Each issue has a type (therefore, the name "issue type"), which is represented by the issue type field. This lets you know what type of issue it is; for example, if the issue is a bug or a feature. Jira comes with a list of pre-defined issue types, such as Story, Epic, and Task.
The default issue types are great for simple software development projects, but they do not necessarily meet the needs of others. Since it is impossible to create a system that can address everyone's needs, Jira lets you create your own issue types and assigns them to projects. For example, for a help desk project, you might want to create a custom issue type called ticket. You can create this custom issue type and assign it to the Help Desk project and users will be able to log tickets, instead of bugs, in the system as shown here:
- Log in to Jira as a Jira administrator.
- Browse to the Jira administration console.
- Select the Issues tab and then the Issue types option:
- Click on the Add issue type button.
- Enter the name and description for the new issue type.
- Select whether the new issue type will be a Standard Issue Type or a Sub-Task Issue Type:
- Click on Add to create the new issue type.
After you have created your new issue type, you will need to make it available to the project. You can do this by adding the new issue type to the issue type scheme used by the project. An issue type scheme contains a list of issue types, and is applied to one or more projects. This way, a project can have its own set of issue types, or have a shared set of issue types with other similar projects. To add your new issue type to an issue type scheme:
- Browse to the Jira administration console.
- Select the Issues tab and then the Issue types schemes option.
- Look for the issue type scheme used by the project and click its Edit link.
- Drag and drop the new issue type from the right Available Issue Types column to the left Issue Types for Current Scheme column.
- Click the Save button:
