GreenHopper 101

Before you begin: If you don't already have JIRA 4.0 or later installed, please follow the instructions in the JIRA Installation and Upgrade Guide. If you are new to JIRA, you may also find the JIRA 101 guide helpful.

1. Download GreenHopper. If you have a .zip simply rename your file as a .jar — Internet Explorer is playing tricks on you.
2. Shut down JIRA.
3. Replace or copy the jar into the {JIRA_HOME}/plugins/installed-plugins directory.
   The default {JIRA_HOME} location is C:\Program Files\Atlassian\Application Data\JIRA, if you are using Windows. Read more about the JIRA Home directory.
4. Remove any jira-greenhopper-plugin-*.jar from your {JIRA_INSTALL}/atlassian-jira/WEB-INF/lib directory.
   The {JIRA_INSTALL} location will be something like C:\Program Files\Atlassian\JIRA 4.0.0, if you are using Windows. Read more about the JIRA Installation directory.
5. Restart JIRA.

For more help on the technical procedures in this section, see the GreenHopper Installation Guide.

It should only take you a few minutes to install the GreenHoppper plugin. If you have any difficulty during the installation process, please contact our support team for assistance. They're ready to help at any time.

You can obtain your GreenHopper license, or generate an evaluation license, via your Atlassian account.

1. Log in as a user with the 'JIRA Administrators' global permission.
2. Click the 'Administration' menu in the top navigation bar and select 'JIRA Administration'.
3. Click the 'GreenHopper Licence' link under the 'System' section of the administration menu. This will display the 'GreenHopper License' screen.
4. Enter your license details and click 'Add'.

GreenHopper license must match JIRA license Please note, if you are using a commercial (i.e. not an evaluation) license for GreenHopper, it must match your JIRA license. For example, if you have a JIRA 25 User Commercial license you must have a GreenHopper 25 User Commercial license. GreenHopper evaluation licenses do not need to match JIRA licenses.

If you set up Story Points, users will be able to enter the number of story points that apply to each card/issue.

• Adding the 'Story' issue type:
  1. Click the 'Administration' menu in the top navigation bar and select 'JIRA Administration'.
  2. Click the 'Issue Types' link from the menu at the left of the screen.
  3. In the 'Add New Issue Type' form, in the 'Name' field, type 'Story. In the 'Description' field, type 'Used by GreenHopper'. Then click the 'Add' button'. (For more about adding Issue Types, and icons, please see the JIRA documentation.)
     By default, your new 'Story' issue type has been added to the JIRA 'Default Issue Type Scheme'. If other departments in your organisation use JIRA, you may need to create a new scheme (e.g. 'Agile Issue Type Scheme'), add your 'Story' type to it, and associate the new scheme with each of your Agile projects. For more about Issue Type Schemes, please see the JIRA documentation.

• Adding the 'Story Points' custom field:
  1. Click the 'Agile' menu in the top navigation bar and select 'Planning Board' from the drop-down menu.
  2. Click the 'Stats' link at the right of the screen.
  3. In the 'Statistics' popup, click the 'Add a Number Field to your Project' link.
  4. In the 'Field Name' field, type 'Story Points'.
  5. In the 'Description' field, type 'Used by GreenHopper Scrum projects'.
  6. In the 'Choose Search Template' field, select 'Number Searcher'.
  7. In the 'Choose Applicable Issue Types' field, select 'Story'.
  8. In the 'Choose Applicable Context' field, select either:
     • 'Global' — your 'Story Points' field will be visible on all issues in JIRA. (Not recommended if other departments in your organisation use JIRA.)
     • 'Projects' (select the relevant projects) — your 'Story Points' field will only be visible on issues in the specified projects.
  9. Click the 'Finish' button.
  10. In the 'Associate field Story Points to screens' list, select the 'Default Screen'.
  11. Click the 'Update' button.
  12. Click the 'Agile' menu in the top navigation bar and select 'Planning Board' from the drop-down menu.
  13. Click the 'Stats' link at the right of the screen.
  14. In the 'Statistics' popup, verify that 'Story Points' appears in the 'Field Name' drop-down, and click the 'Add' button.
      For more information, please see the GreenHopper documentation on Configuring a Custom Statistic and the JIRA documentation on Adding a Custom Field.

