JIRA MANUAL Delaware Service Desk Date: [20 June 2014] Version: 1.0
Table of contents 1 Jira: how to use 5 1.1 Getting started 5 1.2 Navigation 5 1.2.1 Dashboard 1.2.2 Projects 5 7 1.2.3 Issues 1.2.4 Quick search 8 8 1.2.5 Profile 1.2.6 Banner 9 9 2 Creating an issue 10 2.1 How to go towards create issue 10 2.1.1 Quick Link 10 2.1.2 Drop box issues 10 2.1.3 Drop box projects 11 2.2 Creating an issue 11 2.2.1 Select project 11 2.2.2 Select issue type 11 2.2.3 Requester 12 2.2.4 Summary + description 13 2.2.5 Priority 13 2.2.6 Domain + subdomain 14 2.3 Created issue 14 3 Notifications and roles in Jira 15 3.1 Notifications in Jira 15 3.2 What roles can a user have? 15 3.3 Who receives notifications about what? 16 4 Managing content 17 4.1 Add comment 17 4.2 Link Issues 17 4.3 Attach file/screenshot 18 5 Issue processing 19 2 31
5.1 Workflow 19 5.2 Change type 19 5.3 Change project 20 5.4 Change status 20 6 Search in JIRA 21 6.1 Quick search 21 6.2 find issue 21 6.3 Advanced search 23 7 Filters 24 7.1 Create filter 24 7.2 Subscribe 25 7.3 Display filter results 26 7.4 Managing an issue from the filter display 27 7.5 Export data 27 8 Dashboards 29 8.1 Create dashboard 29 8.1.1 Start from System dashboard 30 8.1.2 Start from Blank dashboard 30 8.2 Add gadgets 30 3 31
Introduction: What is Jira? Jira is a platform independent workflow tool developed by Atlassian, used for issue tracking and project management. It has been developed since 2002. Basically it is a digital archive in which all reported problems and cases are stored. The name itself is derived from Gojira, the Japanese name for the famous Godzilla. To use Jira you need to log in with your username and password on this website: https://dams.delawareconsulting.com Why do we use a ticketing system? A ticketing system or issue tracking system is a computer software package that manages and maintains lists of issues, as needed by an organization. Issue tracking systems are commonly used in an organization's helpdesk to create, update, and resolve reported customer issues, or even issues reported by that organization's other employees. An issue tracking system often also contains a knowledge base containing information on each customer, resolutions to common problems, and other such data. This ensures a swift follow-up when solving the tickets and an easy to use reference database. An issue tracking system generates tickets which contain information about support interventions made by technical support staff or third parties on behalf of an end-user who has reported an incident that is preventing them from working as they would expect to be able to. Typically the ticket will have a unique reference number, also known as a case, issue or call log number which is used to allow the user or support staff to quickly locate, add to or communicate the status of the user's issue or request. All in all, a ticketing system is an indispensable work tool for any customer support organization. 4 31
1 Jira: how to use 1.1 Getting started Logging in to JIRA: go to: https://dams.delawareconsulting.com In the log in box enter your username (never use capital digits) and your password And click Log In to proceed. If you want your PC to remember your login you can tick the box. 1.2 Navigation Here is a quick overview of what you see when you first log in to JIRA 1.2.1 Dashboard 5 31
An overview of your dashboards and the possibility to manage them is offered under this button. A dashboard is the result of a (combination) of filters/searches >> cfr... These can for example show you an overview of tickets you resolved or created, open tickets for your project,... There are two predefined dashboards (one shows you the tickets assigned to you and the other one shows you the tickets for which you are a watcher). You can copy, find or create as many dashboards as you want yourself. You can manage your dashboards using various gadgets. 6 31
1.2.2 Projects Under projects you can search for the (customer-) project of your choice. You will also find a list of the projects you've recently worked on. If you re searching for a specific project you can search via view all projects. If you select a project and navigate to it you'll have the opportunity to create a ticket from that page via the menu on the left hand side. In general there are two types of projects: Implementation projects (the start - up project that requires a setup) and Support projects (the end result of an Implementation project, this customer is "live"). One customer can have many different projects, depending on the division or module to be supported. Further on we'll explain you about "user roles" but here we'd like to mention that Implementation projects have different role characteristics than Support projects. 7 31
1.2.3 Issues Here you can create an issue or you can search for specific issues you want to look at or work on (depending on your role). There will also be a short list of previously reported or worked on issues. You can also use the issues menu as an advanced search tool. The searches can be saved as filters, which can be consulted by a quick link and can be used to set up the portal. You'll find a detailed list of search options on the left side of the menu. 1.2.4 Quick search You can use the quick search function to look for specific issues, or for issues related to specific keywords, users, projects... 8 31
1.2.5 Profile As a user you have a profile in JIRA, with this function you can customize your avatar to your own wishes by clicking on the pen next to the (default) avatar. You can also see your last actions in Jira in the activity stream. 1.2.6 Banner Useful information, documentation, tips, explanation of workflows, e-mail address and phone number for the Delaware Service desk can all be found via these links. 9 31
2 Creating an issue 2.1 How to go towards create issue In this chapter we will briefly discuss the steps involved in creating an issue. There are three possible ways of getting to the creation of a ticket: 2.1.1 Quick Link Either you start from the quick link "create issue" which you'll find in the upper right hand corner of the page: or you start from the drop box under "issues, see 2.1.2 2.1.2 Drop box issues 10 31
