If a task in Jira is completed/done in the backlog will it still contribute to the 5000 issue Limit?

[Sarah Isaacs]

Hi Community,  Hope you are all well. We have created a very different use for our Jira Board. We wanted to get all our books projects onto one board/project. Our previous method of using Jira filled our boards too quickly and meant we were hitting the 5000 issues limit frequently - which caused problems!

Our new Jira board creates the next task once the following task is marked done and sat in the done column. 

Sometimes to get a book project to the stage we want it, we go though a process of clicking done in the backlog on all the subtasks/tasks until it gets to the point(stage) at which we want. This is for older books that started production prior to the new board creation. 

My question is - if we are selecting done in the backlog do these done tasks still live (even though they are hidden) in the Jira project and contribute to the 5000 limit? 

Should I pop all of these older done tasks into the sprint so that they are in our done column in prep for the end of the sprint? 

From my limited understanding when you end the sprint the done tasks are gone and don't contribute to the 5000 limit?

I use google sheets with the Jira cloud extension so I have a sheet of previously completed tasks. I use app scripts to format my data so I have a record of done stuff.

I just don't want the new board to break due to the 5000 limit! 

Please Advise as I did look for an answer to this and there didn't seem to be one, or I couldn't find it!

Thanks a million

[Marc - Devoteam]

Hi @Sarah Isaacs

Yes the limit is 5000, but on a non scrum board you can set "Hide completed issues older than" in the General section in the Configure Board

This is based on the updated date.

The smallest time frame is 1 week.

All issues are still in Jira and you can create a filter, or use the List option in the sidebar

[Sarah Isaacs]

Hey thanks @Marc - Devoteam sorry I misunderstand. So even if they are done in the backlog they still contribute into the 5000 issues count? 

[Sarah Isaacs]

Our old Issue was that between the tasks on the board and the tasks in the backlog this would be more than 5000 and the board would brake.

The new board is designed to really not have a backlog or a very small one. 

[Marc - Devoteam]

Yes, the limit is 5K on a board.

What is the reason to show all issues on a board, this is very messy and the load is extremely slow.

Why don't create a filter based on the project and closed status and show the filter results on a dashboard?

[Sarah Isaacs]

Hey Marc, Thanks for the reply. With our new board we don't show all the issues or have them in the backlog. Or so I thought.....

I thought when they were in the done column and the sprint ended these done tasks then didn't count towards the 5000?

But  what if they were completed in the backlog and don't belong to a sprint? What happens to those do they count in the 5000 limit.

I'm now super worried we are going to hit 5000 again?

[Marc - Devoteam]

Yes, they count to the limit.

[Sarah Isaacs]

Sorry @Marc - Devoteam I'm sure I'm annoying now....... but...... Do they count to the limit in the case of both scenarios:

Scenario 1. Done column and the sprint ended - so they are kinda hidden

Scenario 2. Completed (so marked done) in the backlog and don't belong to a sprint

In which case how do you permanently remove the task so the old done ones don't count?

Thanks a million

[Sarah Isaacs]

Is there a filter or JQL that will give you a count of how many issues you have within a project?

[Sarah Isaacs]

@Bill Sheboy you have been so helpful in the past. I wondered if you might have a suggestion for above as I know you know a little bit about my project. @Marc - Devoteam has been a dream in terms of help of course.

[Bill Sheboy]

Hi @Sarah Isaacs 

As Marc was describing, the backlog (and board) can display at most 5000 issues: https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Jira-articles/Jira-boards-and-backlogs-can-now-show-5-000-issues-in-company/ba-p/2708797  After that point, paging or filtering is required.

If you only need a count of how many issues are in a project, you may use the backlog / board saved filter with a REST API call.  For example:

Let's say my board filter was this:

project = MYPROJECT ORDER BY Rank ASC

I could use a browser tab to call the issue search endpoint with this:

myJiraURL/rest/api/3/search?jql=project = MYPROJECT ORDER BY Rank ASC

The browser should automagically encode that correctly (replacing spaces with %20).

Then look at the results to find "total" for the count at the top:

{
  "expand": "schema,names",
  "startAt": 0,
  "maxResults": 50,
  "total": 2503,
  "issues": [...

Kind regards,
Bill