Release notes for 11.28.X

The Atlassian Jira Align team is pleased to announce Jira Align v.11.28.

These features for 11.28 were released to environments on the continuous release track on August 14, 2026, in version 11.28.0. The features will be released to environments on the bundled release track on August 28, 2026, in version 11.28.1.

• Coming soon
• Enhancements and features
• Bug fixes

Coming soon

Upcoming terminology change for objective categories

As of version 11.29, scheduled to deploy to sandbox environments on September 11, 2026, and then production environments on September 25, 2026, we’re updating the values in the Category field of objectives to resolve a display mismatch and align with updated terminology.

Currently, the category field in objective details panels shows two values: Committed and Stretch goal. However, in multiple grid pages and reports, objectives with a category set to committed will display Critical Path instead.

To resolve this issue, the mismatched Critical Path/Committed value will be consolidated to display as Committed, and Stretch goal will be updated to Uncommitted. Both values will display consistently in all panels, pages, and reports.

This label change updates Jira Align with the terminology your teams are already using in planning conversations. Objectives keep their existing category assignments, and the way each category is counted in reports is not changing. These labeling changes will not affect integrations or scripts built on the Jira Align REST API.

Reminder: upcoming end-of-support status for classic epics grid

As previously announced, the classic epics grid will be designated with end-of-support (EOS) status in version 11.30, scheduled to deploy to sandbox environments on October 9, 2026, and then production environments on October 23, 2026. After that point, no new features will be added and non-critical defects will no longer be filed.

The classic epics grid page remains fully accessible, and you can opt in to make the new epics grid your primary experience at any time.

Enhancements and features

Test out the beta themes grid page experience

A beta version of the modernized themes grid is now available! This update brings the same user experience and performance improvements found in our modernized epics, features, and capabilities grid pages to the theme level.

The beta themes page is disabled by default and can be enabled by switching on the Portfolio > Themes (Beta) system role toggle.

On-premise environments: After you install Jira Align 11.28.X, you can enable the new themes page by contacting Atlassian Support. We’ll make the new page available by default in a future version of Jira Align.

To access the new page, select the Themes [BETA] link from the sidebar, or reach it from the global navigation.

In this initial beta release, you can explore:

• A modernized themes page, with full support for saved views and starred pages
• Custom field columns, including custom dropdowns, multi-select dropdowns, text inputs, and text areas
• Search, total result count, and bulk delete from the action menu
• Theme creation from the grid page, using the + button to open the details panel
• 16 columns
• 15 filters
• 9 sorters

We’ll continue to add more columns, filters, sorters, and actions in future updates.

Backlogs: unranked work item indicator

We’ve added a new indicator to the list view of backlogs to help you easily identify which work items have been ranked and which are still pending prioritization.

• Unranked indicator: Work items that haven't been ranked yet will now display a dash ( - ) in the rank column instead of a numerical value. This indicator is also visible in the Global Portfolio and Global Program rank columns.
• Automatic ranking: When you rank an item via drag-and-drop, the Move to options, or move items to and from the Parking Lot, all visible items in that section are automatically ranked. While this is pre-existing behavior, it is now more visible due to the new unranked indicator.
• Awareness banner: A new, dismissible banner has been added to the backlogs page to provide awareness of how ranking operations affect your work items.
• Rank previews: During Sort and Pull Rank previews, all items will temporarily display rank values; these values will persist if you apply the changes or revert to the unranked indicator if you cancel.
• Cross-view visibility: Because some views share the same ranking data, you may notice items appearing as ranked in multiple places simultaneously. For example, ranking a standalone feature in the feature backlog on levels above program will also show it as ranked in the epic backlog. Similarly, ranking an epic, capability or feature in the backlog not scoped to a program increment will also reflect that rank in the Unassigned Backlog.

Backlogs: accurate ranking after program and program increment changes

We’ve improved how backlog ranks are managed when a work item’s program or PI changes to ensure your priorities remain accurate and up to date.

