You might have a backlog of epics cluttering up your Jira workspace. Here's how to bring them into Productboard as features using one of two import methods.
In this article:
Configuring the integration
First, find someone on your team with Jira global permissions. It's even better if they're also an admin in Productboard, because only Productboard admins can enable integrations in your Productboard account.
Next, follow our step-by-step instructions to configure your integration:
- Set up your Jira integration
- Integrate with Jira (self-managed or on-prem)
- Integrate with Jira (next-gen)
Understand how Jira maps to Productboard
A number of Jira fields will automatically map to Productboard:
Productboard | Jira
- Feature name | Issue name
- Feature name | Issue summary
- Feature description | Issue description
- Jira "Task" status | Issue status
- Release | Fix version
- Feature owner | Reporter
Note that this means the Summary field in Jira:
...will map to the Feature name in Productboard:
You may have additional custom fields in Jira that you wish to push to Productboard. For example, are you estimating effort using story points?
If so, take a few minutes to create these custom fields. This way, when you move your data into Productboard, everything will have a place to live!
Then, return to your settings in Productboard. Locate your Jira integration and map these custom fields to Productboard:
Add a Productboard URL
Finally, hop back into Jira for a moment to add a Productboard URL field to your features. Trust us - it’s a huge timesaver to do this before you import features into Productboard:
- In Jira, log in as an admin. Go to Settings (gear icon) > Issues.
- Under Fields, select Custom fields.
- Locate the Productboard URL field and use the menu beside its name to select Screens.
- On the screens page, use the checkboxes to associate the Productboard URL field with the screens used for your Edit Issue and Create Issue Jira operations. (Typically named Default screen, but may also be named Scrum Default Issue Screen or Kanban Default Issue screen. For more info, see below.)
- Click Update.
You'll now see a Productboard URL field displayed on issue screens.
Verify which screens are used for Edit Issue & Create Issue operations
- In a new browser tab, select the Jira settings menu (gear icon) > Projects and search for your project.
- From the menu beside your project's name, select Project settings.
- In Project settings, select Screens.
- Uncollapse the screen schemes and see which screens are associated with the Edit Issue and Create Issue operations.
- Ensure the Productboard URL field is associated with these screens.
One-time imports
Productboard admins can perform one-time imports of Jira issues into Productboard from Productboard's Jira integration settings. This is especially helpful if you're looking to move your backlog from Jira to Productboard so that it can live within a dedicated product management system for the first time.
If you want to import many issues, it's recommended that you do so in batches that will all be added to the same area of your product hierarchy.
- Scroll down to the bottom of your Jira integration page to locate the one-time importer.
- Select the Jira project you with to import from. By default, the importer will look for features that don't have the Done status in Jira, but you can adjust those parameters using JQL. When you're ready, click Find issues.
- The importer will fetch all the Jira issues from your selected project which match your parameters. Use the checkbox beside ID to select them all, or select specific issues with their respective checkboxes. When you're ready, click Import X issues to begin the import.
Note: If the importer finds issues that have already been pulled to Productboard by this integration, they'll already be selected in the preview and can't be unselected. Don't worry, these issues won't be duplicated.
When you map custom fields of the same type between Jira and Productboard these fields will be one-time imported from Jira to Productboard.
This applies only:
- To fields that are of the same data type. (Productboard supports text (plain-text), number, and dropdown custom fields).
- If the fields were mapped BEFORE the one-time import.
Note: This does not apply to the Jira system fields, Timeframes, and Tags. We will support these in one-time import soon.
Automatic imports
Admins can also set up automatic import rules to pull certain types of newly-created issues into Productboard on an ongoing basis. For example, if your team logs certain types of unexpected behavior directly in Jira, you may decide to add these to Productboard as well so they can be prioritized against other feature ideas. These features are automatically tagged with "Jira-auto-import" so you can easily find them in Productboard.
- On your Jira integration page, find auto-importer about midway down the page.
- Check the box labeled Automatically import new Jira issues.
- Choose which product or component your issues should nest under when they arrive in Productboard.
- Choose where to pull new issues from. There are three options.
- All Jira projects will grab every single new issue created across your Jira workspace.
- Selected Jira project and issue type lets you specify all new issues from a specific origin point.
- Custom JQL query lets you set very specific rules for which new issues get pulled to Productboard.
- Click Save import preferences to enable the auto-importer. Nothing can happen between Jira and Productboard until you save, so feel free to play around with the settings first.
Note: Each Jira integration can only automatically import issues to a single destination. If you want to sort inbound issues into different destinations based on JQL, you need to set up multiple Jira integrations. Check your Productboard plan for availability.
FAQs
Is it possible to import existing Jira releases into Productboard?
Not quite; there is no direct action to import or export releases from one system to another. If one release is missing in the other system and is assigned to a feature (or issue) that is linked or being imported or pushed, the release is automatically created in the opposite system and correctly assigned.
Can Jira issues be auto-imported based on a status filter using JQL?
Unfortunately no. Jira creates an issue with the default status first and then applies the change to the desired status. As a result, the webhook is not fired and the issue is not auto-imported.
Note: The issue can be located using JQL in the Jira or the issue can be imported using the One-time import feature as it correctly matches the status later.
school Safely activating the Jira integration
You can safely turn the integration on and configure it however you like before information starts flowing back and forth. Here's a video walkthrough if you don't believe us.
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