Template scope

This chapter provides information on how to set a scope for a template for easy maintenance.

A scope lets you decide which fields should be copied from the template. You can either list all the fields you want to copy or use All fields or All fields except.

When you install Issue Templates for Jira a default scope is created and it contains All fields except and Reporter.

By default, each newly created template uses the inherit option. New templates inherit the default scope set in the Scopes configuration, while child templates inherit their scope from the parent.

Configuration

To configure scopes navigate to the template’s repository > Project settings > Issue Templates. Open the Scopes tab to:

• Add a new scope
• Add fields to the scope
• Set the default scope

Adding a new scope

Steps

To add a new scope:

1. Click Add in the left column, under scopes. The Add scope dialog box appears.
2. Type Scope name.
3. Click Add.

Result

A new scope has been added. Now you can configure the scope

Adding fields to a scope

Steps

To add a field to a scope:

1. Click on the target scope.
2. Click the drop-down menu and choose field you want to add to the scope. You can also use All fields or All fields except.

Result

The selected fields have been added to the scope.

Settings

Default scope

Newly created templates are configured to inherit a scope. In case of a primary template and linked issues, there is no parent to inherit a scope from. If a scope is not explicitly set, then the default scope is used. In configuration, you can choose one of your scopes and set it as default at any time. One of the configured scopes has to be marked as a default one.

Steps

To configure the default scope:

1. Click More icon.
2. Click Set a default.
   

   

Result

Your scope has been set as the default one.

All fields and All fields except

Using these options is especially beneficial when your template is dynamically changing. For example, in a complex template that might need new custom fields in the future.

Use the All fields option to copy all non-empty fields from the template’s issue. In some scenarios, you might not want to copy all fields, especially summary and reporter when applying a template, in such cases use the All fields except option. It is much easier to maintain a template this way, so it is the recommended option.

Inherit option

Setting a scope with the inherit option is especially useful when you create epics with many stories and subtasks, and you need the same scope for the whole issue hierarchy. For the primary template or if a scope can’t be inherited, the default scope will be used, however, by default, a new template is configured to inherit a scope.

If all your templates in a hierarchy should use the same set of fields, you can configure each of them to inherit the scope. In most cases you won’t need to change anything, because newly created templates are configured to use this option. With that, you can easily change the scope for the whole hierarchy by just changing the scope in your primary template. All child templates with the inherit option will use the same scope as in their parents.