The Jira Align support guide provides an overview of the various help resources available for Jira Align, as well as guidelines for creating and monitoring support tickets, feature requests, and test instance refresh requests. We recommend reading this guide to assist you in creating better cases and getting issues resolved as quickly as possible.

Check it out in the Atlassian Community here.

The Atlassian Jira Align team is pleased to announce Jira Align v.10.120. 

• Enhancements and features
• Defect fixes

Enhancements and features

These features for 10.120 were released to environments on the continuous release track on May 12, 2023, in version 10.120.0. The features will then be released to environments on the bundled release track on May 26, 2023, in version 10.120.2:

Upcoming removal of Quality module summary pages

In version 10.121.0, we’ll be removing 15 pages that make up the Quality module from Jira Align. The Quality module is a legacy set of features that were built for team-level testing and QA activities. After careful consideration, we’ve decided to remove these functions so that we can focus on the primary goals and functions of Jira Align.

This first step will be focused on removing the summary pages within the Team > Quality navigation menus. We will not be removing objects like test cases or acceptance criteria, nor the ability to view objects within work item Details panels in version 10.121.0. We will announce the timing for removing the objects and functionality in a future release.

Pages that will be removed:

• Acceptance Criteria
• Builds
• Build Streams
• Fixes
• Last Build Status per Release
• PI Test Plan
• Sprint Plans
• Test Cases
• Test Environments
• Test Folders
• Test Plans
• Test Sets
• Test Suites
• Testing Board
• Testing Room

System role permission toggles related to these pages will also be removed from Admin > Roles.

Note: The Defect Suites page will be moved to the Manage section of our Navigation menu.
If you have used this functionality in the past, we encourage you to migrate your testing and QA practices to Jira Software. The Atlassian Marketplace has several offerings that can enhance your Jira environment with customized testing functionality.

If you would like to save a record of these pages, you may do so before the release of version 10.121.0. You can use screenshots and Save options from your browser to capture the contents of an accessible page. You can also use the Export option found under the More Actions menu on the Test Cases page to make a record of your test cases.

Upcoming removal of 20 reports

In version 10.123.0, we’ll be removing 20 legacy reports from Jira Align.

After reviewing recent usage data, it became clear that this functionality was not providing significant value. Some of these reports were not fully developed or were made inaccessible during our transition from Jira Align version 9X to 10X. By removing these reports and streamlining our codebase, we’ll have more capacity to address defect fixes across the product. These changes will also reduce our testing overhead, which will allow us to build and ship enhancements more rapidly.

Reports that will be removed:

• Budgetary Tracking
• Simulation Forecast
• Automation Trend (Stories)
• Automation Trend (Acceptance)
• Override Events
• Scorecards and Scorecard Details
• Sprint Defect Trend
• Rate of New Cards Added
• TP to WIP Ratio
• Enterprise Balanced Scorecard
• KPIs*
• Group KPIs*
• Individual KPIs*
• Find Fix Rate
• Today's Plan
• WIP Limit Infractions
• QA Availability
• ScrumBan
• Defects By Priority
• Defects By Story

System role permission toggles related to these pages will also be removed from Admin > Roles.

*Note: For a short time after these removals, previously created KPIs will continue to display on the Operational Excellence Vision report.

If you have used this functionality in the past and would like to make a record of your entries, please visit the reports prior to version 10.123.0 to archive your data. You can use screenshots and Save options from your browser to capture the contents of an accessible report.

OKR hub: column reordering

To better customize the OKR hub for your needs, you can now reorder the columns on the OKR hub. All columns except the Summary column are repositionable. To move a column, drag and drop it into place.

Azure DevOps Connector: changes on the connector slide-out panel

In order to clean up unused settings and reduce unnecessary manual setup of the connector, we've introduced some minor changes to the ADO connector slide-out panel. These changes don’t have an impact on connector functionality and don’t require any additional actions from your side.
Some settings that are no longer used by the connector are now hidden. These are three settings from the General tab of the connector slide-out panel:

• Internal log level: Splunk shows Errors/Warnings/Information logs automatically.
• Time zone: Time zone is picked up by the connector automatically.
• Instance image URI: The image used for the link button on work item details panels is stored.

