I can't see all of the Subtask in board view or in the backlog as well

[Geylani Özçubukçu]

I am fairly new to Jira and I have been making some tweets on the project I took over.

For some reason I can see some subtask/child tasks in the backlog and on the board and can't see some of them. 

I am using a team managed scrum project template and would like to see all of the stories/tasks/subtasks/Bugs on the backlog as well as on the board for planning and management purposes.

I noticed that there were similar topics on the internet but I couldn't get any solution that helped me out. Can you please help me out?

Thanks,

[Trudy Claspill · Accepted solution]

Hello @Geylani Özçubukçu 

For a Team Managed Scrum project Sub-tasks will be visible on the board only when the Group By option is set to Sub-tasks.

If you have that setting and see some sub-tasks but not others that you believe should be visible, we need to explore why they are not visible.

1. Are the parent issues for the missing sub-tasks assigned to an Active Sprint? Sub-tasks are not items that can be assigned to Sprints as independent work. They are included in sprints to which their parent issue is assigned.

2. Do you have any Quick Filters enabled? That could cause the Sub-tasks to be hidden.

Because Sub-tasks cannot be assigned to Sprints independently from their parent issues, they will not be visible as line items/cards in the Backlog screen. You will have to click on an issue that includes sub-tasks to open the view for that issue to see its sub-tasks.

[Geylani Özçubukçu]

Hello @Trudy Claspill

Thanks for the response. I am not using any groups as when I do use groups my columns get longer and become harder to view. All of my Subtasks and their parent tasks are in the same sprint. I don't use any quick filters.

My main reasoning for this is I want to be able to see all stories to be broken in tasks and them into subtasks. And currently when you open a child task under "Task" the system automatically opens subtasks. If I want to open child tasks for stories as tasks, I need to link them together and they aren't small enough for weekly planning.

I can't even see my subtasks in my backlog. The only way I can see them is through filter that shows all work. Is there any way other than removing all subtasks and moving them to tasks.

Thanks,

Geylani

[Trudy Claspill]

Hello @Geylani Özçubukçu 

The issue hierarchy for Jira is

Epic > standard issue types > Sub-tasks

At the "standard issue types" level you can have Stories, Tasks, Bugs, and other issue types that you define, but these are all considered "siblings" by Jira. The only parent/child relationships that Jira recognizes by default are between Epics and "standard issue types", and between "standard issue types" and Sub-tasks.

In a Scrum board/backlog you will typically see the "standard issue types" because those are the default work item that Jira considers appropriate to assign to sprints.

You didn't mention if you are using Epics. If you aren't, then you could consider using Epics for defining what you currently call "stories", and then use the Story/Task/Bug issue types to break the Epic down into pieces of work small enough for your sprints.

There is not a way to see Sub-tasks in the Backlog in a Team Managed Scrum project because they are not sprint-schedulable items. And the only way to see them in a board is by using Group By.

If you need more than the three levels of issue hierarchy, your options are to create it artificially as you say you have with the generic issue linking feature, or you can look at third party apps that will allow you to extend the hierarchy upwards above Epic.

[Geylani Özçubukçu]

@Trudy Claspill thanks for the response.

I will just have to delete the Subtask category and move all of them into Tasks that category.

I was hoping for jira to be more scrum accurate then other solutions, but I guess its task oriented as others.