You can assign default members to project roles, so newly created projects will have project roles assigned to them. Default members are an efficient way for Jira administrators to assign project role members automatically, without having to manually manage each new project as it comes in.

For example, by default, users in the jira-administrators group will have the Administrators project role. This not only increases the efficiency of the setup by creating a baseline for new projects, but also offers the flexibility to allow modifications to the default setup to cater to unique requirements.

Perform the following steps to set default members for a project role:

1. Browse to the Project Role Browser page
2. Click on the Manage Default Members link for the project role you wish to edit

The following screenshot shows that the Developers project role has a default user (Patrick Li) and a default group (jira-software-users):

On this page, you will see all the default members assigned to the selected project role. You can assign default memberships based on individual users or groups.

Perform the following steps to add a default user/group to the project role:

1. Click on the Edit link for the default member option (either the user or group).
2. Use the user picker/group picker function to select the users/groups you wish to assign to the project role.
3. Click on the Add button to assign the role. The following screenshot shows that the jira-software-users group is the default group for the Developers project role:

Once added, any new projects created will have the specified users/groups assigned to the project role. It is important to note that changes to default memberships are only applied to new projects. Existing projects will not retrospectively have the new default members applied.