• Configuring a card template for the 'Story' issue type:
  (Note that you will need to do the following for each project that uses the 'Story' issue type.)
  1. Click the 'Agile' menu in the top navigation bar and select 'Planning Board' (or 'Task Board' or 'Chart Board' or 'Released Board').
  2. Select a project which uses the 'Story' issue type.
  3. Click the 'Tools' menu at the right of the screen and select 'Configuration'.
  4. Click the 'CARD TEMPLATES' tab.
  5. In the 'ISSUE TYPE' drop-down, select 'Story'.
  6. In the 'List view' section, select 'Story Points' and click the 'Add field' button.
  7. In the 'Card view' section, select 'Story Points' and click the 'Add field' button.
     Tip: If you wish to change the card colour, click the 'Card colour' link at the top right of the page. For more information, please see the documentation on Configuring your Card Templates.

• Adding the 'Rank' custom field:
  1. Click the 'Agile' menu in the top navigation bar and select 'Planning Board' (or 'Task Board' or 'Chart Board' or 'Released Board') from the drop-down menu.
  2. Click the 'Tools' menu at the right of the screen and select 'Configuration' from the drop-down menu.
  3. Select a project which will use the 'Rank' custom field.
  4. Click the 'Add a Ranking Field to your Project' link.
  5. In the 'Field Name' field, type 'Rank'.
  6. In the 'Choose Applicable Context' field, select either:
     • 'Global' — your 'Rank' field will be visible on all issues in JIRA. (Not recommended if other departments in your organisation use JIRA.)
     • 'Projects' (select the relevant projects) — your 'Rank' field will only be visible on issues in the specified projects.
  7. Accept all the other field defaults on the 'Add Field' page. Click the 'Finish' button.
  8. On the 'Associate field Rank to screens' page, click the 'Cancel' button.
  9. Click the 'Agile' menu in the top navigation bar and select 'Planning Board' (or 'Task Board' or 'Chart Board' or 'Released Board') from the drop-down menu.
  10. Click the 'Tools' menu at the right of the screen and select 'Configuration' from the drop-down menu.
  11. Select a project which will use the 'Rank' custom field.
  12. In the 'Ranking field' section, in the 'Field name' field, select 'Rank' and click the 'Add field' link.
      For more information, please see the GreenHopper documentation on Configuring your General Project Settings and the JIRA documentation on Adding a Custom Field.

• To set up a version hierarchy, i.e. to make a version the 'slave' of another version:
  1. Click the 'Agile' menu in the top navigation bar and select 'Planning Board' from the drop-down menu.
  2. In the 'PLANNING BOARD' field, select the project in which you are interested.
  3. In the 'View' drop-down field (below the project selection field), select 'Versions'. in which you are interested.
  4. In the column at the right of the screen, locate the version which will become a 'slave'.
  5. Click the 'Edit' icon next to the 'Master' field and select the version which will become the 'master'.
     For more information, please see the GreenHopper documentation on Setting Up a Version Hierarchy and the JIRA documentation on Managing Versions.

To force all issues to respect the hierarchy you have set up, you can 'synchronise' versions and components. You can do this either manually or automatically; for more information, please see the documentation.

• To synchronise your versions automatically:
  1. Click the 'Administration' menu in the top navigation bar and select 'JIRA Administration'.
  2. Click the 'GreenHopper' link from the menu at the left of the screen.
  3. In the 'GreenHopper Listeners and Services' section, click the 'Versions Synchronizer' check-box.

