Common Workflow Configuration Mistakes

• Workflow action missing.
  Conditions control who can perform a transition, and under what circumstances. If a condition fails, the user won't see the transition link on the View Issue page. See Transition Conditions.

• Workflow action results in permission error.
  Validators check that any user-supplied input is valid before performing the transition. For example, a validator can be used to ensure that the comment entered by a user on the transition's screen meets a certain criteria. If a validator 'fails', the Post Functions of the transition will not be executed and the issue will not progress to the destination step of the transition. See Transition Validator.

• Cannot edit or delete steps within a workflow.

  There are limitations when trying to edit the draft of an Active Workflow as mentioned here:

  Please note that the following limitations apply when editing an active workflow:

  • Existing workflow steps cannot be deleted.
  • The associated Status for an existing step cannot be edited.
  • If an existing step has no outgoing transitions, it can't have any new outgoing transitions added.
  • Step IDs for existing steps cannot be changed.

  If you wish to make any of the modifications listed above, then you will need to copy the workflow (see 'Creating a Workflow'), modify the copy and then activate it. Please note, this method will be significantly slower than editing an active workflow, particularly for large instances of JIRA.

• Associating Workflow with a project/issue > Workflow hierarchy

  Once you have created a new workflow or modified an inactive workflow, you will need to activate it. To activate a workflow, you need to:

  1. Create a Workflow Scheme that references your workflow, and (optionally) associate it with the relevant issue type(s).
  2. Associate the Workflow Scheme with the relevant project(s).
  Click to see the larger image:
  
• Step Properties
  • Workflow Properties

    Using step properties

    You can use step properties to prevent issues from being edited when they are in a particular workflow step(s). For example, in the default JIRA workflow, issues in the 'Closed' step/status cannot be edited, even by users who have the 'Edit Issue' permission. Note that issues which cannot be edited cannot be updated using Bulk Edit either.

    To stop issues from being editable in a particular step, set the 'jira.issue.editable' property of the step to 'false' as follows:

    1. Log in as a user with the 'JIRA Administrators' global permission.
    2. Bring up the administration page by clicking either the 'Administration' link on the top bar or the title of the Administration box on the dashboard.
    3. In the left-hand navigation panel, under 'Global Settings', click the 'Workflows' link.
    4. The 'View Workflows' page will be displayed as shown in 'Creating a workflow' above. Click the 'Steps' link next to the workflow whose step you wish to make uneditable.
    5. The 'View Workflow Steps' page will be displayed, showing the steps that make up the workflow.
    6. Click the 'View Properties' link that corresponds to the relevant step.
    7. The 'View Workflow Step Properties' page will be displayed, showing the step's existing properties (if any). The 'Add New Property' form appears below the list of steps. (Note: this form will only be shown if the workflow is inactive or you are editing an active workflow. )
    8. In the 'Property Key' field, type: jira.issue.editable .
    9. In the 'Property Value' field, type: false .
    10. Click the 'Add' button.

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