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.

Note: Due to an issue with a previously reported feature, this article has been deleted and then republished. This method is used to provide notification emails to users subscribed to Release Notes updates. Please see the section below for details:

Removal of Jira connector API endpoints
New API endpoints for managing the Jira connector were previously detailed in these notes. To ensure the functionality meets our quality standards, we have decided to remove the endpoints as part of the upcoming 10.116.2 release. Once we are able to confirm that the functionality meets our requirements, we will reintroduce the endpoints in a future feature release.

The Atlassian Jira Align team is pleased to announce Jira Align v.10.116. Please note that the 10.116.0 feature release was not deployed, as our developers worked to ensure the release met our standards for quality. As a result, the feature release for 10.116 is version 10.116.1.

• Enhancements and Features
• Defect Fixes

Enhancements and Features

These features for 10.116 were released to environments on the continuous release track on January 24, 2023, in version 10.116.1. The features will then be released to environments on the bundled release track on January 27, 2023, in version 10.116.2:

Reminder: Upcoming removal of Time Tracking functionality

As previously announced, the Time Tracking module will no longer be available in Jira Align as of the 10.119.0 release.

The Time Tracking module was accessible through a paid entitlement that has not been offered for purchase for two years. After careful evaluation, we’ve determined the existing module no longer aligns with our vision for the future. If you’re looking for a time-based tracking solution with Jira Align, we recommend checking out our integration with Tempo Timesheets.

Jira connector: Sync feature points to a new Jira field

Previously, when syncing feature points and story points with Jira Software, we required you to use the same Jira field for both. When using the default Story points field in Jira, users were often confused as to what Story points were in reference to when displayed on their Jira epics. Additionally, Jira sprint reports were often incorrect as the Jira epic point values were included.

Now, you can sync feature points and story points to unique Jira fields. From the Admin > Jira Settings > Jira Setup tab, you’ll see two separate custom field options: Story points custom field and Feature points custom field.

For your existing connectors, there is nothing you need to do to prepare for the change. The Feature points custom field setting will be prepopulated with the Story points custom field value. When you’re ready, you can configure Jira with a new field and update the connector’s custom field mapping.

Jira connector: New sync direction options for t-shirt size estimates

To provide the same options as other similar settings, we added a Jira to Jira Align sync direction option to the T-shirt custom field setting for features. Find this setting under Admin > Jira Settings > Jira Setup. Going forward, you can choose between two sync directions: Jira to Jira Align or Bidirectional.

If you have an active connector that’s currently configured with the t-shirt field sync direction as Jira Align to Jira, that choice will be retained until a new selection is made. We will not automatically remove that option. Once you change the field’s sync direction to either Bidirectional or Jira to Jira Align, the Jira Align to Jira option be removed.

We’re phasing out the Jira Align to Jira option for two primary reasons:

First, we want individual teams to manage work in their team tools of choice, like Jira Software. It’s not a great experience when teams are creating stories and epics in Jira, but then have to log in and update a few specific fields on those same items in Jira Align.

The other reason for this change is to prevent the confusion that can occur when some fields are not syncing in consistent directions. If some fields sync from Jira to Jira Align only, some bidirectionally, and some from Jira Align to Jira only, it's hard for everyone to keep track of the best place to make updates.

Jira connector: Enhanced sync of sprint goals and sprint names

Previously, the Sprint goal and Sprint name fields in Jira Software were only synced to Jira Align on the creation of a sprint. Now, they are also synced when the sprint is updated.

Jira connector: Search and pagination added to the team custom field mapping modal

We’ve added the ability to search within the team custom field mapping dialog, to make it easier to find and manage existing mappings.

We also added pagination to the dialog to address page load issues when hundreds to thousands of teams are mapped.

Jira connector: Improved setting and custom field names and tooltips

The following Jira connector setting and custom field mapping names and tooltips were updated to better reflect the actual connector behavior.