• To create a custom field called 'Flag' with the value 'Warning':
  1. Click the 'Administration' menu in the top navigation bar and select 'JIRA Administration'.
  2. Click the 'Custom Fields' link from the menu at the left of the screen, then click the 'Add Custom Field' link.
  3. Select 'Multi Select', then click the 'Next' button.
  4. In the 'Field Name' field, type 'Flag'.
  5. In the 'Description' field, type 'Used by GreenHopper projects'.
  6. In the 'Choose Search Template' field, select 'Multi Select Searcher'.
  7. In the 'Choose Applicable Issue Types' field, select 'Any issue type'.
  8. In the 'Choose Applicable Context' field, select either:
     • 'Global' — your 'Flag' field will be visible on all issues in JIRA. (Not recommended if other departments in your organisation use JIRA.)
     • 'Projects' (select the relevant projects) — your 'Flag' field will only be visible on issues in the specified projects.
  9. Click the 'Finish' button.
  10. On the 'Associate field Flag to screens' page, click the 'Cancel' button.
  11. Click the 'Configure' link next to your 'Flag' field.
  12. Click the 'Edit Options' link.
  13. In the 'Add New Custom Field Option' field, type 'Warning'.
  14. Click the 'Add' button, then the 'Done' button.
  15. Click the 'Agile' menu in the top navigation bar and select 'Planning Board' (or 'Task Board' or 'Chart Board' or 'Released Board') from the drop-down menu.
  16. Click the 'Tools' menu at the right of the screen and select 'Configuration' from the drop-down menu.
  17. Select a project which will use the 'Flag' custom field.
  18. In the 'Flagging field' section, in the 'Field name' field, select 'Flag'. 'Warning' will be automatically selected in the 'Field Value' field.
      For more information, please see the GreenHopper documentation on Configuring your General Project Settings and the JIRA documentation on Adding a Custom Field.

• To set constraints based on the number of issues in a given column:
  1. Click the 'Agile' menu in the top navigation bar and select 'Task Board'.
  2. Click the 'Views' menu at the right of the screen and select 'Compact (Kanban)' from the drop-down menu.
  3. Select the project for which you wish to set a constraint.
  4. In the appropriate column (e.g. the 'In Progress' column), click the black arrow in the top right of the column.
  5. Click 'Column Constraints'.
  6. Click the 'Edit' link for the 'Standard Issue Count' field, and enter the maximum in the 'Capacity' field. E.g. if your business practice is to have no more than 5 issues 'In Progress' at any one time, you would specify 'Max'=5.
     'Standard' issues exclude sub-tasks.
  7. Click 'Update'. Your changes will be saved.
  8. Close the 'Column Constraints' window. Your Task Board will refresh with the column constraint applied. If the total number of issues in that column of your Task Board exceeds the maximum capacity, the column will be highlighted in red.

For more information, please see the documentation on Adding Constraints to your Task Board Columns (Kanban).

• To change the default card colours, or to select colours for your custom issue type(s):
  1. Click the 'Agile' menu in the top navigation bar and select 'Planning Board' (or 'Task Board' or 'Chart Board' or 'Released Board') from the drop-down menu.
  2. Click the 'Tools' menu at the right of the screen and select 'Configuration' from the drop-down menu.
  3. Select the project for which you wish to change the card colours.
  4. Click the 'CARD TEMPLATES' tab.
  5. In the 'ISSUE TYPE' field, select the relevant issue type, then click the 'Card colour' link at the right of the field and choose the appropriate colour.
     For more information, please see the documentation on Configuring your Card Templates.

• Enabling time-tracking:
  If you want to be able to log the amount of time you spend working on issues, you need to first do the following:
  1. Click the 'Administration' menu in the top navigation bar and select 'JIRA Administration'.
  2. Click 'Time Tracking' (under 'Global Settings') in the left navigation column.
  3. In the 'Hours Per Day' field, enter the number of hours in your organisation's working day (e.g. 8).
  4. In the 'Days Per Week' field, enter the number of days in your organisation's working week (e.g. 5).
  5. Leave the 'Time Format' as 'pretty'.
  6. Change the 'Default Unit' to 'hour'.
  7. Click the 'Activate' button.
     For more about configuring time-tracking, please see the JIRA documentation.

• Enabling sub-tasks:
  If you want to be able to split up a 'parent' issue (e.g. a 'Story') into a number of sub-tasks which can be assigned and tracked separately, you need to first do the following:
  1. Click the 'Administration' menu in the top navigation bar and select 'JIRA Administration'.
  2. Click 'Sub-Tasks' (under 'Global Settings') in the left navigation column.
  3. Click the 'Enable' link.
     For more about configuring sub-tasks, please see the JIRA documentation.

