How do I make an Epic a child of a new issue type?
Asked by Georgia Harlow:

We just purchased the premium jira so we could use advanced roadmaps. I created a new issue type "Initiative" but can't figure out how to link Epics as children under the new type so that they will display in the plans. Thanks in advance for your help!


Answers:
author: Josh Frank
body: [@Georgia Harlow](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/4096193) We also created this short video on how to configure issue hierarchy here: <https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Advanced-Roadmaps-articles/3-short-videos-to-help-you-get-started-with-Advanced-Roadmaps/ba-p/1439078>


author: Sramanth Pandeti
body: Hi [@Georgia Harlow](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/4096193) Weclome to the Atlassian Community!

You can link Epics to your initiatives using the "parent link" field. You need to configure the field on your screens if it is not already available.

comments: author: Georgia Harlow
body: Thanks! I'll try that.


author: Georgia Harlow
body: This solved my issue! I had followed the training but this step was missing!


author: Joseph Chung Yin
body: [@Georgia Harlow](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/4096193) - Exposing the "Parent Link" field in your issue screen in Jira is not the recommended way to associated your EPICs to Initiatives as one will need to know exactly the Initiative issue key to use. This is a work-around.

The proper way to conduct the association is via the Plan.

If you choose to conduct it in the Jira project issue screens, you will need to create a separate screen scheme for EPIC issue type only, because if it is applied to screen schemes for other non-EPIC issue types, then it will give you problems downstream.

Best, Joseph


author: Georgia Harlow
body: I went to the plan and couldn't find a way to add the Epic as a child. I could create a new one but not associate an existing.


author: Joseph Chung Yin
body: [@Georgia Harlow](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/4096193) ; [@Sramanth Pandeti](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/4004743) - Here at our company, we use both exposing the Parent column in the plan + Mr. Pandeti's suggestions.

The reason why we use both methods was because for some users that they can remain in Jira without the need to access the AR plan to created the rollup to Initiative issues. Therefore, it will show up in the plan automatically.

Best, Joseph


author: Joseph Chung Yin
body: [@Georgia Harlow](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/4096193) - Forgot to mention that the fields that you need to expose in your plan is named "Parent" and not "Parent Link".. Once you expose the field in your plan, then you can associate your EPICs with Initiative.

Best, Joseph

![2020-09-23_9-18-30.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/111516iD48609FFE5BC2462/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "2020-09-23_9-18-30.png")

comments: author: Georgia Harlow
body: That field is not displayed by default in the plan. You have to add it in order for it to show the parent link.


author: Joseph Chung Yin
body: [@Georgia Harlow](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/4096193) - Did you exposed the Parent column in your plan? Or is your current plan's issue source included the project that contained the "Initatives"?

Best, Joseph


author: Georgia Harlow
body: If that's the best practice, it should be set up to have Parent visible by default. This piece of information was not clear in the training.


author: Joseph Chung Yin
body: Yes, you are correct in AR. It has to been done manually (we are using Jira DC On-Prems), so don't know if it is different versus Jira Cloud.

It is the same with adding "Parent Link" to the Jira project's issue screens. It is also a manual process.

Best, Joseph


author: Joseph Chung Yin
body: [@Georgia Harlow](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/4096193) - Make sure that you already configured the hierarchy configuration that Initiative issue type is a parent of Epic. To access the configuration (you will need to be a Jira System Admin) \> access "Manage Apps" \> access "Hierarchy configuration" option associated with AR for Jira.

![2020-09-23_9-09-53.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/111514iBF36BB52D56BF520/image-dimensions/248x317?v=v2 "2020-09-23_9-09-53.png")

![2020-09-23_9-10-22.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/111515i9D38B908F10AE81F/image-dimensions/512x271?v=v2 "2020-09-23_9-10-22.png")

The Hierarchy must be setup first for the "Parent Link" column to work in your plan.

Best, Joseph Chung Yin

Jira Functional Lead, Global Infrastructure Apps Team

Viasat Inc.


Tags: advanced-roadmaps

cloud