You need a board so that you can view and work on issues in Jira Software. A board displays issues from one or more projects. You can either copy a board that someone else has created, or create a new board for yourself. You can create as many boards as you like.

There are two types of boards:

  • Scrum boards are for teams that plan their work in sprints.
  • Kanban boards are for teams that focus on managing and constraining their work-in-progress. Because work is not planned in advance using discrete time periods or versions, Kanban boards do not have a Backlog screen.

Learn more: What is a board?

On this page:

Before you begin

Any user can create a board, but certain permissions are required to share the board with other users: 

  • If you create a board via Boards (in header) > View All Boards, you will not be able to share it, unless you have the 'Create Shared Objects' global permission.
  • If you create a board via the following methods, you do not need the 'Create Shared Objects' global permission to share the board:
    • Creating a project (where a board is created for the project by default)
    • Setting up Jira Software for the first time (where you're prompted to create a project, which also creates a board for the project)
    • Copying a board (the copied board will be shared with the same users as the original board)

Creating a new board

  1. Log in to Jira Software.
  2. If you're setting up Jira Software for the first time, do either of the following actions. Otherwise, please continue.
    • If you're creating either a Scrum software development project or a Kanban software development project, follow the prompts to create your project. A board is created for your project by default.
    • If you're creating a Basic software development project, follow the prompts to create your project. After your project is created, click Create board under your project name, and follow the prompts to create your board.
  3. Select Boards > View All Boards from the top navigation bar.

  4. Click Create board at the top-right of the page, and choose whether to create a Scrum board or Kanban board, as described below. Note that you cannot change the board type after creation (that is, a Scrum board cannot become a Kanban board, and vice versa).

    a. Click Create a Scrum board, then choose whether to base your board on a new Software project ('Browse Projects' permission required) or an existing project. 
    Note, you can also choose to Create a Scrum board with sample data ('Browse Projects' permission required). This will base your board on a new project pre-populated with sample data.
    b. Follow the prompts to set up your board and project (if you are basing your board on a new Software project). This will create a pre-configured Scrum board containing all the issues in your chosen project(s). Your Scrum board will have an issue filter with the following query:

    project = "[YOUR PROJECT(S)]" ORDER BY Rank ASC

    a. Click Create a Kanban board, then choose whether to base your board on a new Software project ('Browse Projects' permission required) or an existing project. 
    Note, you can also choose to Create a Kanban board with sample data ('Browse Projects' permission required). This will base your board on a new project pre-populated with sample data.
    b.     Follow the prompts to set up your board and project (if you are basing your board on a new Software project). This will create a pre-configured Kanban board containing all the issues in your chosen project(s) that do not belong to a released version. Your Kanban board will have an issue filter with the following query:

    project = "[YOUR PROJECT(S)]" AND (fixVersion in unreleasedVersions() OR fixVersion is EMPTY) ORDER BY Rank ASC

    Before you begin: You must have access to at least one saved issue filter (either your own filter, or one that someone else has shared with you). If you don't, first create and save a new issue filter (see the documentation on issue filters and JQL if you need help).

    Click Create a Kanban board and base your board on an 'existing Saved Filter'. Follow the prompts to set up your board. Your new board will be available to all users who have access to your chosen filter. See the examples below for sample JQL for your board's filter.

    Note, if you are the owner of the issue filter, you can edit it via the Edit Filter link. Otherwise, this link will not appear.

  5. Your new board will be shown. At the top is a link that you may want to send to other people so that they can use your board.

(tick) Congratulations — you have created a new board!

Copying an existing board

If you would like to create a board that is similar to one you are already using, you can simply create a copy.

Your new board will be based on the same issue filter as the original board. You will be the administrator of the new board, but not necessarily of the filter, so you may not be able to edit the filter. However, once your new board is created, you can easily choose a different filter (e.g. to view a different project) — see Configuring filters.

  1. Select Boards > View All Boards from the top navigation bar.
  2. The All boards screen will be displayed. Click the Copy link corresponding to the board of interest.

Alternatively, to quickly create a copy of the board you are currently viewing, simply select Copy from the Board menu at the top right of the page.

Example JQL queries for board filters

Here are a few common queries that you can use for your board's filter:

  • Select all issues that are Unscheduled or in an Unreleased Fix Version:

    project = GHS AND (fixVersion in unreleasedVersions() or fixVersion is empty

  • Select all issues you are interested in:

    (assignee = currentUser() or reporter = currentUser()) AND (fixVersion in unreleasedVersions() or fixVersion is empty)

  • Show all issues that you have participated in and have been updated in the last week. (info) This requires the JIRA Toolkit app.

    updatedDate > -7d AND Participants = currentUser()

  • Select all issues for a team (using a Label custom field named 'Team')

    (team = ateam or team = dreamteam or team = engineroom) AND (fixVersion in unreleasedVersions() or fixVersion is empty)

  • Only select my bugs for a bugfix team

    project = GHS AND team = bugfix AND issuetype = bug AND (fixVersion in unreleasedVersions() or fixVersion is empty)

  • Try fixVersion = earliestUnreleasedVersion(PROJECT KEY) to see all issues in the next Fix Version to be released:

    fixVersion = earliestUnreleasedVersion(PROJECT KEY)

See JQL for more information on using JQL for your board. Let your imagination run wild! 

Next steps

(info) Need help? If you can't find the answer you need in our documentation, we have other resources available to help you. See Getting help.

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