A workflow is like a flowchart in which issues can go from one state to another by following the direction paths between the states. In JIRA's workflow terminology, the states are called statuses, and the paths are called transitions. We will use these two major components when customizing a workflow.
In this recipe, we will create a new, simple workflow from scratch. We will look at how to use existing statuses, create new statuses, and link them together using transitions.
The first step is to create a new skeleton workflow in JIRA:
Simple Workflow
.The following screenshot explains some of the key elements of the workflow designer:
As of now, we have created a new, inactive workflow. The next step is to add various statuses for the issues to go through. JIRA comes with a number of existing statuses, such as In Progress and Resolved, for us to use:
Once you have added the statuses to the workflow, you can drag them around to reposition them on the canvas. We can also create new statuses as follows:
Frozen
, and click on Add.Now that we have added the statuses, we need to link them using transitions:
Start Progress
, and select the None option for the Screen.You should finish with a workflow that looks like the following screenshot:
At this point, the workflow is inactive, which means it is not being used by a project and you can edit it without any restrictions. Workflows are applied on a project and issue type basis. Perform the following steps to apply the new workflow to a project:
After we have applied the workflow to a project, the workflow is placed in the active state. So, if we now create a new issue in the target project of the selected issue type, our new Simple Workflow will be used.