Documentation for GreenHopper 4.4.x . Documentation for other versions of JIRA Agile is available too.
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An epic is essentially a large user story that can be broken up into several smaller user stories. Epics are typically used to capture large and complex items from the product backlog that are low priority and are yet to be defined in great detail.

If your project administrator has set up epics for your project, you will be able to create epics and link them to child issues, such as stories. You can then view the epic and related issues via the GreenHopper search.

To create an epic,

  1. Log into JIRA or navigate to your dashboard, if you are already logged in.
  2. Click the 'Agile' menu in the top navigation bar and select 'Planning Board' from the dropdown that displays. The 'Planning Board' will display.
  3. Select your project from the project dropdown in the top left of the planning board (next to 'PLANNING BOARD'), if it is not already selected. The 'Planning Board' will refresh with information for your project.
  4. Click the 'New Card' button (under the project dropdown). Create a new card with the appropriate issue type, i.e. 'Epic', if your project administrator has set it up.

To associate an issue with an epic,

  1. Log into JIRA or navigate to your dashboard, if you are already logged in.
  2. Click the 'Agile' menu in the top navigation bar and select 'Planning Board' from the dropdown that displays. The 'Planning Board' will display.
  3. Select your project from the project dropdown in the top left of the planning board (next to 'PLANNING BOARD'), if it is not already selected. The 'Planning Board' will refresh with information for your project.
  4. Double-click the card you want to associate with your epic and then click the icon to the right of the 'Epic' field to edit it. (This icon will appear when your mouse pointer hovers over the Epic field).
  5. Enter the issue key for your epic in the 'Epic' field and click the 'tick' icon to save this change. Your issue will be associated with the epic.

To view all issues associated with an epic,

  1. Log into JIRA or navigate to your dashboard, if you are already logged in.
  2. Click the 'Agile' menu in the top navigation bar and select 'Planning Board' from the dropdown that displays. The 'Planning Board' will display.
  3. Select your project from the project dropdown in the top left of the planning board (next to 'PLANNING BOARD'), if it is not already selected. The 'Planning Board' will refresh with information for your project.
  4. You now have two options:
    • On an epic card, click the epic's key at the bottom right of the card to see all the associated cards, e.g. 'GHS-123'.
    • On a non-epic card, click the associated epic key (e.g. 'GHS-123'), in the 'Epic/Theme' field of the card.
  5. The GreenHopper 'Epic/Theme' search window will display, showing all cards associated with the epic. The card for the epic and statistics for all issues associated with the epic will be displayed on the right of the search window.

Screenshot: Viewing all issues associated with an epic from an epic card

Screenshot: Viewing an epic and associated issues on the GreenHopper 'Epic/Theme' search window





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