or you take the slightly longer route via "projects", where you select your project, navigate to it, and use the "create issue" function on the project page itself, see 2.1.3. 2.1.3 Drop box projects Search your project via the drop box Then go to the menu on the right hand side to create an issue 2.2 Creating an issue 2.2.1 Select project First of all you need to select your "project" from the drop box we ve seen above. Every "project" is a customer, and a customer can have different "projects". For example there are "implementation projects" which as the name says are still in the implementation phase. But customers who are already 'live" can also have different projects within their organization. It is important to select the right one! Depending on the project you have chosen you can choose between less or more issue types. 2.2.2 Select issue type Next we need to determine the "issue type": do you want to report an "incident", or is it more like a "request for change", do you have a question you wish to pose,... Each issue type has a characteristic workflow it has to follow. Later on we will explain these workflows a bit more in detail. 11 31
Click next to continue your ticket creation and enter the issue creating page. Now we will explain about the mandatory fields in the issue creation process. 2.2.3 Requester The requester is the person who is asking for the problem to be logged. To fill in the requester s name simply start typing to get a list of possible matches or click on the avatar on the right hand side to get a search box, the user picker : 12 31
2.2.4 Summary + description The summary briefly indicates the situation for which you logged a ticket (and will also form the header of the created ticket), whilst the description gives you the chance to provide more detailed information. Be aware however that the "description" field itself cannot contain any screenshots or any other images you might want to add to the ticket. How to add this kind of extra information will be handled further on. 2.2.5 Priority Depending on the urgency (impact) of your problem you can choose between: Very High High Medium Normal No Category The higher the priority the quicker the issue will be picked up by the consultant. In case of priority Very High the Service Desk always has to be contacted by phone, if not the priority will be downgraded to High. Consultants have a certain amount of time to pick up and resolve an issue depending on the priority given to that issue. 13 31
2.2.6 Domain + subdomain The domain determines the platform at hand: this can be Microsoft, SAP, Arco,.. In the subdomain you can describe more accurately in which module of the domain the issue is posed. This is important because it's used to dispatch the tickets to the right (group of ) consultant(s). Once you have entered all the information required you are just a click away from creating an issue. You can find this button at the bottom of the page: 2.3 Created issue Here we show you how a created issue looks like in Jirda. Please notice the Issue number in the left hand upper corner of the screen. A newly created issue has the status "open". As soon as it is being picked up by the consultant he should change the status according to the workflow associated with the issue/project type. 14 31
3 Notifications and roles in Jira 3.1 Notifications in Jira JIRA can generate email notifications for various events that happen throughout the lifecycle of an issue. Notifications are defined within a notification scheme, which associates particular events with particular email recipients. The notification scheme is then assigned to a particular project. The notification scheme depends on you being an assignee, reporter, requester or watcher. There is also a difference between Dams Support Projects and Customer Support Projects. 3.2 What roles can a user have? Assignee: the user in charge of the issue Reporter: the user who created the issue Requester: the user who asks to create an issue Watcher(s): user(s) involved in the issue or interested in following it Project Leader: the owner of the project For all roles goes that you need to be a Jira user, and roles can be combined. 15 31
3.3 Who receives notifications about what? This table will show you: *CANS = Current Assignee Notification Scheme used in Support projects *DNS = Default Notification Scheme used in implementation projects 16 31
4 Managing content Once the ticket has been created you want to provide the consultant or customer with extra information, or you might want to request extra information from that customer or consultant. 4.1 Add comment To add extra text to the ticket you should use the "comment" function in Jira, which you'll find either underneath the header of the ticket or in the left bottom corner of the ticket. Click "comment" and a text field will open in which you can type your information or question or other remarks. Hit "add" to confirm or "cancel" to delete. 4.2 Link Issues The ticket you've logged may be similar to one you've logged or worked on in the past. You can refer to that other ticket via the "Link" function. This function is located in the drop box under "More Actions" and consists itself out of two drop boxes as well. 17 31
In the first drop box you can select the reason why you link these issues (similar root cause, duplicate, they might be depending on each other). Via the second drop box you need to select the issue you want to link to the one you're working on, and in the text field underneath you can add some extra explanation. 4.3 Attach file/screenshot Via this function you can add a screenshot to the issue in order to provide all the possible information. Clicking on Attach Screenshot will be bringing you to a new window where you can attach your screenshot: 18 31
5 Issue processing As explained before a newly created ticket is in status "Open". From there on the status has to evolve according to the actions taken and the workflow associated with the issue/project type. 5.1 Workflow The workflow is the framework of the ticket. An Implementation project has a different workflow than a Support project. Similarly an incident has a different workflow than a service request. Right next to the status of your ticket you'll find (between brackets) a quick link to a view of the workflow at hand. This workflow shows you how to navigate between the different statuses of the ticket, and the steps you need to take to be able to change a status. 5.2 Change type You may have chosen the wrong type of issue, or things might have gotten worse so you may want to "upgrade" your ticket from a mere "question" to an "incident". To adjust this we go back to the "More Actions" button. In the drop box you need to select "Move". This function will allow you to adjust either the issue type or the project. Select the right choice from the drop box "new issue type", click next and follow the steps to complete your change. 19 31
