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Jira Software best practices
The ability to customize Jira Software to fit your teams needs is the reason it's the #1 agile tool for software teams. With so many options, it can be hard to know where to start. Here you'll find a collection of best practices, curated from Atlassian employees, customers, and subject matter experts to help you get started with Jira Software.
Before diving in, make sure you sign up for your free trial of Jira Software Cloud and read Part 2: Get started in 6 steps of this guide.
Jira project best practices
Once you've set up your first project in Jira, these articles will help you define and structure those projects so you can get your team working.
Classic / Cloud / Server
How to define your Jira project
There is no “right way” to organize Jira projects, but there are some best practices. See a few common strategies that work well for other teams, and three additional tips you should definitely consider.
Classic / Cloud
How to structure your Jira project
A clean and efficient Jira instance depends on organizing work properly. This tutorial covers best practices for Jira project structure.
Jira workflow best practices
Every team has their own definition of ‘Done’ and how to get there. A Jira workflow is represented on a digital board and displays the statuses and transitions of every item of work. As your work progresses, team members can access the most accurate information anytime, anywhere. Use these resources to build the perfect workflow for your team.
next-gen / classic / cloud / server
What is a workflow in Jira?
Jira workflows empower teams to move projects from "Not Started" to "Done" efficiently and transparently. Learn more about what a Jira workflow is and how you can build yours.
classic / cloud / server
Building an awesome Jira workflow
The perfect workflow is definitely key to getting the most out of Jira. The process requires some trial and error, but it’s worth it in the end.
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Get started building an agile workflow
Agile workflows help bring structure to scale your software development process. Learn more about workflow management to support your agile program.
Cloud
How to standardize workflow processes
A Jira workflow has three basic components: statuses, transitions, and resolutions. Best practices for Jira workflows include keeping your workflows simple, not edit live workflows and not confusing “resolution” with “status.”
Best practices for epics and stories in Jira
In agile project management, an “epic” is a large body of work that can be broken down into smaller tasks. Those tasks are “stories,” or “user stories,” that represent requirements or needs from the perspective of the user. These articles will help you structure and break down your work using Jira issues, epics, and stories.
classic / cloud / server
How to use epics in Jira
Get step-by-step instructions for creating and working with epics in Jira Software.
classic / cloud / server
Epics, Stories, Themes, and Initiatives
These simple structures help agile teams gracefully manage scope and structure work.
classic / cloud / server
Working with issues in Jira
Get step-by-step instructions for creating and working with issues in Jira Software.
next-gen / classic / cloud / server
Agile Epics: Definition, Examples, & Templates
An epic is a large body of work that can be broken down into a number of smaller stories. Learn more.
Best practices for Jira users and roles
Jira offers unparalleled flexibility for user roles and restrictions. These are often created by the Jira Administrator, or the person that sets up and manages your Jira instance. These best practices are tailored for your Jira admin get your entire team set up with the features and functionality they need, without the distractions.
Cloud
How to add new Jira users
Jira lets you add new users directly, or allow new users to add themselves. This step-by-step tutorial shows you how.
classic / cloud
Jira permissions made simple
The main concepts of JIRA permissions revolve around Users, Groups, Global Permissions, Permission Schemes, and Project Roles. Learn about each one and see sample best practice scenarios for each.
classic / cloud
Managing project roles
Project roles are similar to groups, but they are project-specific. Learn how to use, view, add, delete, and edit project roles for great efficiency in Jira.
Jira status and reporting best practices
Reporting helps you track and analyze your team's work throughout a project. Jira Software has a range of reports that you can use to show information about your project, versions, epics, sprints, and issues. These resources will help you set up your reports for better status meetings.
classic / cloud
How to use reports in Jira
See all the different types of reports and how to use them in this tutorial.
next-gen / classic / cloud / server
Five agile metrics you won't hate
How to use agile metrics. Learn about sprint burndown, epic and release burndown, velocity, control charts and the cumulative flow diagram.
classic / cloud
How to use search for better reporting and dashboards
Basic and advanced search functions in Jira are key to making the most of reporting. Get a list of best practices for search here.
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How to use gadgets for more efficient dashboards
Dashboard gadgets help visualize project activity for easier consumption and reporting. Learn how to make the most of them.
Agile best practices for Jira
Agile is a philosophy, a methodology. Jira is a family of software platforms that help agile teams do what they do even better. The more agile your team is, the more Jira will be able to help.
Next-gen / classic / cloud / server
The Agile Coach
The Agile Coach is our complete collection of agile best practices. From scrum and kanban, to devops and scaling, this collection of best practice guides and tutorials will get your team ready to scale Jira to fit your teams needs.
classic / cloud
Your guide to scrum
Scrum is a framework that helps teams work together. Learn what it, how it works, and why it's awesome in this comprehensive guide.
classic / cloud
Your guide to kanban
How the kanban methodology applies to software development. Learn everything you need to know about kanban to get your team up and running.
It best practices
Can your IT team really be agile? Absolutely! It’s not only very possible, it’s often one key to better company-wide performance overall.
Team practices
You can't run a great software team with tools alone, you have to have great practices. That's why we developed the Atlassian Team Playbook: Our no-bullshit guide to unleashing your team’s potential.
Get step-by-step instructions for tracking your team's health, and new ways of working ("plays") that build your Get $#!τ Done™ muscle. Use the plays on their own, or in concert with Atlassian tools.
