JIRA 5.1 allows you to edit issues more rapidly with inline editing. You can now directly modify an issue's fields when viewing an issue, without the page needing to reload (top-left screenshot).

When viewing an issue, simply click on a field's content to begin editing it. Once you've finished editing, simply click on the lower-right tick icon (or in a blank area away from the field you're editing) to save your changes – no page reload required.

Inline editing is enabled by default on new and upgraded JIRA installations. From JIRA 5.1 EAP 2, JIRA administrators can disable this feature by switching the Inline edit option to OFF through the General Configuration page.

For keyboard fans, inline editing provides its own keyboard shortcuts, which means you can avoid the need to use a mouse when editing issues. When viewing an issue:

1. Simply type a comma ',' and then start typing the name of the field you want to edit (using the cursor keys to select the specific field if necessary as shown in the lower-left screenshot)
2. Press 'Enter' to begin editing the field and type away to edit the field's content
3. Press 'Enter' again to save your modifications!

After performing an issue operation, such as commenting on an issue or performing a workflow transition (like the customised transition shown in the left screenshot), JIRA updates the issue immediately without the page needing to reload.

This, combined with inline editing (above), makes working with issues in JIRA even faster.

Easier workflow editing

JIRA now makes editing a project's workflow much easier. When you begin editing a project's workflow for the first time, you'll be able to modify that workflow almost immediately, since JIRA automatically makes a copy of the system workflow (jira) and associated workflow scheme for your project, and then associates this new workflow scheme with your project, all from the click of an icon.

To begin editing a project's workflow, simply click the pencil icon on the project's Workflow page (shown in the top-left screenshot).

 Note also that:

• The copied system workflow (named 'Your Project Name Workflow') is automatically associated with all of your project's available issue types in your project's new workflow scheme (named 'Your Project Name Workflow Scheme').
• If existing issues are present in your project before you decide to start customising the project's workflow, JIRA automatically migrates these issues across (lower-left screenshot) to use the newly copied 'Your Project Name Workflow'.

More administration improvements

Following on with improvements to the administration user interface in earlier JIRA releases:

• The forms for adding new issue types, sub-tasks, field configurations (+ field configuration schemes) and screens (+ screen schemes) are now dialog boxes, which are easily accessed by clicking a button at the top-right of the appropriate JIRA Administration pages.
• The original 'sub-tab' for adding issue type schemes has been converted to a full tab on the left of the JIRA UI and the form for adding an issue type scheme is now a dialog box, which is easily accessed by clicking the Add Issue Type Scheme button at the top-right of the Issue Type Scheme page.
• Whenever you add a field configuration (+ scheme) or a screen, screen scheme or issue type screen scheme, JIRA will take you directly to the pages for configuring any of these newly created entities, thereby saving you the need to locate such an entity in a list and click its Configure link. This is especially useful for customers with highly configured JIRA installations that contain extensive lists of these entities.

If you're faced with the task of creating multiple users in your JIRA site, you'll be happy to know that JIRA now includes the new Invite Users feature. This feature lets you email invitations that allow people to sign up to your JIRA site. You just need a list of email addresses and a single click of a button.

Users receive an email message with a link to create their own account on your JIRA site.

Linking to issues is now easier than ever with the following improvements to the Link dialog box:

• The user interface has been simplified, with the former Remote JIRA Issue option on the left of the Link dialog box being incorporated into the JIRA Issue option.
• The 'autocomplete' dropdown list of issues now works against issues on remote JIRA sites.
• You can now use JQL to search for issues.

A JIRA user who either creates a new issue or comments on an existing issue, will automatically become a watcher of that issue.

This feature applies to all new and existing JIRA users in a new (or upgraded) JIRA 5.1 installation.

JIRA users can easily disable this feature through their user profile by choosing Disabled for their Autowatch option when editing the Preferences section of their user profile (see left screenshot).

The JIRA Configuration Tool now includes an Advanced database connection tuning page which allows you to fine tune your database connection pool and validation query settings. This may be required with some default database configurations to maintain a successful connection between your JIRA server and JIRA database.

A new welcome page

If you're installing JIRA for the first time, you'll be presented with a new welcome page to help guide you through the process of creating your first JIRA project. There is also no need to log in after running through the JIRA Setup Wizard.

From JIRA 5.1 EAP 2, after creating a new project through the welcome page, you'll be taken directly to the project's Summary page (instead of the Project Summary administration page).

Automatically suggested project keys

When creating a new project, the Add a new project dialog box now suggests a project key based on the name you specify.

Configurable JIRA home page upon login

You can now configure your JIRA home page, which is the page JIRA presents to you immediately after you log in.

To configure your JIRA home page, click your username's dropdown and select the appropriate home page option within the My JIRA Home section.

GreenHopper users can take advantage of this feature by selecting Agile from the My JIRA Home section. Upon selecting this option, you will be taken directly to your default GreenHopper Agile page upon logging in to JIRA.

User Gravatar support

JIRA administrators can choose between whether their users specify either a Gravatar or a JIRA-specific avatar through their user profile.

The Gravatar support feature can be activated by switching the Use Gravatar for user avatars option to ON through the General Configuration page.

New database monitoring page for JIRA system administrators

To help diagnose performance problems in JIRA associated with database connectivity, JIRA system administrators now have access to the new Database Monitoring page, which shows a graphical representation of JIRA's database connection usage over time.

JIRA system administrators can access this page by selecting Administration > System > Monitoring which opens the Database Monitoring page.

Keyboard Shortcut: g + g + start typing monitoring