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Jira BasicsThis page has been created with all Jira users in mind, but particularly newcomers. Whether you need a refresher on the Jira basics or you're using it for the first time, this page aims to cover simple Jira navigation, issue creation and general familiarisation. If you need assistance with any aspect of your Jira project, please contact a member of the Digital Tools team on our Support Portal. We're always happy to help.

Collapsible sidebar

You can expand or collapse the sidebar by pressing   on your keyboard, or by clicking the  button at the bottom of the project sidebar on [the left.

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Menu functionsThe black Jira menu at the top of the screen contains dedicated drop-downs for recently viewed etc, and the Dashboards, Projects, Issues, Cre

button for creating issues. Switch between Jira and Confluence using the   button on the top left hand side.ate

The right hand side of the menu provides the following functions:

A search box to the left of the magnifying glass for finding projects, issues, etc.Click the question mark to access various help documentation and resources.Click your avatar to log out of Jira, or access your user profile to change your accessibility settings, avatar or password.

Depending on what kind of project you are working in (Jira or Jira Service Desk), the grey 'project sidebar' on the left lets you quickly navigate to key project features.

In the project sidebar lets you quickly navigate to your boards, backlog, reports, issues, components and any project shortcuts/linked Jiraresources (a linked Confluence space for example - see further down in this guide):Adding an item to your project sidebar

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In , the project sidebar will contain your queues, customers, reports, the ability to raise a request and any project shortcutsJira Service Desk/linked resources:

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Switching between projects and boardsYou can find recently viewed projects using the dedicated drop-down on the black menu bar:Projects

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...or by using the search box on the top right hand side of the screen. When clicking in the search box your two most recently viewed projects will be displayed at the bottom of the drop-down for quick navigation:

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 If you have more than one board in a project, you can switch between them using the arrow next to the board name in the project sidebar:

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Creating an issueTo create an issue in Jira - press the key on your keyboard, or click the button on the menu bar at the top of the screen. This will open C Createa screen: Create issue

By default, JIRA issues allow the collection of certain information such as Summary, Assignee, Reporter, Description and Attachments. However the options are not limited to this - we can create new issue types to store any information required by your team.

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When you’ve finished populating the screen (remembering to complete all mandatory fields as indicated by small red asterisks) Create issueclick the create button at the bottom. Depending on your project settings, your issue will then appear in either your project backlog, or on your board:

Issue detail viewThe issue detail view opens on the right-hand side of the screen and provides a summary of any selected issue on a project board or backlog:

Issue not appeared on your board? This could be for one of the following reasons:

When creating an issue, it's possible to select a different project on the screen to the one that you are in. This Create issueis a likely explanation if you have access to more than one Jira project. If so, check the boards in your other projects to see if your new issue is there.If your project has multiple boards for different issue types, the new issue may be present on a different board, i.e. you may have selected the wrong issue type when creating your issue.

If you need help tracking down a missing issue, contact a member of the Jira Support Team on Skype (Gary Bates, Emma Baxter or Ian Horlock), or raise a help request ticket on our .Support Portal

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Opening an issue full-screenTo open an issue and view it full-screen, highlight the issue on the project board or backlog and type on your keyboard,  click the blue issue O orkey at the top of the issue detail view (  in the first screenshot below).TFSB-11

(Issue detail view)

(Issue full-screen view)

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Note: Clicking ( ) in the issue detail view and full screen view (as seen in both screenshots above) opens a workflow diagram. The View workflowstatus displayed in bold colour on the workflow diagram (  in the screenshot below) indicates at what point the selected issue currently is in To Dothe process:

Editing an issueTo edit an issue, select an issue on your board/backlog and type on your keyboard. From the issue detail view you can click the three dot Ebutton on the top right hand side and select from the menu:Edit

If you have an issue open full-screen, you can click the button:Edit

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Using any of the above options will open an screen where issue details can be added or updated:Edit issue

Transitioning issuesAs well as dragging issue cards across a project board, issues can also be transitioned between statuses as follows:

1.  In the issue detail view, click the three dot button and select from the bottom of the drop-down list:More Actions...

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A box will appear above the board where the appropriate workflow transition can be selected from the drop-down:

 

2.  In the full-screen issue screenshot below, you can see the    and buttons. Clicking these will Move to Backlog, Start work Cancel worktransition the issue accordingly:

Adding an item to your project sidebar( This option will only be available if you are an administrator of the Jira project)Note:

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Clicking  under Project Shortcuts on the project sidebar allows you to link resources to your project, whether this be a Confluence page, Add linkissue search, website or repository. Enter your web address and the name of your link.

Clicking will place a shortcut on your project sidebar:Add

Keyboard shortcutsPressing the and keys together on your keyboard will display a keyboard shortcuts screen for quick Jira interactions and navigation:shift ?

ComponentsIssues in Jira can be put into categories using components. Jira project components are generic containers for issues that can add some structure to projects by breaking them up into features, teams, modules, and more. Using components, you can generate reports, collect statistics, display them on dashboards, etc.

Clicking in the project sidebar will display all components for that project (or a blank menu if none have been created):Components

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In the project below you can see that regional components have been created. Issues in this project can therefore be filtered by region (see 'Creating components' below):

As you can see in the above screenshot, Components can have Component Leads. Within a project, if a component is selected when creating an issue, the component lead for that issue can automatically be made the assignee for that component. In the above project for example, if the Kno

 component is selected when creating an issue, Graeme Walsh will automatically be made the assignee for that wledge mobilisation networkissue.

More than one component can be added to an issue:Note:

Creating components

Project components can only be created and managed by users who have project administrator permissions. Components can be created by adding them at the top of the components screen:

(c . Components don't Component name omponents should have unique names across one project) and areDefault assignee  mandatory fieldshave to have a component lead selected, but this can be useful as explained above. To add a component lead, simply type the person's name - a list of project user names will appear as you type. If the person's name doesn't appear, this means they haven't yet been added to the project (for guidance on how to do this, please see our  guide) or they don't yet have a Jira account.'How do I add or remove members from my Jira project?'

Related articlesAdding and removing members from a Jira project

Adding and removing users from a Confluence Space

Jira Basics

Confluence Administration and Permissions

Why can't I delete issues from my JIRA project?

This help page is a work in progress. If you can think of additional help topics for this page, please contact a member of the Jira support team - Gary Bates, Emma Baxter or Ian Horlock.

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Table of Contents

Collapsible sidebarMenu functionsSwitching between projects and boardsCreating an issueIssue detail viewOpening an issue full-screenEditing an issueTransitioning issuesAdding an item to your project sidebarKeyboard shortcutsComponents

Creating componentsRelated articles

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Useful pages and resources

The Amazing Five Minute Jira PrimerJira Project Templates and Sandpits