5.3 Change project In case you want to change the project which you selected for your issue you follow the same procedure as when you wanted to change the issue type (see above) but this time you need to navigate via the "new project" drop box. Select what is right, click next and proceed to complete your change. 5.4 Change status The ticket has been created, the issue type and project are the correct ones. The status allows you to follow the issue on its way to resolution and using the right status is capital to inform both the customer and the consultant about this path. Actions taken should be reflected in this status. The available action for changing the status depend on the workflow of the ticket and where you are that workflow. See 1.1 to help you navigate true the statuses. 20 31
6 Search in JIRA There are a number of ways of finding what you are looking for in Jira. We will discuss them in this chapter. 6.1 Quick search The first function is the Quick search field which you ll find at the top of the page on the right hand side. In the text field you can type an issue number, a project name (company name) or any keyword you wish. Press enter and in the issue navigator the results of your search will be shown 6.2 find issue Search for issues will bring you to this screen: 21 31
Click on simple to to do a simple search (as opposed to advanced). This will bring you to a screen where you can enter multiple parameters in order to find one or more issues. In the example above you see that you can search on project and issue, but there are a lot more parameters, too much to show here, just have a look yourself and discover the possibilities. 22 31
6.3 Advanced search Advanced search is the first option offered to you when you search via the issue navigator. In the field under Query you can enter the formula for your search. This for advanced users as you need to know exactly what parameters and in what combination you need in order to reach the wanted result. These searches or queries can be saved as filters for later use so you don t need to type everything again. The filters themselves can be used to create dashboards. This will be explained in the next chapters. 23 31
7 Filters Filters are a series of selections or queries that are used to find a group of similar issues. In turn these filters can be used to create a total overview. 7.1 Create filter In the previous chapter we discussed already how to search for issues. Every query you make to find one or more issues can be saved as a filter When you save a search as a filter the only necessary field is the name of it. A filter can be shared with other users so a correct naming and describing it is highly recommended. 24 31
7.2 Subscribe Once is filter is created and saved you can subscribe to it. Click on subscriptions to proceed, you will be brought to a field where you can click to add subscriptions. 25 31
Subscribing to a filter means that Jira will send you the results of the filter via email. You can schedule when you want this email to be send, you can also select to receive the mail even if the results are zero. 7.3 Display filter results You can configure what data the filter results have to show via Tools Configure Columns. There you can choose what columns you want to see, the order in which the columns are shown, etc. 26 31
7.4 Managing an issue from the filter display Once you have arranged your filter results the way you want you can select an issue from the list by clicking on the issue key or you can work on it straight from the list by clicking on the cog-wheel icon to the right. 7.5 Export data You might want to export the results of your filter into another format, for example an Excel file, a word document, a chart table, etc. For this action we use the views -function. 27 31
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8 Dashboards On the dashboards tab users can alter their portal and dashboard. A dashboard consists of a series of personal filters. These can be divided over several portals based on content, projects or any other user preferences. There are two standard dashboards in Jira: Assigned to Me and Watched Issues. From here you can start to create your own dashboards. 8.1 Create dashboard To create a dashboard you need to go the Tools menu. There you can Copy (and then alter) an existing dashboard, Find a previously created dashboard or start from scratch and Create a new one. Creating a new dashboard is quite similar to creating and saving a filter. When creating a new dashboard there s an option to start a new one based on a previous design. Once the new dashboard has been made it will appear on the list, ready to be configured 29 31
In the screenshot above you see that you can either start from a System dashboard (= an already existing dashboard) or from a Blank dashboard. 8.1.1 Start from System dashboard If you want to start from an already existing dashboard you first find the dashboard you want to use : So you search and select the dashboard, give it a name, preferably add a description and then click add to create the dashboard. 8.1.2 Start from Blank dashboard To start from scratch just fill in the required fields and click add. Notice that the same possibility s about sharing can be done. Just like with saving filters, you can chose to share you dashboard. You will remain the owner and only you will be able to make changes to the dashboard. 8.2 Add gadgets To add features on a dashboard you can click add gadget at the right site. Then you get an overview of all the gadgets that you can use: 30 31
All gadgets have a different function and a different way of setting up. All of them have easy drop downs. If you need assistance finding the correct gadget for you don t hesitate to contact the service desk. If you have found the gadget you would like to use just click add it now. If you are done choosing gadgets click Finished in the right site down corner. Now the gadget is placed on your dashboard and you can start the configuration. In the right corner you can also set colors or delete the gadget: 31 31