Settings found at Admin > Jira Settings > Jira Setup

Work Tree performance improvements

As of this version, we’ve completed incremental work to improve the performance of the Work Tree page, one of the most-used Jira Align features. We’ve refactored the way dials and data render on the Top-Down from Epic, Bottom-Up from Story, and Team views, resulting in up to 80-90% faster load times with large datasets.

API 2.0: Consistent method support, consistent object coverage, and complete property coverage

We’re kicking off an effort to ensure consistency in our API coverage. This means making sure that all objects have consistent method (GET, POST, PUT/PATCH, DELETE, etc.) support, consistent coverage (support for audit logs, acceptance criteria, links, etc.), and that all object properties (epic field financial fields, release sync sprints and fields, etc.) are available.

This release includes:

• Links in Goal GET calls
• Links in Capabilities GET calls
• HEAD method for Risks
• DELETE method for Teams

Watch our new roadmap presentation

Check out the latest news on new Jira Align features and development efforts we’re working on. Our Q4 2022 Product Roadmap presentation is now available.

Note that you will need to be logged into our Help Center site to be able to access the recording. If you don’t already have a login, select the Sign up link to create a new one. This account is not tied to your Jira Align user credentials.

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 10.116.2 maintenance release was deployed to environments on the continuous release track and environments on the bundled release track on January 31, 2022. Maintenance releases contain high-priority defect fixes and fixes for any features deployed in version 10.116.X. 

Enhancements and Features

Security vulnerability fixes

• Resolved a permission-related vulnerability affecting the Measures page.

Jira Align's Enterprise Insights (EI) was updated and deployed to 10.114.X instances on the continuous track on December 16, 2022, and will be deployed to instances on the bundled track on December 20, 2022. The following enhancements were made:

• Release highlights
• New tables
• Updated tables

Release highlights

• New content:
  • JIRAALIGN-4371 - New tables for key results override scores and notes for goals and objectives
  • JIRAALIGN-4421 - Updates to the Epic, Capability, Feature and Story Acceptance Criteria tables to support acceptance criteria notes and rank data
  • JIRAALIGN-4455 - New Program Increment Weeks Override table for supporting override weeks set in Plan Capacity on Forecast
  • JIRAALIGN-4463 - Update to Forecast Buffer table to add new column for buffer member week
  • JIRAALIGN-4485 - Update to the Team table to add Solution ID foreign key for creating relationship between team and solution
  • JIRAALIGN-4562 - New table for cost centers.
  • JIRAALIGN-4611 - Update to the Hierarchy table to add new column for supporting status set in custom rooms
  • JIRAALIGN-4610 - Updates to the Epic Forecast and Capability Forecast tables to add new column for supporting In Scope flag set on Forecast
• Defect fixes: 
  • JIRAALIGN-4530 - Enterprise Insights ETL to now update current_dw.[Jira Custom Team Mapping]
  • JIRAALIGN-4420 - Deleted Discussion records for Epics now removed from current_DW.Discussion

New tables

Updated tables

In version 10.119.0, we’ll be removing the pages and settings that make up the Time Tracking module inside of Jira Align.

The Time Tracking module was accessible through a paid entitlement that has not been offered for purchase for two years. After careful evaluation, we’ve determined the existing module no longer aligns with our vision for the future. If you’re looking for a time-based tracking solution with Jira Align, we recommend checking out our integration with Tempo Timesheets.

By removing these features 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.

Functions that will be removed include time projects, timesheets, and all reports enabled through Time Tracking. For more details, see our Time sheets/tracking and Time administration sections. 

If you have used Time Tracking functionality in the past and would like to make a record of your entries, please visit these pages prior to version 10.119.0 to capture your data. You can use one of the many reports, such as the Timesheet Export report, to export your data in .xls format.

Note: Work codes, which are financial fields that can be associated with epics and features, will continue to be available. The Time Tracking module is not required to create and use work codes. You can manage work codes from the Admin > Time Tracking settings page. In a future release, we will update the settings page to remove references to time tracking.

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!