Feature linked to a Story

[Shamsur Mahmud]

Hello,

My question is pretty similar but with a little twist. I asked my Jira admin to include Feature (issue type/ layer) in the existing hierarchy for my project and board. 

Existing hierarchy: Epic > Story > Subtask

New hierarchy: Epic > Feature > Story > Subtask

I can now create a Feature as a child of an Epic. However, when I try to create a Story as a child of a Feature, I only see Sub-task as a issue type/child, no option to add/create a Story from the Feature. If I create a Story as a stand alone issue, I cannot link it to a Feature as its parent. I only see issue type Epic available as a parent for the Story. 

This tells me there's no linkage created between Feature and Story in Jira by our admin even though hierarchically Feature is sitting above Story.

Once I brought this up, Jira admin mentioned making that change/ linkage will impact everyone in the company. So basically everyone will have to create Features in between their existing Epics and Stories for their Projects and Boards. 

Currently, almost all the projects and boards, in my new company, use Epic > Subtask. But I plan to use Epic > Feature > Story > Subtask to bring more structure to the process. Based on Jira experience a while back, I thought there was a way to create your own hierarchical relationship by each board. But my admin is not sure if that's possible.

Question is, how do I achieve this new hierarchy for my projects and boards without messing up others? Thanks a lot for your help.

[John Funk · Accepted solution]

Hi Shamsur - Welcome to the Atlassian Community!

Your Jira Admin is correct - there can only be one hierarchy for the company. That being said, if no one else is using Feature in the hierarchy, then you have some flexibility. Can you get a screen shot of the current hierarchy as it is in Jira? Your Jira Admin might have to get it for you. 

[John Funk]

Still looking for some screenshots of your current hierarchy. 

[Shamsur Mahmud]

do not have a screen shot but the admin sent this.

Current hierarchy

Initiative: 2

Epic: 1

Feature, Story : 0

Sub-task, Auto Request, Software License Request, Technical Task: -1

For my purpose what I need is this:

Initiative 3 

Epic 2

Feature 1

Story 0

Subtask and everything else -1

Issue is, other boards or projects are using Feature and Story as sibling, as children of Epic. If we change the hierarchy to what I want, then others will lose the current parent child relationship they have. 

Even if I introduce a new issue type (that no one uses in my company) instead of Feature, the fact that I need that to sit in between Epic and Story, that will break the current parent-child relationship that exists between Epic and Story in other boards/ projects. Is that correct? 

[John Funk]

Yes, you will not be able to get what you want if the Jira Admin is not willing to change the current hierarchy. You might question them harder as to why they have Feature and Story sitting at the same level - that is not a standard agile practice. They could leave story there and add some other indicator that it is a feature if they want, like a Component or a custom field. 

[Shamsur Mahmud]

Yes, that's the next hurdle. I am new to the company and they have boards that are probably close to a year old now with a lot of activities that will be disrupted if this change is implemented.

But thanks for the answers and the help. 

[John Funk]

It probably wouldn't be all that disruptive. They could do a bulk change to add the value of Feature as a Component. Then they would do a bulk change to Move the Features to Story. Then update the boards to add quick filters for the Component = Feature. 

But, anyway, best of luck to you. 

[Shamsur Mahmud]

Yeah, I know what you mean but I am not sure if any one would be interested to take on the admin work to facilitate what I am trying to do for my team. Unless the leadership sees the value of my approach and willing to apply. I have got some convincing to do. :-)

[Shamsur Mahmud]

Apparently the version of Jira we use does not have Feature as an issue type. It only has New Feature which is a sibling of Story and child of Epic. Our Jira admin had suggested we create Initiative and follow the this hierarchy: Initiative >> Epic >> Story >> Sub-task.

We can also move upward and go above Initiative if we need to. What I still need to find out if Tempo will be able to incorporate Initiative and a level higher to track time. 

