Jira attachments in the comments

[Srikanth Mamidala]

Hi Team, 

My team is having trouble on how JIRA attachments work. We have multiple status where multiple versions of the documents moves along different status. 

Problem is sometimes the attachments get attached in the comments and sometimes in the attachments section of the issue. It would be better if they are attachments are consistent either everything at attachments section of the issue or at the comments. I would like to know the behavior of the attachments as well as if there is a way to attach attachments directly to the comments section when uploading (via a screen pop up) ?

Thank you in advance

[Majken Longlade · Accepted solution]

Attachments are always added to the attachments section, but they can also be embedded in a comment. It depends on how the user is adding the attachment.

If you always want the attachment in the comment then the user should start in the comments field and attach the file from there. Note that the comment can be updated to embed an image if they get it wrong.

[Srikanth Mamidala]

Thank you for your answers. I will explore those options 

[Majken Longlade]

Hope it helps you get to the process that works for you

[Srikanth Mamidala]

 checked the comments and history of the issue. For the time the comment which has an attachment. History shows this message. What does this mean, was it added manually or by system?

[Majken Longlade]

Looks like that is an app that maintains a field for you. If you don't see any transitions mentioned in the history for that time, then it looks like they are just using the regular comment field. Unless you have a transition that loops back to itself.

Are you doing this as a way to track sign-off between statuses, sort of like testing and approval?

[Srikanth Mamidala]

Yes, attachments needed to have multiple signoffs between the status. So more the attachments are it gets confusing. If there is a way to attach directly to comments from the screen pop up it will be nice to have  

[Majken Longlade]

Hmm, it sounds like you may want an issue per attachment that needs sign-off and then have that issue go through the workflow. Some teams use bitbucket for file management, sounds like that might work in this situation as well.

[Srikanth Mamidala]

Hi Majken, 

Thanks for the insight in to attachments. What exactly do you mean by "user should start in the comments field" ? Can you please elaborate?

The way we attach different versions at the moment is, I have created a new screen with attachment and comments. When the user is transitioning to a status, they attach and add comments (Attached image). 

If I would like that to be attached in the comments section when they do that without manually again editing comment and adding it?, how do I do accomplish that? because all the attachments going to attachments section is little messy with multiple versions. 

[Majken Longlade]

Sure, first let's check whether you're only working with screenshots?

Next, all attachments are always added to the attachment section. You should be able to paste an image into a comment, and that will embed the image in the comment, but it will also add it to the attachment section.

To get a better understanding of what is going on, I would check the issue history. It could be that users are using the default comment box to add screenshots. The history should tell you if the image and comment were added as part of the transition or as separate actions.