is an option to create a project with the same configuration. But I don't think it copies the tickets from the original project. 

Any suggestions on how to achieve what I want to do?

[Fabio Racobaldo _Herzum_ · Accepted solution]

Hi @Lena Boiser ,

you can create a new project with shared configuration (using project source as template) and then clone issues from the project source to project destination.

Unfortunately, there is not a built-in feature to clone project. Btw, there are several external apps that can help you like JIRA Command Line Interface. This plugin is compatible with JIRA Cloud and using it's cloneProject command.

Hope this helps,

Fabio

[Marlene Kegel - codefortynine]

Hi @Lena Boiser

You can copy project templates with our app Deep Clone for Jira.

With Deep Clone you can clone entire Jira projects, along with issues, project settings, components and versions.

An advantage is, that Deep Clone is pretty simple to use and you don't need any special skills to work with it.

If you have questions or feedback, don't hesitate to get in touch with our support.

[W_Diehl _Litew8 GmbH_]

Hi @Lena Boiser

We built our app specifically for your use case and even named it 'Project Templates for Jira'. You can easily copy and paste projects and, just as you wanted, reuse the settings as a custom project template.

As you requested, you can use an existing project as a source to create new projects, cloning all the issues (with hierarchy), components, users in project roles and more. Read more in the app documentation.

Alternatively, you can specify the settings, issues, components, and more as 'predefined elements' inside the template, so you don't even need a source project that must remain untouched.

There's more to it, such as using the project lead or creator as a placeholder to assign components or issues dynamically. You can also use relative dates, for example, setting a version to have an end date 10 days after project creation.

If you want, you can even automate it using Jira automation rules or API to create your custom project creation process, using Jira-Form submit as a trigger, for example.

The app has a 30-day free trial without limitations, so go ahead and explore. It is built to ensure no data leaves your instance, supports native data residency, has the Cloud Fortified certification, and is the most affordable app for this use case.

[Paul Dandurand]

Some groups look for a full portfolio management solution for like-projects that use recipes (similar to project templates, but more robust) to reuse for future projects. This model is good for continuous process improvements. These people also like to have a hybrid agile approach where one single project could have both waterfall known process steps and iterative agile sprints with scrum methods, all built into one project.

Consider Pie.me with a full two-way real-time integration with Jira. (Just search for "Pie" in the Atlassian Marketplace for the integration plugin.) This way the developers can stay working in Jira and the other team members like the program manager, project managers, business analysts, directors, executives, and client team members from other business units or external clients can easily participate without learning the intricacies of Jira. Pie is a modular and visual platform made for non-disruptive fast adoption. And now with generative AI for faster content creation. 

I'm happy to help.
Paul

[Jonas Didzoleit]

Agreed, for me this feature not being available will be a showstopper.

I wouldn't mind the additional fee for a third party vendor. But setting up comprehensive project templates for B2B SaaS implementation projects is our core requirement. I cannot trust that the 3rd party vendor is still there in three years supporting this feature.

[Marlene Kegel - codefortynine]

Welcome to the community, @Jonas Didzoleit.

I am Marlene, product manager of Deep Clone for Jira. 

I understand your concern. I just wanted to share that we've been offering apps for over 8 years, and we have customers who pay three years in advance. We're obligated to fulfilling these contracts, so you can trust that we'll be around to support this feature for a long time. 

[Drew McManus]

It's insane that a project template doesn't exist without having to pay a third party provider for it! I keep seeing codefortynine reply to these question in the community board. 

It's clear Atlassian cares more about helping those providers suck revenue out of user's pockets than protecting them. 

What good is Jira if we can't create reusable project templates?!?!? Why should users waste hours of time recreating the exact same project over and over for something like new client onboarding where the dev team needs to repeat the same tasks for each new client?

[Paul Dandurand]

Hi Drew,

It's not that insane if you think about Atlassian's roots with Jira and where it evolved to today. They built a board/sprint app for the developer community and modified the base product to extend their scope of features to include some of pm needs.

I would enjoy learning about how you find Jira to be a "real" project management tool for projects with phases and repeatable methodologies, and even hybrid agile/waterfall needs, which is more common than pure agile for many companies. Personally, I think their tool is still good for developers. That's their strength. Pushing it to true project management and repeatable processes is never going to be a strength without redesigning their entire UX/UI and most of their architecture. Notice they had to take a different approach for Service Management. I think they should have done the same with project management.

Cheers,

Paul

[Drew McManus]

That history is only meaningful to those that experienced it. To anyone onboarding now, what matters most to them is how things work. This is a SaaS product, not an open source community. The weak selection of non-dev PM tools makes the system more frustrating to use, not less. 

And yes, I agree the platform holds the most value for developers, that's the one and only reason we use it because it's still the best option among flawed options the engineering team prefers comparatively. 

And don't get me started about the dev roadmap. That is a case study in poor communication.

[Paul Dandurand]

Good points, Drew. I understand what you mean about non-dev PM tools. Many companies use Jira for dev teams and MS Project or something else for PM needs. That's why we added agile and sprint features in our own PM tool (Pie.me). My team were using Agile and then later Pivotal Tracker. Both were too complex and had a steep learning curve. I saw a market that needs both dev agile combined with PM process and done elegantly. So, we built it. Today, my dev team uses our own Pie agile sprint features. Our customers use it for hybrid agile/waterfall projects along for pure agile or pure waterfall. Then there are true Jira die hides. I then built a real-team 2-way Jira/Pie integration, which has gone up recently on the Atlassian store.

[Micheal Planck]

You can't even create project templates with an app. The apps I have found have massive limitations (such as not copying automation rules, not copying issue layouts) that require manual steps to fix. This is not a knock on the apps; they're doing the best they can.

It's just that Atlassian does not understand the concept of a function. Every single feature they supply is coded by hand separately for every possible instance; this philosophy extends to creating projects, which Atlassian considers to be job-protection for Jira/Confluence administrators because every project must be created by hand.

It's 2023 and I can't use copy-paste on a software product.