Atlassian Jira

Jira tracks issues and projects.

Writing a good issue

Set an issue type

Story — new feature (most common)
Bug — fix an issue with an existing feature
Epic — collection of related stories
Task — sub-feature of a “story” (used rarely)

Write a simple title

Fewer words are better. Add details in the task description.
Use sentence casing (capitalize the first word and proper nouns only).
Begin with “Add/Update/Change xyz” for stories.
Begin with “Fix xyz” for bugs.
Refer to features/modules in quotes for clarity (ex: Change permissions in “manage users”).

Write a detailed description

Use the typography tools in Jira for readability (headings, lists, dividers).
Edit the description freely. Pull important info out of comments, so it’s accurate and readable for anyone who needs a recap.

Add the following sections:

Background — describe background info needed to assess the task
Goal / Problem — describe the ideal outcome, requirements, specifictions
Steps To Reproduce — include all necessary detail to repeat the case
Questions — clarify what you don’t know
Proposal — the potential solution
Reference — additional info or links

Template for description:

h1. Background

x

h1. Goal

x

h1. Problem

x

h1. Steps To Reproduce

# x
# x
# x

h1. Questions

x

h1. Proposal

x

h1. Reference

x

Set the priority

If unknown, leave blank.

Link existing issues

Use the correct relationship to specify what the link is.

Assign the task

To yourself
To someone else — “watch” the task if you want updates.

Set the epic

Pick the best fit.

Set the sprint

Leave blank for the backlog.
Or choose the current sprint.

Setup issue filters

Create two filters for each project to track tasks you’re actively and passively involved with.

GravDept: Project Name: Open

Track tasks assigned to you and unresolved:

assignee = currentUser() AND resolution = Unresolved AND project = "Something" ORDER BY id ASC

GravDept: Project Name: Watching

Track tasks not assigned to you and unresolved, but that you’re watching:

(assignee != currentUser() OR assignee is empty) AND watcher = currentUser() AND resolution = Unresolved AND project = "Something" ORDER BY id ASC

Reference

Jira Query Language

Setup dashboards

Dashboards give an overview of everything important to you. I suggest setting up a default dashboard, and a custom dashboard for each project.

Default

Add these gadgets:

Projects
Activity Stream

Project: Project Name