Jira Fix Version

[Daisy Hughlett]

JiraSoftware release notes provide information on the features and improvements in each release. This page includes release notes for platform releases and feature releases (you'll find bug fix release notes after opening one of the versions below).

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In Jira, versions represent points-in-time for a project. They help you organize your work by giving you milestones to aim for. You can assign issues in your project to a specific version, and organize your sprints around completing work in that version.

Fix version is the version where you plan on releasing a feature or bugfix to customers. This field is used for release planning, monitoring progress and velocity, and is used widely in reporting. This is most likely the field you want.

When planning future releases or tracking a release in progress, you can quickly determine the status of each release based on the release icon:

a. A blue circle indicates the release is UNRELEASED and has not passed its release date

b. A red circle with an exclamation point indicates the release is UNRELEASED and overdue

c. A green circle with a checkmark indicates the release has been RELEASED

Use the Versions filter to display only the issues related to the selected release(s) on the timeline. This allows you to see all the work items related to a specific deliverable scheduled over time.

Click on any release icon to view important details such as progress, dates, and description. Optionally, check the box next to Highlight on timeline to visualize the release date on your timeline. This allows you to see how a specific deliverable is tracking towards its release date.

a. Release status: this appears as UNRELEASED, RELEASED, or ARCHIVED.

b. Release description: this describes the deliverables in your release and can be added upon release creation or edited in the Releases tab.

c. Release progress bar: this reflects the statuses of issues assigned to the release and will automatically update as issue statuses change.

d. Start date and release dates: the start and release dates scheduled for your release which can be edited in the Releases tab.

e. Option to highlight release date on the timeline (shown as vertical blue line)

The release burndown report shows how much work has been completed, and the total work remaining. Burndown charts are used to predict your team's likelihood of completing their work in the time available. They're also great for keeping the team aware of any scope creep that occurs.

I used jira on a project that was owned by another group and now I'm trying to use it on a new project in our own jira account. I'm finding the Atlassian documentation all but useless. I can't even fine a description of the Cloud or Server version to decide which I would want to use.

You don't currently even need to look at numbers. If you're on Cloud, which is always .atlassian.net, then you're on the latest version (the .atlassian.net thing may change if we're ever allowed to use non-Atlassian domains, but if it does, the versions are still a dead giveaway).

If you're on Server, then yes, the numbers matter. They're in the footer in most cases, and that should lead you to at least finding the right docs.

My situation: I recently finished a project with an outside software vendor and we used Jira to define the features, plan the sprints and track the project. I was acting as the project manager. The project went quite well using Jira so I'm now a fan. The Jira installation we used was owned by them and I have been tasked with bringing it in house. So I'm coming into this new and a little blind.

I discovered we have an Atlassian account with a Jira installation but the people who set it up are no longer here. I also found I'm the only person here with login credentials for some unknown reason. The Atlassian Jira documentation assumes you know the difference between Cloud and Server but doesn't describe how to tell which one you are using. From your description it seems we have a cloud version since the page footer doesn't show a version number. Information I would not have found without your description.

2) I want to move the completed project from the vendors Jira installation to ours. So far the documentation I've found indicates that isn't really doable although others have described workarounds. The vendor is also using a cloud version.

Sorry for the long post but I felt I needed to let you know I'm not a complete jerk. I don't know what to ask for now but it seems like this community is a good place to ask for help when I get stuck.

Discovering that you are inheriting unknown Jira (and possibly other Atlassian) systems is often ... well, I typed a few things, and couldn't settle on a good one. Certainly not ones that were accurate without swear words. System shock, difficult, hectic, pressurised, and so-on.

So, working through what I think you've got:

It sounds like you have Atlassian Cloud Jira. I'm not 100% sure of that, so I'm not going to chase it up without confirmation, but that confirmation is really easy - is the url you are using Jira on .atlassian.net?

The answer to that determines the answers I think you need. I am going to assume a "yes, we are on cloud" and so:

1. You'll need to talk to the existing Cloud admins. Worst case, you'll need to recover Cloud admin rights, which does mean asking Atlassian for information about who owns what.

2. Moving projects around is something Jira does really badly. I don't want to go too far down that route until you have a solid Jira install you are happy with, but I would strongly recommend getting an xml export of their system at a point where they are not going to update that project any more.

The most useful indicator on my dashboards is the version report gadget. In one graphic it shows all stakeholders the progress towards the committed features in the next version. It motivates developers as they can see the progress towards their medium term goals.

Today Jira Software Cloud is showing the message "The Version Report gadget will be retired soon on Dashboards. You can still access your Version Report by navigating to the Reports feature inside your Project."

Why is this very useful feature being retired? There is no similar gadget for epics, so that isn't an option. There is not even a gadget for providing links to reports, so I have to educate stakeholders on how to navigate to a project and its reports. This seems a big backward step for the usefulness of dashboards.

Unfortunately the Version Report gadget has now gone. I switched to using the Issue Statistics gadget with Statistic Type set to Status. It does not tell such a good story, but it is the best available.

I am disappointed that I never did receive an answer as to why, although I assume it was because the gadget was resource-intensive. Even if the retirement decision was never to be changed, it would have been nice to add more information to the retirement notice about what alternatives were recommended. It is also disappointing that you cannot add a link to a dashboard, so that you could link to the full Version Report.

I appreciate you logging your comments here though, as it gives others a chance to find an answer to "where did the Version Report gadget go?" question, like I did today. It's one of the most common gadgets that I would use for stakeholders to have a dashboard to give them a good overview of where the project is at and it has been nagging at me these past few weeks as to why I can't find it any more.

I'd further state that Atlassian has been big on trying to improve the usability of Jira, but completely missed the negative impact that removing such a gadget has on the usability. No stakeholder I've worked with spends their time in Jira on a daily basis, but yet everyone of them would bookmark a dashboard or look at a dashboard on a screen mounted around the work area. So this just leaves stakeholders with no recourse because they certainly won't be spending time navigating to a version report, and bookmarking one only gives them a slice of what they had on the dashboard before.

The main response I've received from stakeholders is - "That sucks. Is there a tool that is better than Jira that can give us this information like we had it before?" That doesn't bode well for Atlassian, given these are the same people that influence tool purchasing decisions.

Would also love to know why this is being removed. We use dashboards for high level update meetings regarding product development and the version report gadget is provides vital information. Having to click through to a report in a Jira project defeats the point of a dashboard.

The version report was an essential feature for our firm. And we run 18 projects simultaneously. Removing it was very much of a surprise to me? Does anyone know what other tools can offer a similar report?

The Version Report will still be available under Reports. If you are using a Kanban board, simply create a Sprint board and you will be able to see the Version Report in the Sprint board's Reports even if you aren't using the Sprint board.

The problem is that the Version Report Gadget will not be available for dashboards. The whole purpose of dashboards is to make it easy to communicate progress to stakeholders without requiring them to navigate around Jira. You can't even link to the Version Report directly from a dashboard! I am not aware of Atlassian's rationale for removing this very useful gadget.

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