Subtasks in Jira

In Jira, issues are resolved by completing many tasks performed by multiple people like the QA team, developers, etc. To enable tasks to be tracked and done properly we need to create subtasks in an issue so that we can assign them to different people. We can define a subtask as a division of our issue that can be assigned to and tracked by different individuals. Issues can only be marked as completed when all the subtasks of that issue are resolved.

Before we start creating subtasks

There are some points we should be aware of before we start to create subtasks:

• All the fields in standard-issue are also present in the subtask.

• We can see the subtask on the front page of our issue.

• Subtasks are important parts of our issue.

• Issues can have subtasks but subtasks can not have any further subtasks.

• All the subtasks will always be based on the same project and that will be the same as the project of the issue for which the subtask is created.

How to create a subtask

We can create subtasks in two ways, first by splitting the issue into smaller parts and second by assigning various parts of an issue to different individuals. If there are subtasks that are larger in size and they are holding up the resolution of an issue, we can convert the subtask to an issue so that it can work independently. Also, if we get an issue that is just a subtask of a bigger issue, in that case we can convert the issue to a subtask.

The steps to create a subtask are as follows:

1. Open the issue to be the parent issue.

2. Select create subtask() under the issue summary.

3. Add an issue summary and select create.

When we create a subtask, the following values are inherited from the parent task:

• Project

• Issue security level

• Sprint value (if any)

How to convert a subtask to an issue

We can use the following steps to convert a subtask into an issue.

• Step 1: Navigate to the subtask issue we would like to convert.

• Step 2: Select the more (…) option and select the convert to issue option.

• Step 3: Select an issue type from the screen, select a new issue type and click on the next button.

• Step 4: When the subtask’s current status is not an allowed status for the new issue type, then the select new status screen will be displayed. Then we need to select a new status from that screen and click on the next button.

• Step 5: Update the fields on the screen. Also, we will be prompted to enter any additional fields if they are required, or else we will see the message “All fields will be updated automatically”. Then we need to click the next button.

• Step 6: In this step, the confirmation screen will be displayed. On the displayed screen all the new details for the issue will be displayed, and then we need to click the finish button.

• Step 7: In the last step, an issue will be displayed. Now there will no longer be a parent issue number displayed at the top of the screen for this, which means it is no longer a subtask.

Conclusion

We can say that subtasks are important parts of issues, used frequently in Jira, and are very useful to break down issues and make them easy to resolve. As we have seen, it is easy to create and handle subtasks, we just need to follow some simple steps.