Additionally, Scope Path setting on the Projects tab will be hidden for connectors using multiple projects (when Support Multiple Projects is set to True). This setting is applicable only when single-project mode is used.
Some work item-related settings have been moved to a new General section of the Items tab:

• Default Sync User
• Enable Removed State
• Add Hyperlink to ADO
• Initial Sync Date from ADO

For newly created connectors, we’ve changed default values for two settings:

• Support Multiple Projects will be set to True as this mode is used by most of our customers.
• Delete action for all work item types will be set to Move to recycle bin.

Jira Connector: improved warning messages on the board mapping table

In the scope of the fix for JIRAALIGN-4576, we improved the warning messages on the board mapping table. Now, if a board’s associated project(s) are removed from the project mapping table, a warning icon will be listed next to the board letting you know that no project could be found.
In addition, we added a warning modal when removing a project mapping letting users know that board mappings are not automatically removed.

Misaligned story count correction on Program Increment Progress report

While reviewing the logic of the charts found on the Program Increment Progress report, we improved the handling of misaligned stories. Previously, if a story was assigned to the PI being viewed on the report, but was associated with a feature that was assigned to a different PI, the story’s points would still be counted in the Program Increment Burndown by feature and Program Increment Burnup by feature charts. Now, the feature-based burndown and burnup charts will only show aligned story points: A feature must be assigned to the PI being viewed, and then child stories assigned to the same PI or unassigned backlog will be included in the chart. Child stories assigned to a different PI will not be included.

Defect fixes

The list of defect fixes will be updated to reflect changes in weekly maintenance releases. You can see the contents of individual maintenance releases in the Supplemental Release Notes section.

Below is our upcoming release schedule. Sandbox and production environments will be unavailable during our maintenance window, which starts at 11:00PM EST on the day listed below and ends at 2:00AM EST on the following day.

Release tracks

By default, production environments are set to use the bundled release track, while sandbox environments (previously known as test instances) use the continuous track. We recommend using this default setup for your environments, as it allows you to test new features released in a .0 feature release for two weeks in your sandbox environment. Those changes will then deploy to your production environment in a .2 maintenance release. 

You may change the release track from bundled to continuous in your production environment by submitting a request to our Support Team. Note that we do not guarantee a timeframe to make a release track change, but will strive to complete the request as quickly as possible. 

The 10.120.3 maintenance release was deployed to environments on the continuous release track and environments on the bundled release track on June 2, 2023. Maintenance releases contain high-priority defect fixes and fixes for any features deployed in version 10.120.X.

Defect Fixes

Jira Align's Enterprise Insights (EI) was updated and deployed to 10.120.X instances on the continuous track on May 12, 2023, and was deployed as EI version 10.120.1 to instances on the bundled track on May 26, 2023. The following enhancements were made:

• Release highlights
• New tables
• Updated tables

Release highlights

• New content:
  

  • JIRAALIGN-4873 - Added new table [Site Metadata] to expose data in Enterprise Insights that is displayed on the Version page of Jira Align administration, including build number, edition, name, server, expiration, and full and managed users

  • JIRAALIGN-4851 - Added new column [FK Parent Metric ID] to the Objective table to support parent key result relationship in the new OKR experience

• Defect fixes:

  • JIRAALIGN-4916 - Assignment End Date for the first record for a feature process step assignment in the Feature Process Step Assignment History table is populated with 9999-12-31 00:00:00.000 instead of date the feature was transitioned to a different process step

  • JIRAALIGN-4841 - Hierarchy Status column of Hierarchy table is always populated with 1 - Not Started as the status regardless of status of the custom hierarchy set in a custom room

  • JIRAALIGN-4877 - Sprint Team Member table is not populated with task and defect allocation values for Product Owner and Team Coach roles

New tables

Updated tables

We’re excited to announce that future versions of Enterprise Insights (EI) will begin releasing on a familiar, consistent cadence, tied to updates of Jira Align. In the past, releases would occur only when a significant number of enhancements and defect fixes were available. We’re updating our practices to provide more predictability and reliability.

Timing

Starting with version 10.119.0, we’ll be following the same release pattern used to upgrade the Jira Align platform. EI releases for cloud environments will occur monthly for each release track, during our standard maintenance window on Fridays. Releases will be deployed immediately after a successful upgrade of Jira Align. If Jira Align is unable to release a new version, we will inform you of the status of a pending EI release by posting a notice in the EI release notes section of Help.

