How to create a select list where users can add options

[Kelly Wehbi]

Is there any solution or custom app where I could create a select list that would be pre-populated with n number of options, but then allow users to add a new option if the one they're looking for doesn't exist? It seems like "labels" might be the only way to do this, but that's not ideal for the type of data I'm using.

I need a dropdown with potentially 100s of options, and have not found a good way to deal with this yet.

Thanks!

[Thomas Opiolka - codefortynine]

Hi @Kelly Wehbi ,

Another option could be the app External Data for Jira Fields, which offers several options that might be of interest. 

To make it simple, you can use the Field Options Sync feature to synchronize with a native Jira field. As for the data source, you can use a JSON file that you can create manually, and automate the updating process by using an API if needed.

I hope this helps.

Cheers,
Thomas

Disclaimer: I am the product manager of said app.

[Julie d_Antin _Elements_]

Hi @Kelly Wehbi ,

If this is for requests on JSM, you could achieve something pretty close with Elements Connect by storing the new options as issues in another project and fetching the options from the Jira API (check out this article to get a preview of the idea). If an option doesn't exist, a new issue can easily be added to the project, and then available in the drop down.

This obviously won't work on the fly when someone is opening a request, but it does delegate the management of the field options.

If you have 100s of options, you might even be interested in the dependency options so people only see options relevant to the issue type, request type, or other attributes.

Btw, I'm with the company that makes the app; don't forget you can search the Marketplace for other solutions.

[Kelly Wehbi]

@Julie d_Antin _Elements_ Interesting, this is very helpful! Do you have any non-Issue solutions you've seen for doing something like this? As a little more context, what I'm trying to do is add a dropdown list in JSM that's a list of people in an organization. Unfortunately, we don't have the ability to connect to the company directory in any way, so we need to maintain the list separately and update it when needed.

[Rafael Corredor]

Hi,

We use Elements Connect for this purpose too (delegated field options management) and it works perfectly, but I am not sure if it would work with User fields.

@Julie d_Antin _Elements_ you probably can confirm it.  By the way, the best tutorial is this one (created for Server platform): https://doc.elements-apps.com/elements-connect/latest/tutorials-examples/tutorials-learn-how-to-configure-elements-connect/dynamic-select-lists-managing-list-options-in-a-dedicated-jira-project 

Note: In the past I used other plugins, but they do not exist for cloud.  The only one found for cloud is delegated-fields-project-admin-fields but I do not expect it works with user fields.

[Julie d_Antin _Elements_]

@Kelly Wehbi , you could maintain your list in Airtable (or another tool like GoogleDocs or Sharepoint), and then populate your select list from there.