Transition buttons don't appear

[Jamil Rahimov]

Hi everybody!
Normally all transition buttons are visible when issue is created.
But sometimes transition buttons don't appear on the issue.

Please help me fix this problem.

[Ste Wright]

Hi @Jamil Rahimov 

This could be a few things; here's some simple options to check first:

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Project Permissions:

To check this, you'll need to be a Project Admin. To modify it though, you'll need to be a Jira Admin:

1. Go to your Project > Project Settings
2. On the left-hand menu, select Permissions
3. Check whether there is a limitation on the permission Transition Issues for this project - this is the permission required to move through the workflow. 

You might find that it's limited to:

• A specific group of users - a Jira Admin can modify group membership via Jira Settings > User Management
• A project role - a Project Admin can modify role membership via Project Settings > Users and Roles
• A specific user type - such as Assignee or Reporter

If the permission needs to be modified to provide access to a broader spectrum of users, a Jira Admin can:

1. Either press "Action" in the top-right corner of the screen in Project Settings, and select "Edit Permissions - OR go to Jira Settings > Issues > Permission Schemes (left-hand menu) and select the right scheme
2. Press Edit next to the appropriate permission
3. Grant additional access

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Workflow Condition:

If you can make some transitions but not all - it's possible it's a workflow condition which can be applied to specific transitions.

You'll need to be a Jira Admin to view these - and then:

1. Go to Jira Settings > Issues
2. Select Workflows from the left-hand menu
3. Locate the right workflow for the project / issue type
4. In this example, locate a transition next to the "Open" status, and click the hyperlink name
5. Under Conditions, look for a limitation to making this transition.

Common conditions include:

• User must be in a group, project role, etc
• Assignee or Reporter
• A specific permission is required - this doesn't have to be transition issues
• Sub-task blocking condition

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^ It's likely one of these options will locate the reason - and then you can either look to modify the workflow or permissions, or know what parameters you must meet to make a transition.

If neither of these work, let us know so we can advise further :)

Ste

[Radek Antoniuk]

This is a great answer, but I think there is one piece missing on Jira side in terms of functionality.

It is often the case that the workflow enforces some rules like above, e.g. via Workflow Conditions - that is great, but the problem is the disappearing button, because the development team then is lost with no workflow action visible.
What I think would be better (or at least customisable) is to have the workflow button being visible but blocked with an explanation tooltip message "transition blocked by condition X".

Example scenario:

• the workflow requires that all sub-tasks are closed and all Pull Requests are merged
• the developer doesn't remember this and tries to finish working on the issue but doesn't see the "DONE" button at all
• then the developer needs to go to someone with project admin rights to check what are the workflow conditions that are blocking the flow

Obviously, the flow could be documented in Confluence but ... Jira should be transparent enough to show all blockers in one view.

@Ste Wright  do you recall any feature request like this? I'm going to search for one and open if I don't find anything.

[Ste Wright]

Hi Radek,

Not seen this as a feature request - but you could raise it via: https://jira.atlassian.com/secure/Dashboard.jspa

Ste