Environments on the continuous release track will receive a new version of EI after the successful deployment of a new Jira Align feature release, which has a version number that ends in .0.

Two weeks later, environments on the bundled release track will receive the new version of EI. This will occur after the successful deployment of a Jira Align maintenance release, which has a version number that ends in .2.

On-premise environments will have access to a new version of EI on the same day their new version of Jira Align is available. New versions of on-premise are available five days after a Jira Align .2 maintenance release is deployed to cloud environments.

Sample release calendar

See the Enterprise Insights release calendar for more upcoming dates. Compare this to the core Jira Align release calendar.

Version numbering and hotfixes

Because EI releases occur monthly, only a .0 version is available. The version number will not change between deployments to the continuous and bundled tracks, as seen with core Jira Align releases.

If an issue is discovered that requires immediate intervention, a hotfix for EI will be deployed, which will update the version from .0 to .1, and so on. Only critical bugs, such as EI being inaccessible, or an adverse effect on Jira Align data or usability, will be considered for a hotfix.

Release notes

Release notes for EI will be published monthly, on the Friday a new version is first deployed to the continuous track. You can find these notes in the Enterprise Insights release notes section of our Help site.

We will also publish notices to this section if an EI release is canceled, delayed, or does not contain any changes.

Note: This article has been deleted and then republished. This method is used to provide notification emails to users subscribed to Announcements updates. This article has been updated to remove the Program Increment Roadmap (also known as PI Forecast Report) from the list of reports scheduled for removal in version 10.121.0. After further consideration and feedback, we will be delaying the removal of the report.

In version 10.121.0, we’ll be removing five legacy reports from Jira Align.

After reviewing recent usage data, it became clear that this functionality was not providing significant value. Some of these reports were not fully developed or were made inaccessible during our transition from Jira Align version 9X to 10X. By removing these reports and streamlining our codebase, we’ll have more capacity to address defect fixes across the product. These changes will also reduce our testing overhead, which will allow us to build and ship enhancements more rapidly.

Reports that will be removed include:

• Build Status By Sprint
• Connections
• Escalation Report (not accessible)
• Enhancement by Owner (not accessible)
• Enhancement by Age (not accessible)

System role permission toggles related to these pages will also be removed from Admin > Roles.

If you have used this functionality in the past and would like to make a record of your entries, please visit the reports prior to version 10.121.0 to archive your data. You can use screenshots and Save options from your browser to capture the contents of an accessible report.

Note: Due to changes to our deployment schedule for these changes, this article has been deleted and then republished. This method is used to provide notification emails to users subscribed to Announcement updates.

Updates and key info:

• Jira Software expects to begin rolling out these changes to cloud sites on March 27, 2023. Sites will be updated progressively; you may not see the changes in Jira immediately. 
• Jira Align instances currently connected to one or more Jira Software Cloud projects will be updated to support Jira Software's changes during our release activities for version 10.118.2, on Friday, March 24. Environments on both the bundled and continuous release tracks will be updated
• If you don't plan on removing the Epic Name field from your Jira Software issue screens, no action is required in Jira Align.
• If you remove the Epic Name field from Jira Software issue screens after Jira's updates are complete, you will need to remove the Jira Epic Name mapping found at Admin > Jira Settings > Jira Setup.

Later this month, Jira Software Cloud will begin rolling out changes to epic fields in company-managed projects. Review Jira's Upcoming changes to epic fields in company-managed projects article for more details.

If your Jira Align instance is currently connected to one or more Jira Software Cloud projects, you will see the following changes as of Friday, March 24:

1. On the Admin > Jira Settings > Jira Setup connector settings page, the Feature name custom field custom field mapping will be renamed to Jira epic name custom field and will be made optional. Existing mappings will not be removed.
2. Inside of Details panels for Jira Align features, the Summary field will be renamed to Jira Epic Name and will be made optional.
3. The Jira connector will begin syncing the Summary field of Jira Software epics with the Title field of Jira Align features. The connector will also begin syncing the Epic Name field of Jira Software epics with the Jira Epic Name field of Jira Align features.

Notes:

• After these changes are released, the Jira connector will not automatically resync all items, only those that are recently created or updated. You can trigger a custom sync from Jira to Jira Align to ensure consistency.
• If your Jira Align instance is only connected to Jira Software Data Center projects, you will not see these changes. We will release updates to those environments at a later time.

