• Article
  • May.13.2020

How to combine automatic issue creation with Elements Connect custom fields

  • May.13.2020
  • Reading time mins

For your favorite Jira apps, the ones you consider real workhorses, you’re probably happy with how they meet your needs. But if you have several different apps, you might not have experimented with how they can work together. Using the process of managing user access requests as an example, we can look at how Elements Connect and Elements Copy & Sync can be combined. The end result should be less manual input and fewer errors all while automating the creation and synchronization of linked issues.

Fetch data instead of manually entering it

For a software team lead that needs to make a request for access to multiple applications like Jira, Confluence, and GitHub for a new developer, Elements Connect will help with fetching and displaying the projects, spaces, and repositories necessary for the new user. On the issue create a screen to request user access, three Elements Connect fields have been set up to fetch Jira projects, Confluence spaces, or Github repositories.

 

 

This example company has tens or hundreds of Jira projects, Confluence spaces, or GitHub repositories, so scrolling through all the options would not have been helpful. But the auto-complete function means we only need to type what we are looking for, and Elements Connect fetches the data that corresponds to the text entered.
For the custom field to select the Confluence spaces the new developer will be using, the query is set up to fetch only global spaces (type=global) and no personal spaces.

 

 

You can actually do a lot more since the Confluence REST API gives access to plenty of information like Content or Users.

Create sub-tasks automatically in Jira

After selecting the information needed in the Elements Connect fields, three linked issues are created, one for each of the applications. This is done with the help of an Elements Copy & Sync operation configured as a post-function and triggered by issue creation, meaning the 3 sub-task issues are created and linked automatically.

 

 

Each sub-task is pre-filled with the list of projects or repositories that were selected in the dynamic Elements Connect custom fields, as well as the due date. The fields are synchronized between the parent and child issues too, so if the start date of the new team member gets changed, the due date in the sub-tasks gets updated. For repetitive tasks like requesting and tracking user access, copying and synchronizing fields with Elements Copy & Sync means no manual input for the sub-tasks, and changes to the parent issue are immediately available in the child issues.

Keep track of which access requests have been processed

For the team leader who made the request, it’s important to keep track of which access requests have been processed, and which haven’t. With Elements Copy & Sync Data Panels, the information you need from the linked issues is displayed in the parent issue.

 

 

Since one of the sub-tasks has been completed, it’s moved to a second Data Panel to track which Access requests have been granted, and instead of displaying the due date, the Resolution date is indicated. This example uses JQL in the Data Panel configuration to filter resolved and unresolved issues into the right Data Panel.

Combining apps to simplify and automate repetitive tasks in Jira

Elements Connect and Elements Copy & Sync are both powerful apps on their own, but combining what they each do best means you can really supercharge a Jira process. If you want to try this example at home, there are several tutorials available to help you set up the dynamic multi-select lists and the automatic issue creation.

To configure the same Elements Connect fields, check the tutorials to create a Jira Project Picker, Confluence Space Picker, and GitHub Picker.

And to configure the same Elements Copy & Sync operations, including synchronization of comments between the child and parent issues, check out this tutorial on automatically creating sub-tasks.

You can also see a video of this example in action to get a good idea of how it works. Watch it on the Elements YouTube Channel.

 

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