Project Name Change: Best Practices?

[Lisa Lee]

Hi,

I've had a request to change the name of a Jira project. 

Seems simple enough but is there any possible issues that would generate? There are associated issues with the project so I'm worried about the key. Should that stay the same? 

Thanks!

[Trudy Claspill · Accepted solution]

Changing the Project Name does not automatically affect the Project Key. You can change the name without changing the Key.

I generally advise against changing the Key unless there is a truly compelling reason to change it. If you do change the key you should note that the original key cannot be re-used for a different project. 

[Lisa Lee]

Yep, super glad I didn't have to change the key. 

Thanks Trudy

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist- · Accepted solution]

No, you won't hit problems, unless you have configured something that looks up the project by name (which is generally a bad idea, the key is a better way to do it, or ideally the project ID, as that can't change)

The project's name is a simple attribute, stored when you create the project, and looked up by any code that wants to display it.  If you edit it, the code that wants to display it will re-read it when it needs it.  Nothing else really uses it.

[Lisa Lee]

Good deal. Yeah, was lucky enough to be able to retain the project key so that made life easier. 

Thanks Nic!

[brian.g]

Actually, the ways that filters (JQL) use the project field renaming a project DOES HAVE AN IMPACT. 

If your filters use project = "Test Project" , now you update the name to "Project", the filters will not automatically update and WILL NOT return any results. 

This anything using JQL including automations, dashboards, and integrations. 

[Trudy Claspill]

@brian.g 

That impact is detailed in @Nic Brough -Adaptavist- 's answer.