How to set up test management in Jira for free

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Test management is an inevitable part of a software development life cycle. It isn’t a big surprise that the customers of the powerful project management, task, and bug tracking tool - Jira, often look for solutions that can expand its capabilities with additional quality assurance features. 

While the Atlassian Marketplace offers many test management tools that suit even the most complex testing requirements, most of them are very expensive and therefore out of reach for some customers. So, what’s left then? You can rely on a good old spreadsheet to write and manage your tests, or you can set up test management in Jira for free with QAlity - Test Management for Jira - a simple yet effective app used by over 3000 customers worldwide!

Set up your test management in Jira for free

This article will guide you step-by-step through the installation and initial configuration of QAlity - Test Management for Jira. By the end of this guide, you will be all set to manage your tests in Jira for free. You can also check our onboarding video guide.

Installation

Before you begin, you need to install the app on your Jira instance. This action is easy, but can only be performed by your Jira administrator. Marketplace apps can be added directly via your Jira instance. Go to Apps → Explore more apps in your Jira and then search for “QAlity” in Find new apps. You should easily find QAlity - Test Management for Jira in the search results.

Alternatively, you can also install it through the Atlassian Marketplace. To do so, visit our marketplace page, click on Get it now, and follow the instructions.

Initial configuration

In order to start using QAlity in any of your projects, you need to enable the QAlity Test work type for them. Depending on whether it is a company-managed project or a team-managed project, this configuration is different.

You will be informed about the need to enable the “QAlity Test” work type when you view any work item in your project. The following information shows up if you haven’t enabled the required work type yet. Jira administrators can click on the Go to configuration to set up the QAlity Test work type for the project.

Company-managed project

To enable QAlity Test work type, head to Apps → Manage your apps → QAlity Plus Settings. 

In the last column, you will find the option to turn on the QAlity Test work type for specific company-managed projects.

Team-managed projects

Team-managed projects use simplified configuration and therefore setting up the work types works in a different way. Similar to company-managed projects, you will be informed about the need to enable the work type as soon as you enter any of your Jira work items. Users who can manage this project can click on Go to configuration to set up work types. 

Available work types will be shown in the menu on the left-hand side. In order to add a new work type, you need to click on the Add work type button.

This will display a dialog that allows you to provide the details for the new work type. Please note that the new work type must be named “QAlity Test” in order to be recognized.

Confirm the addition by clicking Create and the configuration is done! You can also use the following icon in order to easily distinguish this work type from others. 

Create your first test case

Once the QAlity Test work type is enabled you will be able to easily create a test case. To see QAlity options in your existing work items, click Apps → QAlity - Test Management.

To add a new test case to your work item, click Add Test Case and fill in the details.

Alternatively, you can also simply create a new Jira work item and select the work type “QAlity Test” to create a test case. 

You can view a list of all test cases by opening the QAlity menu and selecting Repository → Test cases. 

In QAlity Plus you can also organize your test cases in folders and subfolders for higher clarity and easier management.

Execute tests

When your test case is ready, you can execute it by opening a menu in the top-right corner and selecting Execute. 

You will see a selection screen, allowing you to choose if you want to execute your test case ad-hoc or within an existing test cycle.

Once you’ve made your selection, you’ll be directed to a test execution screen where you can record test run results. Each test case can be run as many times as you need.

You can see the results of each run in the execution history, as well as on the Test Execution Report page.

Test cases can also be arranged into test cycles. This allows you to prepare a test plan, easily view the progress of the testing in the given cycle, as well as repeat the whole testing cycle again. 

Summary

QAlity - Test Management for Jira will allow you to introduce test management in Jira for free. You can use all of its features and capabilities free of charge for as long as you wish. QAlity includes test case and test cycle management, running tests, and simple reporting. 

If you ever need more advanced features, you can upgrade to QAlity Plus - Test Management for Jira, which is more flexible and includes premium customer support. Upgrading to and back from QAlity Plus is simple and explained in our documentation. You can also check the feature comparison between QAlity and QAlity Plus.

[Jose Luis Gaitan]

great article