Specify field behavior
A field configuration defines the behavior of all fields available in your Jira installation, including Jira's own 'fixed'/'built in' fields (known as 'system' fields) and custom fields.
For each field, a field configuration specifies:
the description that appears under the field when a work item is edited
whether the field is required (i.e. the field will be validated to ensure it has been given a value) or optional
(for text fields only) which renderer to use
You can add new fields to a field configuration to make them available in associated projects.
You can remove a field from the field configuration. Removed fields will not accessible in projects and work types that use this field configuration. Removing a field does not delete it - the field will remain available to use in other field configurations.
For all of the following procedures, you must be logged in as a user with the Administer Jira global permission.
When defining field behavior for one or more Jira projects and the fields used by the work types in these projects, you typically start by adding one or more new field configurations (see below). You then begin modifying the behavior of individual fields in these new field configurations.
A new field configuration should be added for each project and work type combination which requires specific fields to be present and/or fields that express unique behavior. You can then associate each new field configuration with a different work type through a field configuration scheme. A field configuration scheme can then be associated with one or more projects.
Manage multiple field configurations
You can create multiple field configurations for use on separate projects and work types.
Multiple field configurations are organized into field configuration schemes, which associate field configurations with work types.
A scheme can then be associated with one or more projects, allowing you to control fields on a per project, per work type basis. See Associating field behavior with work types for more information.
About the Default Field Configuration
When Jira is installed, the Default Field Configuration is created automatically. All new projects are associated with this configuration. This configuration is also used for projects that are not associated with a field configuration scheme.
It is not possible to delete the Default Field Configuration, or change its name or description.
It is not possible to delete the Default Field Configuration, or change its name or description.
Adding a field configuration
Select > Work items.
Under FIELDS, select Field Configurations to view all your field configurations.
Click the Add Field Configuration button to open the Add Field Configuration dialog box.
Complete the Add Field Configuration dialog box:
Name — enter a short phrase that best describes your new field configuration.
Description (optional but recommended) — enter a sentence or two to describe when this field configuration should be used.
Click the Add button to add your new field configuration to Jira. Once you have added your new field configuration, you can then begin modifying the behavior of its fields (below). You will be taken directly to the View Field Configuration page, where you can modify the behavior of fields in your new field configuration. See Modifying field behavior (from step 4) below for details.
A newly created field configuration will not take effect until you:
Associate your new field configuration to one or more work types.
Associate that field configuration with one or more projects.
See Associating field behavior with work types for more information.
Edit a field configuration
The Edit link allows you to change the Name and Description of the field configuration, not of individual fields. If you wish to change individual fields, see Modifying field behavior (below).
Select > Work items.
Under FIELDS, select Field Configurations to view all your field configurations.
Click the Edit link next to the field configuration you wish to edit.
On the Edit Field Configuration page, edit the field configuration's Name and Description.
Delete a field configuration
You can only delete a field configuration that is not associated with a field configuration scheme. The Delete link will not be available for field configurations which are associated with one or more field configuration schemes.
To delete a field configuration:
Select > Work items.
Under FIELDS, select Field Configurations to view all your field configurations.
Click the Delete link next to the field configuration you wish to delete.
Copy a field configuration
Select > Work items.
Under FIELDS, select Field Configurations to view all your field configurations.
Click the Copy link next to the field configuration you wish to copy.
On the Copy Field Configuration page, specify the Name and Description for the field configuration to be copied.
Modify field behavior
To modify the behavior of fields in Jira, you need to modify the field configurations that those fields have been defined in.
Select > Work items.
Under FIELDS, select Field Configurations to view all your field configurations.
Locate the field configuration of interest and click the Configure link to open the View Field Configuration page, which lists all system and custom fields in your Jira installation for that field configuration.
In the Actions column, you can perform the following actions for any field:
Edit — change the field's description (i.e. help text) and renderer (see Configuring renderers for more information)
Remove a field from this field configuration
Required/Optional — set a field to be required (so that whenever a field is edited it must be given a value) or optional.
Edit a field's description
Fields can be given descriptions to better identify the meaning of the field. These descriptions are typically displayed under the fields they are associated with when creating or editing a work item.
Select > Work items.
Under FIELDS, select Field Configurations to view all your field configurations.
Locate the field configuration of interest and click the Edit.
Change the description as you wish.
Click the Update button to save your changes.
The field description is optional. If the field description in a field configuration is left empty then the field will inherit the description of the original custom field and the changes will show in the original description. We recommend that you don’t set a new description for the field unless there’s a specific need.
Make a field required or optional
Certain fields within your organization may be compulsory for work items. In this case you can set a field to be required, so that Jira validates that the field has been given a value whenever a work item is edited. If a required field has not been given a value, Jira will return an error informing the user that the field should be filled.
Follow the first three steps above (in Modify field behavior) to access the field configuration whose fields you wish to make required or optional. When viewing a field configuration, fields which are required have that indication next to their name.
Do either of the following:
To make a field mandatory when used through Jira's user interface, click the Required toggle associated with that field so that it shows a check mark. Hidden fields cannot be set as required.
To make a field optional when used through Jira's user interface, click the Required toggle associated with that field so that it shows a cross mark. Hidden fields cannot be set as required.
If you make a field Required, ensure that the field is present on your Create work item screen(s):
Note that you can have different field configurations for different projects and work types (see Associating field behavior with work types), so you need to ensure that all Required fields are present on the Create work item screens for all associated projects and work types (see Associating screen and work item operation mappings with a work type).
Be aware that there is a feature request (JRA-5783) to make a field required for only one transition. If you are interested, please watch that work item for status updates.
Change a field's renderer
Before you change the renderer for a specific field, please read Configuring renderers, paying particular attention to the Implications for Jira operations section.
Select > Work items.
Under FIELDS, select Field Configurations to view all your field configurations.
Locate the field configuration of interest and click Renderers. This will open a dialog where you will have the option to select a renderer.
Choose the renderer you wish to use and click Update.
When viewing a field configuration (see above), the Name column indicates which renderers are currently enabled for all renderable fields, with the current renderer shown in brackets immediately below its field name.
Changing the renderer only affects how a Jira field's content is displayed or how a user interacts with a multi-select field — it does not affect the work item data that exists in the system. Hence, you can therefore toggle between renderer types safely.
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