By Robert Leitch on August 9, 2013
After installing JIRA, I immediately wanted to create some project management-type issues to play with the interface and test what I'd learned from the excellent walkthrough that comes pre-loaded in JIRA.
Now, in my first blog post I said I'm new to project management, and this is true. I'm new to it as a discipline, but that doesn't mean I've never been at the helm of a project. I just have my own inimitable approach to project management that involves lots of paper and coffee, and doesn't relate much to any of the professional methodologies in vogue today.
Nonetheless, it made perfect sense that I would create a new 'project management' project in JIRA, then create my high-level issues, and then add more granular issues underneath them, followed by specific work tasks.
For my first faltering steps I decided to use a real project of my own – a web application I wrote several years ago that is in need of an interface makeover (among many things). So I made 'Interface cleanup' my first top-level issue.
Big issue: tick.
Breaking down the interface renovation into more detailed tasks was simple – I decided that each of the main interface views would be a sub-task. But when I wanted to add the actual work specifications below these, I hit a dead end.
Sub-tasks: tick. Sub-tasks of sub-tasks: no joy.
No matter where I looked or how hard I tried, I couldn't enter any more sub-tasks further down the line. I gradually came to the realization that JIRA doesn't allow more than one level of issue hierarchy, and…
Bang! The penny dropped. At this stage I had only gotten as far as reading the main features of the Structure plugin, and suddenly it became clear why an 'Unlimited Hierarchy' in JIRA is something totally awesome for project management.
This whole JIRA + Structure thing is beginning to look like a winning combination. Stay tuned for the next blog installment, where I'll be starting to play with the legendary Structure plugin.
Hierarchical issues for great project management in Jira
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