Customize work item fields in team-managed projects

Define and customize the fields that appear on work items in your team-managed software project. Add more fields or edit the view for each of your work types.

Specific types of work require specific kinds of information so your team to successfully complete their tasks. Jira can collect and display this information to give your team the context they need to get the job done.

This extra details appear in a work item's fields. You can customize each work type to show different fields and collect the exact information your team needs.

How fields appear on your work items

When you add fields to your work types, they appear on all work items of that type.

1. Fields you add to Description fields in your project's settings appear in the main content area of your work items.

2. Fields you add to Context fields in your project's settings appear on the right side of your work items.

3. If you drag fields under the Hide fields below dotted line, they appear on your work items when someone completes the field. If the field is empty, it’s hidden. Select Show X more fields when viewing a work item to interact with hidden fields.

Add fields to your project

There are a couple of ways to add fields. To add a field via your work item:

1. Open a work item. From the Details section, select Edit fields (), then Create fields.

Or, add a field via Project settings:

1. Next to your project’s name in the sidebar, select More actions (•••), then Project settings. Then go to Fields.

2. On this page, select Add fields. Once the field is in your project, it will appear on the table on the Fields page.

   1. To reuse an existing field, search for it in the panel. To reuse a field from another project, it needs to have been created by an administrator and not in another team-managed project. How to use a field across your entire site.

   2. To make a new field that lives only in this project, use Create field. These fields can’t be reused by other projects. More on the types of custom fields.

Fields can also be set for specific work types.

1. Open a work item. From the Details section, select Edit fields (), then Manage fields.

2. Next to your project's name in the sidebar, select More actions (•••), then Project settings, then Work types. Select the work type you want to add the field to.

3. Drag the field from the toolbar into the list of fields. Jira will highlight the areas you can drop the field into.

To rearrange the order of fields in the work item, drag and drop the fields into the order you prefer. To remove a field, drag the field back into the fields toolbar.

The previously created fields list contains:

• Fields you created on other work types.

• Fields Jira created for you.

• Fields 3rd-party apps created for you.

You can drag previously created fields into your work type to reuse them. Using the same field between more than one work type makes it easier to sort, search, and report on those fields.

When a field appears on more than one work type in the same project, the fields share the same name and description. If you change the name in one work type, it will change in the others that use that field. Checkbox and dropdown fields also share their available options. But, the field can have a unique default value on each work type.

Edit custom fields

To edit a custom field:

1. Open a work item. From the Details section, select Edit fields (), then Manage fields.

2. Next to your project’s name in the sidebar, select More actions (•••), then Project settings. Then go to Fields.

3. Find the field you want to edit on the table, then use the More (•••) menu to select Edit field. To remove a field, select Remove field instead.

4. Edit any of the field's options like its default description, default values, or other options.

5. Select Save changes. Once the field is in your project, it’ll appear on the table on the Fields page.

Your changes update across all your work types that use the field in your project.

Edit number fields

To customize a number field:

1. Next to your project's name in the sidebar, select More actions (), then Project settings.

2. Select Fields.

3. Find the number field you’d like to configure, select Actions (), then Edit field.

4. Enter a field name (required), description and default value (optional).

5. Select a format: number, currency, or percentage.

   1. If you select the currency format, you’ll be prompted to also select a currency type.

6. Check your changes in the formatting example at the bottom of the field card.

Formatting settings for a field will apply to all projects using the same field. They can't be changed by anyone entering data into the field.

Default fields

By default, Jira adds the following fields to the work types in your software project:

• Summary – a brief, one-line summary of the task. This field is always required in Jira.

• Description – details of the work needed to complete the task.

• Status – the current workflow status and available transitions that move the work item through the workflow.

• Assignee – the person assigned to the task.

• Labels – tags used to group, filter, or search for work items.

• Reporter –  the person who brought up the work item or task. Usually, this is the same as the person who created the work item. Some teams create work items in a working group or using a shared computer. These teams might need to adjust the reporter when creating work items.

Jira also comes with a few commonly-used fields you might consider adding:

• Priority – the importance of the work item or task in relation to others in the project. Only Jira administrators can customize what priority levels are available across their Jira site. Read more about configuring priorities.

• Due date – the agreed time and date when the work item or task should be resolved.

• Environment – the specific technical environment that relates to the task. For example, "Chrome 78.0.3904.97, macOS Version 10.14.6, javascript V8 7.8.279.23".

• Time tracking – an interactive field that allows people to log work hours and estimated time remaining on a task. Read more about logging time on work items.

• Start date – the date when work began on a work item.

If you've enabled project features, like sprints or estimation, you might see a few other fields:

• Sprint – labels the work item or task with the sprint it belongs to. This is useful in filtering, sorting, and reporting. The Sprint field is created automatically when you enable the Sprints feature. Read more about the sprints feature.

• Story point estimate – the estimated amount of effort that the work item should take, expressed as a numeral (not necessarily equivalent to an amount of time). The Story points field is created automatically when you enable the Estimation feature, and select Story points as your estimation statistic. Read more about estimation.

• Original estimate – the estimated amount of effort that a work item should take equivalent to an amount of time. The Original estimate field is always available. The Original estimate field is created automatically when you enable the Estimation feature and select Time as your estimation statistic. Read more about estimation.

Required fields

Use required fields to mark a work type’s most important details.

1. Open a work item. From the Details section, select Edit fields (), then Manage fields.

2. Next to your project's name in the sidebar, select More actions (•••), then Project settings, then Work types.

3. Select the work type you want to edit.

4. Select the Required checkbox for any fields you want to make mandatory.

5. Select Save changes.

Once saved, new work items of that type can’t be created unless the required field is filled out.