Troubleshoot the timeline for company-managed projects
This page includes solutions to problems commonly found in company-managed projects.
Go here to see solutions to common problems related to team-managed projects
If you’re working in a company-managed project, here’s some common errors that you might encounter on your timeline:
Accidentally converted a child work type to a parent work type
I can’t see my project timeline. Instead, it says “timelines are designed for a single project”
Board filter exceeds work item limits
The timeline view of Jira can only show 5,000 work items at once with no more than 500 being at the parent level.
The timeline automatically excludes work items if they were:
moved to the Done status category more than a year ago
moved to the Done status category, and it has a due date from more than a year ago
To only display work items created within the last year:
From your project, select Work items and filters > Advanced search.
In the search bar, enter this query, but replace:
NAME with the name of your project
DATE with the dates you’d like to focus on
project = NAME AND created >= DATE AND created <= DATE
Your timeline contains corrupt work items
A work item is considered corrupt if certain details, like the work type, status, status category, or rank settings are invalid. The details might have been missing when the work item was created or something might have gone wrong with a bulk import.
The timeline won’t display until the details in the corrupt work item are fixed.
To fix a corrupt work item, you must raise a support ticket. Our team will help fix the work item so you can continue using your timeline.
No parent work type in project
In order for a timeline to show, your project needs to have a work item configured as an epic work type. If this work type has been deleted from your project, the timeline won’t show.
To check whether your project has an epic work type configured:
Select > Work items, then select Work types from the left menu.
In the Type column in the middle of the page, look for work items that are labeled as Epic.
If you don’t find one, you’ll need to configure an epic-type work item. Learn how to edit and create work types in Jira
Alternatively, parent work items could be excluded from your JQL query. To resolve this, your board admin needs to edit the filter query in the Board settings to include parent work items.
Parent work items don’t display on the timeline (Kanban)
The timeline is based on the same JQL filters as your board. If you’re using a Kanban board, it’s likely that your board will have a JQL filter that prevents parent work items from displaying on the board. The query could look like this:
project = FOO and workType != Epic ORDER BY Rank
To display them on your timeline, an admin can remove the JQL query from the board filter, and add it to the Kanban board sub-filter instead.
To adjust your JQL filter:
If you’re not already there, navigate to your company-managed project.
Go to More (···) > Board settings.
In the General tab of your board settings, find Filter > Saved filter.
Select Edit filter query.
From your Filters settings, remove
workType != Epic. Run the search, then save your changes.Return to the General tab of your board settings. Find Filter > Kanban board sub-filter.
Edit the query by hovering over the text. Paste
and workType != Epicclause into the field.Select Update to save your changes.
My sprints aren’t showing on my Timeline
In order for a sprint to show along the top of your Timeline, it must be from the same backlog or board container as the Timeline. Sprints from other boards won’t show up.
The sprints also need to have dates set (such as closed sprints, active sprints, or a scheduled future sprint) that fall within the previous one year or the next two years. Anything outside this date range won’t be shown.
Accidentally converted a child work type to a parent work type
If you've mistakenly converted a standard work type to a parent work type, restore them to their original state with the following steps:
Delete the 'wrong' epic type (the one that was converted).
As part of the work type deletion process, you'll be asked to which new work type you'd like to move all your work items.
Select the new work type you created.
Rename this new work type to your old one, if you want to.
Recently completed work items not showing on your timeline
If Due date is hidden from your work items, recently completed work items might not be on your timeline. The first step is to confirm that your work items have the Due date fields enabled:
You must be an admin to use Find your field on the work item.
To find a field on the work item:
Open a work item.
Select ··· > Find your field.
Search for the field you want to find.
Select the field.
If the field is hidden, Jira generates a warning.
To surface non-default fields in your work items:
Navigate to Settings -> Work items
Select Field Configurations from the column on the left, then select Configure.
Search for the field you want to add in the search box or find it in the list, then select Show. If it’s already visible in your site, this button will say Hide instead.
Finally, select Screens on the line of the field you want to add to your work items, then select the projects to which you’d like to add this field.
When you’re done, scroll to the bottom and select Update.
I can’t see my project timeline. Instead, it says “Timelines are designed for a single project”
Commonly, teams running a company-managed project create boards with a custom JQL query to monitor work items from multiple projects. However, the timeline view in Jira only works with work items from the backlog associated with one project. If you’re using a custom JQL filter that draws in work items from multiple boards, adjust it to only include work items from one project. Learn how to adjust your JQL filter.
Cross-project planning is only possible in your plan, which is included with Jira Premium and Enterprise. Read how plans gives an overview of the work of multiple teams and projects.
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