Clone issues and assign to different people

[Harry Klein]

I am leading a project with 5 other members on it. I want their individual input on multiple issues. How can I clone a single issue and assign it to 5 different people? 

Do I have to run some sort of script to do so? I am not familiar with writing scripts in Jira, nor am I a technical person.

Thanks in advance for any help you can offer.

[Trudy Claspill · Accepted solution]

Are you wanting to assign each person the generic task of "provide input on this issue"? Do you need to provide them any additional context, or is there enough information in the original issue?

Rather than cloning the issue I would recommend that you create sub-task(s) in each issue for each person from whom you need input on that issue, and assign the sub-task to the person. In that manner, the input they provide can be added to the sub-task (or you can ask them to add it to the parent issue), and that input is readily accessible when you are looking at the original issue.

Do you always want all the members of the team to provide their input on every issue? Or is the scenario that input is needed on only some issue, and/or is input needed from only some of the 5 people?

Both Cloning issues and Creating Sub-tasks can be managed with the Automation feature, but the exact Automation Rule to be created will depend on having more details for your scenario.

[Harry Klein]

Hi @Trudy Claspill

Thanks for the reply.

Yes, I want to assign each person the generic task of reviewing and providing input. There is enough info on the original issue.

I don't always need the entire team to weigh in on all tasks. 

I tried sub-tasks and didn't see the original information transferred to that  will try the sub-tasks solution first. It wasn't clear to me that the original information from the task was copied to the sub-task. 

I'll give it another try.

Thanks, again, for your help.

Harry

[Harry Klein]

Hi @Trudy Claspill ,

I see that the only information that is carried over to a sub-task is the project and security level. This means that the assignee has to revert back to the task to see all the information correct?

Thanks. 

Harry

[Trudy Claspill]

Yes, that's correct. You would have to use Automation to copy the values from the parent issue to the sub-task. You could use a key code word or phrase in the Description of the sub-task, and create an Automation rule that would find those sub-tasks as they get created and copy the Description from their parent issue. It is possible you could even develop a way to note in the original issue which people need to provide input, and create an Automation rule that would detect those names, create the sub-tasks, and assign them to those people.

One reason I suggested sub-tasks instead of cloning is if you use Clone, then the only way to track the relationship between the original and the cloned issues is by the generic Issue Linking functionality. Anybody with permission to edit issues can delete those links, and you would lose the relationship between the issue. With sub-tasks, the Sub-task issue uses a special link to its parent that can't be deleted. It would be "easy" to find the related issues where you've asked for input with little risk that the relationship between those and the original issue getting removed.

[Harry Klein]

I think Sub-Tasks is the way to go. I've been doing a little reading about Automation rules. I'll explore that further.

Thanks, again, @Trudy Claspill 

[Marlene Kegel - codefortynine]

Hi @Harry Klein,

I am Marlene from codefortynine.

It should be possible to integrate your use case with Subtasks as described by @Trudy Claspill. 

If that doesn't work for you, you can also check out our app Deep Clone for Jira.

With Deep Clone you can clone single issues multiple times. The process is pretty simple and can be done by any Jira user.

After you've installed Deep Clone to your instance, you simply:

•  Navigate to the issue you want to clone multiple times
• Click on the three dots menu on the top right
• Click Deep Clone
• Configure your clone (including check "clone issue multiple" times under the advanced options)

After you've cloned the issue multiple times, you can assign the clones to the corresponding people. 

[Harry Klein]

Thanks so much @Marlene Kegel - codefortynine

I really appreciate the suggestions.

I'm going to further explore Trudy's response. If that doesn't do it, I'll be exploring your solution.

All the best.