To prevent stale data and historical rank reactivation, Jira Align now automatically resets ranks when a work item is moved between program increments or programs via edits done on backlogs, details panels, API commands, mass update, and drag-and-drop actions.

• Program increment changes: Adding or removing a PI resets the Program Increment rank across Global, Portfolio, Solution, and Program levels. The all-time rank for these levels remains unchanged.
• Program changes: Program-level ranks are reset, and solution or portfolio ranks will also reset if the work item is removed from those specific hierarchies. Both Program increment and all-time ranks are reset for each affected level.
• Audit visibility: All rank resets are now captured in the work item’s audit log.

Features grid page: new columns, filters, and sharing

We’ve expanded what you can see and filter on the new features grid page so you can assess delivery health without opening each work item.

• Health and status: Review delivery confidence directly on the grid page with the new Health/Status column and filter.
• Report color: See the color reported for each feature in the new Report Color column.
• Benefits: Read the full benefits text without leaving the grid page by selecting the expand button in the Benefits column.
• Notes: Review status report and roadmap notes alongside your other feature data in the Notes (Narration) column.
• Feature filter: Filter the grid page by specific features to narrow large result sets.
• Sharing: Sharing a feature from the details panel now generates a link that opens the new features grid page in the background.

Roadmaps: new columns for dates, benefits, and external IDs

We’ve added columns to the new roadmaps so you can track schedule and value information alongside your delivery view.

• Start/Initiation Date: Track when work began with the new Start/Initiation Date column, filter, and sorter.
• Benefits: Read the full benefits text for features by selecting the expand button in the Benefits column.
• Report color: See the color reported for each feature in the new Report Color column.
• External ID: Filter and sort epics by External ID with the new column.

Capabilities grid page: date filters and custom room support

We’ve made it easier to scope the capabilities grid page to the work you’re planning.

• Date filters: Filter capabilities by Target Date and Start Date.
• Custom rooms: The capabilities grid page is now available in custom rooms, and a Custom Rooms filter has been added.

Epics grid page: capitalized filter and external ID column

We’ve added two columns to the new epics grid page.

• Capitalized: Filter the grid page by the Capitalized value.
• External ID: Filter and sort epics by External ID with the new column.

Grid pages and roadmaps: shared improvements

We’ve made several improvements that apply across the new grid pages and roadmaps.

• Smart links: Links to a specific new grid page or roadmap now display as a smart link instead of a plain URL when pasted into Confluence and other Atlassian products. As with other Jira Align links, these display in the inline view; the embed view is not supported.
• Locale-aware dates: Date columns now display in your locale’s date format.
• Tags filter: The Tags filter now supports a contains operator.
• Focus areas: The Focus Areas column is now available across all new grid pages.

Forecast page: adjustable column widths

We’ve added column resizing to the Forecast page so you can read long titles and descriptions in full.

• Drag to resize: Select and drag a column border to set the width you need.
• Widths persist: Your column widths are saved per user and per view, so the page keeps your layout the next time you return.

Bug fixes

We’ve corrected the following bugs that were discovered while investigating related issues, building new enhancements, and performing maintenance:

• Capabilities grid: The Work Structure filter was not retained when the grid page was opened from a deep link.
• Epics grid: Updating a work item from the grid page could fail with a bad request error when hidden fields were present.
• Grid pages: The Help option in the top navigation opened an empty slideout when viewed from a new grid page.
• Grid pages: Opening a saved view from a starred page or a static link did not fully rebuild the navigation context, which could hide the side menu or display a blank screen on roadmaps.
• Mass Move and Mass Delete: The Program dropdown became inactive after switching the selected program increment.
• Roadmaps: The External ID filter was not retained when a roadmap was opened from a deep link.
• Roadmaps: Expanding capabilities with a Solution or Solution Program Increment rank sort applied returned a Failed to load items error.
• Sprint slideout: The audit log recorded a release change when the release had not changed, and recorded sync date changes instead of the release when it had.
• Identified and resolved a vulnerability related to work item permission validation.
• Identified and resolved a vulnerability related to reports access.