• Assigning issues to a single version:
  Note that GreenHopper supports only one Fix Version per issue. If an issue is assigned to multiple versions, GreenHopper will only use the first one in the list. It is recommended that you edit each issue and assign it to only one version. Depending on how many issues you have, it may be quickest to use the JIRA 'Bulk Edit' feature as follows:
  1. Display the relevant issues in the JIRA Issue Navigator
     Tip: to display a GreenHopper collection of issues in the JIRA Issue Navigator, click the 'Issue Navigator' icon on the GreenHopper Planning Board.
  2. From the 'Tools' menu at the top right of the Issue Navigator, select 'Bulk Change'.
  3. Select the relevant issues and click the 'Next' button.
  4. Select 'Edit Issues' and click the 'Next' button.
  5. Select the 'Change Fix Version/s' check-box, select just one Fix Version, and click the 'Next' button.
  6. If the 'Confirmation' screen looks as you expect, click the 'Confirm' button.

• Assigning issues to a single component:
  Note that GreenHopper supports only one component per issue, so if an issue belongs to multiple components, GreenHopper will only use the first one in the list. (Note: components are listed alphabetically, so if there are three components selected — 'cats', 'dogs', 'planes' — it will only use 'cats'.) In agile programming, if a task/issue is so broad that it covers many components, it should be broken down into smaller tasks. It is recommended that you edit each issue and assign it to only one component. Depending on how many issues you have, it may be quickest to use the JIRA 'Bulk Edit' feature as follows:
  1. Display the relevant issues in the JIRA Issue Navigator
     Tip: to display a GreenHopper collection of issues in the JIRA Issue Navigator, click the 'Issue Navigator' icon on the GreenHopper Planning Board.
  2. From the 'Tools' menu at the top right of the Issue Navigator, select 'Bulk Change'.
  3. Select the relevant issues and click the 'Next' button.
  4. Select 'Edit Issues' and click the 'Next' button.
  5. Select the 'Component/s' check-box, select just one Component, and click the 'Next' button.
  6. If the 'Confirmation' screen looks as you expect, click the 'Confirm' button.

1. Click the 'Agile' menu in the top navigation bar and select 'Task Board' from the drop-down menu.
2. In the 'TASK BOARD' field, select the project in which you are interested.
   Tip: the Task Board will not be displayed if you have not yet configured a version for your project.
3. In the 'View Version' field, select the version in which you are interested.
4. If you wish to see only the issues that are assigned to you, click the 'My Issues' check-box.

For more information, please see the documentation on Using Task Board Modes to View Issues.

1. Click the 'Agile' menu in the top navigation bar and select 'Planning Board' (or 'Task Board' or 'Chart Board') from the drop-down menu.
2. In the 'PLANNING BOARD' (or 'TASK BOARD' or 'CHART BOARD') field, select the project in which you wish to create an issue.
3. Click the 'New card' button (next to the project dropdown).
4. Fill out the 'New issue' form (this is similar to creating a new issue directly in JIRA).
5. Click the 'Create' button to create the issue and keep the 'New issue' window open (so you can create another issue), or click the 'Create and close' button to create the issue and return to your board.

For more information, please see the documentation on Creating an Issue in GreenHopper and Creating an Issue in JIRA.

1. Click the 'Agile' menu in the top navigation bar and select 'Planning Board' (or 'Task Board' or 'Chart Board') from the drop-down menu.
2. In the 'PLANNING BOARD' (or 'TASK BOARD' or 'CHART BOARD') field, select the project containing the issue you wish to flag.
3. Find the issue and double-click it to display it as a 'Detailed Card'.
4. Click the black triangle in the top right corner of the card and select 'Flag' from the drop-down menu.

For more information, please see the documentation on Flagging an Issue in GreenHopper

For more information, please see the documentation on Ranking Issues in GreenHopper.

For more information, please see the documentation on Scheduling and Assigning Issues in GreenHopper.

For more information, please see the documentation on Transitioning Issues in GreenHopper.

Note for Kanban users: if moving an issue causes a constraint to be exceeded, the affected column will be displayed in red.

For more information, please see the documentation on Using Planning Board Modes to View Issues.

For more information, please see the documentation on Using the Chart Board.

For more information, please see the documentation on Using the Chart Board.

For more information, please see the documentation on Using the Released Board.

For more information, please see the documentation on Searching for Issues in GreenHopper and Searching for Issues in JIRA.

You can create Contexts that use many different fields, or a JIRA issue filter. For details, see the documentation on Creating a New Context.

For more information, please see the documentation on the Agile Gadget and the JIRA Dashboard.