Can I add child/parent issues to custom issue types in Jira Work Management?
Asked by Derek Boehringer:

I've created a custom issue type ("Initiative") for my Jira Work Management project. When I open that new initiative issue it does not look like I can add child or parent issues. When I go to \`Project settings \> Issue types \> Initiatives \> Fields\`, child and parent links are not available to add to the issue type. Is there a way to add these fields?


Answers:
author: Hannes Obweger - JXL for Jira
body: Hi [@Derek Boehringer](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/5332894)

when you say initiative, would you expect initiatives to be "above" the epic issue type?

Thanks,

Hannes

comments: author: Derek Boehringer
body: Hello [@Hannes Obweger - JXL for Jira](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/4289506)

Yes, I was hoping to leverage the "initiative" type to manage related epics (possibly from other projects).

Best,

Derek


author: Izzy Findlay
body: If I create a new issue called 'Initiative', can I use it instead of 'Epic', to use it in exactly the same way as an Epic? I want to change the name to make more sense to my team who are not familiar with the language 'Epic'.


author: Hannes Obweger - JXL for Jira
body: Hi [@Derek Boehringer](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/5332894),

so sorry for the late reply, this somehow slipped through!

(Also cc [@Kemuel Jacob](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/5361002)

JWM doesn't currently support hierarchy levels above epic; natively, this is only available in Jira Software Premium, through [Advanced Roadmaps](https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/guides/advanced-roadmaps/overview).

However, if you're open to solutions from the Atlassian Marketplace, you may want to have a look at the app that my team and I are working on, [JXL for Jira](https://marketplace.atlassian.com/apps/1224710?hosting=cloud&tab=overview&utm_source=atlassian-community&utm_medium=referral&utm_content=2496467).

JXL is a full-fledged spreadsheet/table view for your issues that allows viewing, inline-editing, sorting, and filtering by all your issue fields, much like you'd do in e.g. Excel or Google Sheets. In a sense, it has a few things in common with JWM's list view, however JXL comes with a range of advanced features, and also works in (and across!) projects of any type, not just JWM projects. Plus, it is capable of showing any number of hierarchy levels, like so:

![5-level-hierarchy.gif](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/291134i423269F2140BE617/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "5-level-hierarchy.gif")

You can model issue hierarchies based on Jira's built-in parent/child relationships (like epic/story, or story/sub-task - or anything you configured in Advanced Roadmaps, if you have it enabled), and/or based on *issue links* . This also plays nicely with JXL's other advanced features, such as support for *bulk editing* via copy/paste, *sum-ups* , or *conditional formatting*.

Any questions just let me know,

Best,

Hannes


author: Mohanraj Thangamuthu
body: Hello, Good day. Kindly let me know if your query is related to the feature requested on : <https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JWMCLOUD-30>

comments: author: Kemuel Jacob
body: Hi [@Mohanraj Thangamuthu](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/4628433), I don't believe it is. I have the same need. We need an issue type above the epic level to manage epics.


author: Mohanraj Thangamuthu
body: Hello, We can create an issue type above Epic. This option is available in the Premium software version. ![Screenshot 2023-11-10 at 11.32.30 AM.png](https://community.atlassian.com/t5/image/serverpage/image-id/291097i85ACD42D199C0030/image-size/large?v=v2&px=999 "Screenshot 2023-11-10 at 11.32.30 AM.png")


Tags: issue-type