Building a hierarchy
Add issues and the app's own items to a tree, then arrange them. Everything on this page needs Edit access to the hierarchy. To fill a tree from Jira data automatically, use rules.
On this page
Rows and items
Each line of the tree is a row, and each row shows one item:
| Item | What it is |
|---|---|
| Issue | A Jira issue. Its fields come from Jira, read as you. |
| Folder | A row you name yourself, to group other rows under. |
| Memo | A note written as a row, with formatting. The app keeps its past versions. |
| Planning item | A placeholder for work that has no issue yet, with a name, an estimate in hours and an owner. It can become a Jira issue later. |
| Rule | A row that builds part of the tree. See Rules. |
| Group | A row that a grouping rule made, such as one per assignee. |
An issue can appear in several rows of one hierarchy, and in several hierarchies. Removing a row takes it out of the hierarchy and leaves the issue in Jira unchanged.
Adding issues
The Add button at the start of the toolbar holds everything you can add. Its Jira issues part has three entries.
Add issues opens a dialog with two ways to add:
- Pick issues: type a key or words from a summary and pick from the list. Your recently viewed issues show first.
- Use JQL or a list of keys: type a query such as
project = ABC AND statusCategory != Done, or keys such asABC-12, ABC-13. Recently viewed and Recently updated fill the box with a ready-made query.
Issues go after the focused row, up to 1,000 at a time (100 for recent issues). The app skips issues that are already in the hierarchy.
New issue creates an issue in Jira next to the focused one, and New child creates one under it. Type a summary and press Enter. The form stays open for the next issue, and each new one goes after the one before it. A new issue copies the focused issue's project, work type, parent, components, fix versions, labels and priority. With no issue focused, you pick the project and work type, and the issue goes at the end of the top level.
New child makes a sub-task under a standard issue, and an issue of the level below under an epic or higher. When Jira needs more than a summary, the form shows Jira's reason and a button that opens Jira's own create dialog with the project, type and parent filled in.
You can also paste issue keys copied as text into the tree with Ctrl+V.
Folders, memos and planning items
The Hierarchy items part of the Add menu creates the app's own items.
New folder adds a folder named "New folder" and lets you type its name. To rename it later, press F2 on it or use Rename folder in the selection menu.
New memo opens an editor for a note of up to 20,000 characters. You can write *bold*, _italic_ and links as [label|https://example.com], and Preview shows the result. Versions lists past saves with who made them and when, and Use this version brings one back. The app keeps the last 50 versions. If someone saved the memo after you opened it, the app refuses your save so that you never overwrite their text. Copy your text, then open the memo again.
New planning item asks for a name, an estimate in hours and an owner. Planning item estimates count in estimate totals, in progress by time and in formulas.
Turning items into issues
Select a planning item and choose Convert to issue, then pick a project and a work type. The app creates the issue as you: the name becomes the summary, the owner the assignee and the estimate the original estimate, where the project accepts them. The new issue takes the item's place in the tree.
You can convert up to 200 items at once by selecting them first. Folders and memos convert too. A folder's name becomes the summary. A memo's first line becomes the summary and the rest becomes the description, as plain text. The folder or memo stays in the app next to its new issue. An item is never converted twice, even when you try again after a reload or from another browser.
Selecting rows
Click a row to focus it. Shift+click or Shift+↑ and Shift+↓ extend the selection, and Ctrl+A selects every row. Select sub-items (Alt+A) adds the rows under the selected ones, and Clear sub-items (Alt+Shift+A) takes them out again. Only rows on screen are selected, so a collapsed branch is never moved or removed by mistake.
When a row is focused or selected, the toolbar shows what acts on the selection: the count, Up, Down, Outdent, Indent, Cut, Copy, Paste, Remove, Issue actions and a menu with more.
Moving rows
Drag rows where you want them, use the arrow buttons, or use the keyboard:
| Keys | Action |
|---|---|
| Ctrl+↑ / Ctrl+↓ | Move the selected rows up or down |
| Alt+→ / Alt+← | Indent or outdent the selected rows |
| Ctrl+X, then Ctrl+V | Move rows elsewhere, after the focused row |
| Ctrl+Shift+V | Paste under the focused row (Paste as child) |
| Delete | Remove the selected rows from the hierarchy |
On a Mac, use Cmd for Ctrl.
Cut rows move once when you paste them. Copied rows are pasted as copies, with everything under them, as often as you like. A copied folder becomes a new folder with the same name, and rule rows are left out of copies. One paste makes at most 1,000 rows.
Rows that rules placed behave differently: moving one changes the Jira data that put it there. See Moving rows that rules placed.
The scratchpad
The scratchpad is your own private hierarchy. Select rows in any hierarchy and choose To scratchpad in the selection menu to add copies of them. Then, in another hierarchy, choose Paste from scratchpad in the More actions menu (•••) to paste copies after the focused row. Open Scratchpad in the list on the left to see or tidy what it holds.
Two hierarchies side by side
Side by side, above the tree, opens a second hierarchy on the right. Drag issues from one side to the other to copy them. The app copies only issues. It leaves out folders and other items and tells you how many. Full screen hides the list of hierarchies, and Escape brings it back.
Undo and redo
Undo (Ctrl+Z) takes back your last change during the session, whether you moved rows or edited a field, and Redo (Ctrl+Y) makes it again. If someone else has changed the same rows since then, nothing is undone and the app tells you so.
Jira actions on an issue
Issue actions in the toolbar, or Shift+F10 in the tree, opens a menu for the focused issue. Everything runs as you, so Jira applies your own permissions and workflows.
- Open issue shows Jira's issue dialog, with everything else Jira offers (editing, attachments, links, clone, move and so on). The app reads the row again when you close the dialog.
- Move to… lists the transitions the workflow allows from the current status.
- Assign to me and Unassign.
- Comment… and Log work…, where time is written as
1h 30m,2dor45m. - Watch or Stop watching, and Vote.
- Add child issue… creates a child one level down.
- Delete issue… asks first and names the sub-tasks that Jira deletes with it. This can't be undone in the app.
Bulk change, in the More actions menu or in Issue actions, opens Jira's issue search on the selected issues, or on every issue in view when nothing is selected, so you can use Jira's own bulk change. It takes at most 200 issues at a time.
Rows you can't see in full
Apart from the two exceptions described in Jira's permissions always apply, a hierarchy shows no more than Jira does. An issue you can't browse is left out of your view. When such an issue has issues under it that you can see, a blank row marked Restricted item keeps its place so the tree still makes sense. The row shows none of the issue's details.
Questions about the app? Write to info@plugincraft.ca.