Does anyone use an issue type that is bigger than an epic?

[William Naughton]

Hi,

We are considering another issue type that could be a collection of epics.  I thought that Jira had another level called Feature or Initiative?  It looks like we would have to create a custom issue type to accomplish this.  Just wondering if someone else has done something similar and can share any tips.

Many thanks,

Bill N

[Trudy Claspill]

You can extend the hierarchy of issue types if you use add a Roadmaps/Portfolio app to your instance.

Atlassian created their own version of this. If it isn't already part of your environment check here to see if there is a version available for download that is compatible with your version.

https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1212136/advanced-roadmaps-for-jira-software-formerly-portfolio/version-history

You can also find third party apps that provide similar "portfolio" management capabilities if you search the Marketplace.

At my previous employer, management opted to not get an app for this and I had to manually customize the environment to develop a way to support some sort of parent/child relationships between Epics and a custom issue called Initiative. It was very painful to development and maintain. I strongly recommend you get an app to provide that functionality.

[Fabian Lim]

Hi @William Naughton

You can create your own issue type feature or initiative and create a new link relationship type.  In our instance, we added "Feature" and we trained users to link "features" to 'epic" with a features contains epics outward relationship. If you wanted to link it the other way, it would be "epic belongs to feature".

Now, you would need strong reporting apps to ensure you can see all relationships. For us it was a combination of structure (to see relationships) and eazybi reporting for custom agile reports and executive dashboards.

Cheers.