by Mikey Schott, ServiceRocket Technical Trainer
The JIRA Workflows Self-Paced eLearning course tackles the problem of how to set up JIRA for your own business processes. It was specifically designed to have minimal overlap with our JIRA Administrators course, which addresses configuration from a managerial viewpoint. But while the JIRA Administrators course includes lessons for Project Administrators, JIRA Administrators, and JIRA System Administrators, the JIRA Workflows course is specifically targeted to the responsibilities of a JIRA Administrator. Others, however, may appreciate this insight into JIRA's capabilities and limitations with regard to workflow customization. I am excited about this course and wanted to share with you the topics it covers. The list of modules is described below.

Basic Workflow Concepts

JIRA's workflows use some unique terminology specific to this area of JIRA. This section of the course familiarizes you with these terms.

JIRA Default Workflow

In this module, we demonstrate how the default workflow that ships with JIRA is configured, using the new terminology. From this you can draw connections between familiar workflow operations and the behind-the-scenes configuration that controls the behavior of those operations.

Capturing and Presenting Your Data

Out-of-the-box, JIRA comes with a generic set of fields. Here we show you how to configure JIRA to capture information specific to your organization and how to decide when and how that information is displayed to the user. Specifically this module covers how to create custom fields, field configurations, field configuration schemes, screens, screen schemes, and issue type screen schemes.

Configuring Workflows

In this section we finally get into how to configure custom workflows in JIRA. We demonstrate the tools used to shape workflows, and we also cover the other workflow-related configurable elements in JIRA such as statuses, events, and workflow schemes. This module also includes our recommended best practices for configuring workflows and information on importing and exporting workflows in JIRA.

Workflow Configuration Example

One of the keys to constructing custom workflows is understanding how all of the configurable elements interact and call upon one another. With this in mind, we've included an example that puts together all of the primary lessons in the class. In this final example, we create custom fields, screens, and statuses, and use them as we build a custom workflow. This comprehensive example doesn't end until we have actually put our custom workflow to use in a project.

Important Note: The version of JIRA used in this course is JIRA 6.1, which is unique among all JIRA versions because it is the only one to include both the classic workflow designer (used in JIRA 4.4-6.1) and the new (as of JIRA 6.1) workflow designer. As of JIRA 6.2, the features of the classic workflow designer have all been incorporated into the new designer, and as a result the classic designer is no longer included. We will likely offer an updated version of this course in the future that applies to a newer version of JIRA, but that course will exclude lessons on the classic workflow designer. As a result, this course will remain the recommended version for students using JIRA 6.1 or older. For students already using JIRA 6.2, the only lessons absent from this course with regard to the new designer are how to map common transitions in the new designer (using the "re-use a transition tab"), and how to remap the initial "create issue" transition to a different status. Both of these lessons, however, are highly analogous to how these operations were carried out in the classic workflow designer.