[John Funk]

No, Feature does not come out of the box with Jira, but it's just an issue type and you can create a new one called Feature. Then you can put the issue type in whatever hierarchy you want. Yes, you should find out about Tempo, if Jira can do what you want if the powers at be will let you. 

[Shamsur Mahmud]

This was my understanding.

I am not sure why I am told in our version of Jira, we do not have an issue type Feature, except New Feature as a sibling of Story (by default). Anyways, doesn't matter what it's called, I am happy with the 5 layers I was looking for.

Thanks for you help John.

[John Funk]

You are very welcome. If this answered your question, please be so kind as to click on the Accept answer button above for future readers.  Thanks!

[Shamsur Mahmud]

done.

[John Funk]

Well, I meant mine, not the other one haha. I don't think you implemented their tool did you? 

[Shamsur Mahmud]

Sorry, I scrolled up too quickly and didn't see which message it was tied too. I undid theirs and accepted yours. 

[Shamsur Mahmud]

Any idea, why Backlog is not showing the hierarchical relationship from Initiative down to the Sub-task for all the Initiatives I have? It was working fine before Initiative was introduced to my board as a parent of Epic.

[Dmitry Astapkovich _Colined_]

Hi @Shamsur Mahmud , 

You can try an alternative method by using Pivot Report we develop:

This demo report is available here: https://demo.colined.com/plugins/servlet/pr/report?report=3 


Basically, you can define your custom hierarchy based on issue links. It can be done on the saved report level or applied universally on Jira level. That allows you to easily experiment with reporting without any interference to other users and projects.

[Michael Yaroshefsky - Visor for Jira]

Hey @Shamsur Mahmud welcome to Atlassian Community.

It seems the best way for you to do this would be to use an app like ours (Visor).

Visor has a bi-directional integration with Jira, and people use Visor to:

• Visualize and use their Jira data in a range of ways that isn't possible within Jira itself
• Work with Jira data without affecting Jira itself (or conversely to push updates back into Jira after you've used Visor to make changes)
• Share Jira visualizations and data with stakeholders that don't have Jira access.

E.g. the example below where I've created a Gantt chart in Visor, and grouped my epics by a custom Visor field I created called Product.

What you're asking to do (to create a custom hierarchy level between epics and stories without establishing it in the hierarchy in Jira itself) is a bit less straightforward, but possible.

Is your admin open to creating another issue type and calling it "Feature"? It doesn't need to sit anywhere in the issue hierarchy.

If so, then you can do this:

1. Import your selected Jira projects into Visor

2. In Visor, drag and drop your Features issues below the matching epic, and drag your stories below the matching Feature (see closeup screenshot below)

3. Click on Sync & Import, then click the Settings cog icon,

4. Click on "Show default data structure options" and select "Ignore Nesting From Jira"

Now when you sync and import updates between Jira and Visor your Visor views (tables, Gantt charts, timelines, etc.) will maintain your custom nesting.

This gives you a way of visualizing your Jira project data as epic>feature>story without needing to implement that across your organization

Visor is completely free to try, so see if it works for you and if you need any help troubleshooting chat to me or someone in our team we will be happy to help.

Here's our marketplace listing:

 https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1226209/visor-spreadsheet-gantt-chart-for-jira-with-excel-export?tab=overview&hosting=cloud

[Shamsur Mahmud]

Thanks for the response. My main goal to introduce a new hierarchy is to be able to track effort/ time on various projects, Data and Analytics and IT goals to the CIO level. Time logging is done using Tempo in Jira and reporting using EasyBI.

I an not sure if Visor fits in the mix and be able to deliver what I am looking for. But I will look into it. 

[Michael Yaroshefsky - Visor for Jira]

@Shamsur Mahmud Right, that makes sense. We're actually adding rollup calculations next, and once this is in place you would be able to rollup child values for example to display the total time spent on all stories under each feature...but just to be 100% clear you won't find them in Visor yet - sorry if that's not quite what you need and thanks for taking the time to check out our app, really appreciate it!