Adding custom fields to cards on a Kanban

[Kevin Smith]

Hello.  I am an admin user who has set up a Company-Managed project with a Kanban board filtering from another software project, and it's related Issues (Epics, tasks etc).   

In the EPIC issue types, I have created a custom field (number) called "Rating" from the configure EPIC settings, and I really need the kanban cards on the board to display this number.  The number will be used to indicate the complexity (effort and change), so that the issues can be discussed and ranked.  It is meant to be an indicator of importance/priority. 

When I configure the kanban board, I am presented with the option to add up to three fields, but my new Rating field is not in the list of values to select.  Thoughts?   

[Walter Buggenhout · Accepted solution]

Hi @Kevin Smith and welcome to the Community!

Are you sure your Epics are in a company managed project? Configure Epic settings does not ring a bell for me when I think about company managed projects.

My suspicion is that your Epics are in a team managed project. And indeed, custom fields from team managed projects are not shared across Jira. Which would explain why the field is not available in your board's card configuration.

If my guess is correct, then you should set up custom fields in Jira settings > custom fields instead, make sure the field is available on the epics screen and then try again.

For further reference, check out these support articles:

• Creating a custom field 
• Adding fields to screens 
• Custom fields in company managed projects 
• Manage issue type screens 

Hope this helps!

[Kevin Smith]

Hi @Walter Buggenhout thank you for the guidance and links, I am grateful for this.  The Epics that are being worked on / created are within a Team-Managed Software project.   

I followed the suggestion of creating a custom field, and this is applicable to EPIC issue types - all good.  However, I think the problem may be in the 'choose applicable context' projects.  I cannot see the specific team-managed software project listed where all the EPICs originate from.   I can see other projects.  I am also an Administrator for both projects, but cannot see why the software managed project is not showing.  Is there something I need to do additionally to make that project visible? 

When I create an EPIC in the company managed project, the new field is there, so I at least know it works - just not for the team-managed software project, and I ideally want that team to continue as they are.

Many thanks in advance for any thoughts. 

[Walter Buggenhout]

Hi @Kevin Smith,

It may be a bit harsh, but it seems you want to share your Epics across users of multiple projects and maybe even teams: if that's the case (which makes total sense), don't put them in a team managed project. That type of projects is not designed for cross-project collaboration. Just move your epics to a Company managed project instead.

However, before doing so, have a look at this support article to make sure you are not losing data in the process.  

[Trudy Claspill]

Adding to @Walter Buggenhout 's feedback:

The Custom Fields you can create as a Jira Administrator are for use only in Company Managed projects.

Team Managed projects are intended to be used in situations where each project needs its own independent customizations that will have no impact on other projects. For Team Managed projects you make the custom field within the Team Managed project itself (under Project Settings > Issues > select issue type), and that field is unique and used only for that one project. If if there is an identically named custom field available for Company Managed or other Team Managed projects, the custom field within a Team Managed project is unique.

As Walter said you could put your Epics into a Company Managed project so that your new Company Manage project Custom Field could be used. However at this time you cannot make issues of a Team Managed project children of Epics in a Company Managed project.

If you need to have multiple teams with their own projects linking issues to shared Epics, then all those issues need to be contained in Company Managed projects.

[Kevin Smith]

Thanks @Walter Buggenhout _ACA IT_ and thanks @Trudy Claspill .   You have both helped a lot with your input. 

I think on conclusion if I want the Kanban cards to show a rating, for ranking discussions - (this is what my need boils down to) - then I will ultimately need to move the original issues to a company-managed project board.   It was not so much sharing of issues across projects, but simply modifying the kanban cards.  

It is a little frustrating that the Kanban cards do not have that capability in other non-company managed projects, as it is really useful to present the Kanban back to stakeholders this way - without opening up each Epic. 

I will close off, unless anyone has any final thoughts.  Thank you for the support pages also in transferring issues across projects.  I may be back here if I get stuck :-) 

Regards, Kevin 

[Kevin Smith]

This is a past post - (which this post is a sort of extension of). 

[JSWCLOUD-17336] Ability to customize the fields shown on cards in team-managed projects (backlog + board) - Create and track feature requests for Atlassian products.

[Kevin Smith]

Thanks @Walter Buggenhout and thanks @Trudy Claspill .   You have both helped a lot with your input. 

I think on conclusion if I want the Kanban cards to show a rating, for ranking discussions - (this is what my need boils down to) - then I will ultimately need to move the original issues to a company-managed project board.   It was not so much sharing of issues across projects, but simply modifying the kanban cards.  

It is a little frustrating that the Kanban cards do not have that capability in other non-company managed projects, as it is really useful to present the Kanban back to stakeholders this way - without opening up each Epic. 

I will close off, unless anyone has any final thoughts.  Thank you for the support pages also in transferring issues across projects.  I may be back here if I get stuck :-) 

Regards, Kevin