Associating field behavior with issue types

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A field configuration scheme associates (or "maps") field configurations to issue types in a project. In turn, a field configuration scheme can be associated with one or more projects.

This means that you can define different field configurations for each issue type that is available in a given project. For example, it is possible to have separate field configurations for the Bug the Improvement issue types (whose associations are defined in a field configuration scheme) for a project called 'Test'. Refer to the Overview Diagram for more information.

Because a field configuration scheme can be associated with more than one project (and associations between field configurations and issue types in a field configuration scheme are flexible), you can minimize your administrative workload as you can reuse the same field configuration for the same (or different) issue types across multiple projects.

Note: For all of the following procedures, you must be logged in as a user with the JIRA Administrators global permission.

Adding a field configuration scheme

  1. Choose > Issues
  2. Select Fields > Field Configurations to view all your field configurations.
  3. Click the Add New Field Configuration Scheme button to open the Add New Field Configuration Scheme dialog box.
  4. Complete the Add New Field Configuration Scheme dialog box:
    • Name — enter a short phrase that best describes your new field configuration scheme.
    • Description (optional but recommended) — enter a sentence or two to describe when this field configuration scheme should be used.
  5. Click the Add button to add your new field configuration to JIRA.
    (info) You will be taken directly to the Configure Field Configuration Scheme page, where you can start associating issue types with field configurations in your new field configuration scheme. See Modifying field behavior (from step 4) for details.

Associating an issue type with a field configuration

  1. Choose > Issues
  2. Select Fields > Field Configurations to open the View Field Configurations page, which lists all your field configurations.
  3. Click the Configure link for the field configuration scheme in which to create an association between an a field configuration and an issue type. The Configure Field Configuration Scheme page will appear, showing the scheme's current mappings of field configurations to issue types.
    (info) If you have not added any new field configurations since installing JIRA, you will only have JIRA's Default Field Configuration to work with.
  4. Click Associate an Issue Type with a Field Configuration
  5. Select the desired issue type and field configuration and click the Add button.
     

(info) Please note:

  • An issue type can only have one association within a given configuration scheme.
  • If an issue type does not have an association in the scheme, the field configuration associated with the Default entry in the scheme will be used for issues of that type.

Removing an association between an issue type and a field configuration

  1. Choose > Issues
  2. Select Fields > Field Configurations to open the View Field Configurations page, which lists all your field configurations.
  3. Click the Configure link for the field configuration scheme that contains the association between a field configuration and issue type you want to remove. The Configure Field Configuration Scheme page will appear, showing the scheme's current mappings of field configurations to issue types.
    (info) If you have not added any field configurations since installing JIRA, you will only have JIRA's Default Field Configuration to work with.
  4. Click the Remove link next to the issue type you wish to remove from the scheme.

(info) Please note: The Default entry cannot be removed from the scheme.

Associating an issue type with a different field configuration

  1. Choose > Issues
  2. Select Fields > Field Configurations to open the View Field Configurations page, which lists all your field configurations.
  3. Click the Configure link for the field configuration scheme contains an association between a field configuration and issue type you want to change. The Configure Field Configuration Scheme page will appear, showing the scheme's current mappings of field configurations to issue types.
    (info) If you have not added any field configurations since installing JIRA, you will only have JIRA's Default Field Configuration to work with.
  4. Click the Edit link next to the issue type whose field configuration you wish to change.
  5. Select the new Field Configuration you would like to associate with this issue type.
  6. Click the Update button.

Editing a field configuration scheme

  1. Choose > Issues
  2. Select Fields > Field Configurations to open the View Field Configurations page, which lists all your field configurations.
  3. Click the Edit link next to the field configuration scheme whose name and description you wish to modify.
  4. On the Edit Field Configuration Scheme page, edit the Name and Description of the field configuration scheme.
  5. Click the Update button.

Deleting a field configuration scheme

  1. Choose > Issues
  2. Select Fields > Field Configurations to open the View Field Configurations page, which lists all your field configurations.
  3. Click the Delete link next to the field configuration scheme you wish to delete. You will be prompted to confirm your deletion.

(info) You can only delete a field configuration scheme that is not associated with a project. The Delete link will not be available for field configuration schemes which are associated with one or more projects.

Copying a field configuration scheme

  1. Choose > Issues
  2. Select Fields > Field Configurations to open the View Field Configurations page, which lists all your field configurations.
  3. Select Administration > Issues > Fields > Field Configuration Schemes (tab) to open the View Field Configuration Schemes (above), which lists all your field configuration schemes (if any exist).
  4. Click the Copy link next to the field configuration scheme you wish to copy.
  5. On the subsequent page, specify the Name and Description of the field configuration scheme to be copied.
  6. Click the Copy button.
    (info) The (initial) associations between field configurations and issue types in both the original and copied field configuration schemes will be identical.

Associating a field configuration scheme with a project

To make your JIRA projects use your field configurations, you need to associate these field configuration(s) with issue types in a field configuration scheme (above) and then associate this field configuration scheme with a project. (This association means that the field configuration scheme will be applied to the project.) Once this is done:

  • The issues in this project will use the field configuration(s) 'mapped' to their issue type (defined by the field configuration scheme associated with the project)
    but also:
  • The issue types available to this project are defined by the issue type scheme associated with the project.

Therefore, even though a project's field configuration scheme may associate various different field configurations with a large set of issue types, only a subset of these issue types (as defined by the project's issue type scheme) and hence, field configurations themselves, may be available in that project. In other words, the issue types available to a project are restricted by the project's issue type scheme.

(info) Note that newly created projects are not associated with any field configuration schemes and hence, use the Default Field Configuration for all issues.

To associate a field configuration scheme with a project:

  1. Access the Project Summary administration page for your project (see Configuring a project).
  2. In the Fields section of this page, click the name of the current field configuration scheme.
  3. Click the Actions dropdown menu and choose Use a different scheme.
  4. In the resulting page, select the scheme you want to associate with this project.
    (info) Selecting None will result in all issue types available to your project using JIRA's Default Field Configuration.

  5. Click the Associate button. You will be returned to the Project Summary administration page, with the project now associated with the selected field configuration scheme.

Last modified on Dec 11, 2016

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