What you need to do to prepare 

Changes in Jira Align are only required if removing Epic Name fields from Jira

If you remove the Epic Name field from Jira Software issue screens after Jira's updates are complete, you will need to remove the Jira Epic Name mapping found at Admin > Jira Settings > Jira Setup.

If you don't plan on removing the Epic Name field from your Jira Software issue screens, no action is required.

Move field values in Jira Software

Per the article from our Jira Software Cloud team, if you’d like to move your Epic Name field values to your epics' Summary fields, you can do so by:

1. Exporting your values to CSV.
2. Updating the Epic Name and Issue Summary values in Excel or Google Sheets.
3. Importing this data back into Jira Software.

Note: If you’re updating your issue summaries, keep in mind that the names displayed on the board and backlog have a max limit of 19 characters – longer names will be truncated.

For more detailed information on how to export and import your epic field values, see: Import and export your data to and from Jira Cloud | Atlassian Support

Note: This article has been deleted and re-published to send a new notification, as the release timeframe for these changes has been updated.

For versions 10.100.1 and later, we'll be making some big changes to objective statuses that will also affect the API:

What’s coming in version 10.100.1

In this release, we will be adding three new statuses to objective tracking in Jira Align. These statuses will provide more nuance to the status of objectives than our current option (In Progress) allows. The new statuses will be:

• On Track: Indicates that an objective is likely to reach its desired outcomes.

• At Risk: Indicates that an objective has uncertainty around reaching its desired outcomes. For example, work needed to complete the objective may be behind schedule, or risks might pose a future threat to completion.

• Off Track: Indicates that an objective is unlikely to reach its desired outcomes if action is not taken.

In version 10.100.1, the new statuses will become available in the Jira Align UI, and will not change any existing status values. API users should also note that the status endpoint will include the new statuses, and no statuses will be removed or changed for this release.

We strongly recommend that you review your in-progress objectives and update any objectives that are at risk or off track, as the In Progress status on objectives will be migrated in a future release.

What’s coming later

In a future release, any remaining In Progress objectives will receive the On Track status. At this time, the API status value for In Progress will also be removed.

What this means for the API

Any objectives with the In Progress value will now return as On Track. There are also two new values: Off Track and At Risk. In any scenarios where the In Progress value is specified, there would need to be a change to specify On Track and depending on the use case, include the new status values as well. Otherwise, there is no action needed with this change.

Why are we making this change?
This change is in preparation for a new end-to-end objective experience including a new creation workflow, a cleaner Details panel, and a more powerful objective tree experience. As we continue to respond to feedback, it has been evident that we need the ability to provide better status updates around objectives.

For our customers utilizing OKRs, the objectives often appeared to be “at risk” when they had low scores, even if it was just too early in measuring. These new changes, along with the updates to the objective tree around the corner, will provide a much clearer picture of which objectives need attention (and which don’t) when reporting on status.

You can subscribe to three Help Center sections to receive notifications the instant release note articles are published:

• Main Release Notes: These articles contain compiled information on a Jira Align version, initially published for the 10.X.0 feature release and updated each additional release through 10.X.3.
• Supplemental Release Notes: These articles contain information on individual supplemental releases, published each release from 10.X.1 through 10.X.3.
• Enterprise Insights Release Notes: These articles contain release notes specific to Jira Align Enterprise Insights (EI).

We recommend subscribing to both the Main and Supplemental Release Notes sections to get weekly notifications on the latest Jira Align version.

What you need to do

To receive real-time release notes publication notifications, you'll need to create a Help Center account and follow the section or sections you want to receive notifications about. Please note, this will most likely be a different username and password than your Jira Align and Atlassian username and password. 

 To create an account (or reset your password if an account already exists), click the SIGN IN button on the Help Center (see the pink arrow).

Next, click the Sign up link, enter your name and email, and then click the Sign up button. You'll receive an email to finish setting up your account. If you receive a message that says a user has already signed up with the given email, click the Forgot my password link to reset your password.

Once logged in, from the Help Center home page, click the WHAT'S NEW section (bell icon).

Then click the header for the section you want to follow. Finally, click the FOLLOW button and then the New articles link.

That's it! As soon as we publish new release notes, you'll receive an email notification with a link!