Editing the Initiative -> Child Epic issue link in JIRA
Asked by Evan Gehring:

We have configured the Initiative issue type in JIRA so that we can link Epics together across different projects. In Portfolio, we are able to add child Epics to Initiatives, and in JIRA, I can go to an Initiative issue and see a list of all the "Child issues" for that Initiative.

However, I can't find a way to add child Epics to an Initiative in JIRA (without going into Portfolio). In fact, I can't find the configuration for this issue link type at all in our admin. Is there a way to expose this issue link so that users can edit the Initiative/Child Epic link in JIRA?


Answers:
author: Steven F Behnke
body: They don't use linktypes, to my dismay. There is a field "parent link" that handles all hierarchy concerns above Epic Link.

comments: author: Evan Gehring
body: Ah, I see that now. Thank you!


author: Jason Golden
body: A little more detail:

You can add "Parent Link" to any screen. But this only allows you to connect children to parents, **on the child issue screen**.

You're correct - when you're in the parent issue, there's no way to add new children in the "child issues" panel on the issue itself. You can only do this from your Portfolio plan.

-Jason Golden  
Denver AUG Leader

comments: author: Rob Berube
body: pretty shitty design IMO.


author: Steven F Behnke
body: Good 1 mate


author: Tere Pile
body: still an issue in 2020 smh


author: Steven F Behnke
body: Good 1 mate


author: Tom Mason
body: [@Steven F Behnke](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/781476) you wouldn't believe it Steve, this is still an issue in 2021!!


author: Joe Colombo
body: [@Tom Mason](/t5/user/viewprofilepage/user-id/1944566) I wish they'd correct this. It's a pretty annoying problem.


author: jbedar
body: No wonder your Platinum Partners tell us it would take 3 weeks for Discovery...ridiculous.


author: Henry Chad Apale
body: Seriously..? This should be a simple fix. Atlassian please enable **Parents** **Links** on the PARENTS please


author: Krista Schlumpberger
body: They finally enabled parent link on the epics. But I can't see a way to link child tickets to an initiative. I can only link epics to initiatives.   

Anyone else figure this out? We're using epics to hold our sprint blocks and due to our customer base, those epics can hold tickets related to multiple initiatives. So, I need to be able to link both epics and their child tickets to certain initiatives.


author: John Cobbs
body: Here is feature request for this specific issue.

<https://jira.atlassian.com/browse/JSWCLOUD-19005>


author: Niharika
body: Hi, Can anyone help me about this topic? How can I add issue type Initiative which stays in Roadmap section and not Backlog section and I can add all the epics inside the Initiative?

comments: author: Tarang
body: For you to see "initiative" type in your backlog simply ensure in your filter for the board you include something that is 'issueType in (Initiative, Epic, Story, Bug, Task)' all inclusive as otherwise you may have limited view.

As for Epics to be included in an Initiative, you need to individually make a "Parent Link" from the Epic to the Initiative it is to be part of.

<https://community.atlassian.com/t5/Advanced-Roadmaps-questions/JIRA-Portfolio-epic-link-vs-parent-link/qaq-p/947705>


author: Niharika
body: I did not understand how to create a parent link?


author: Maksim_Feshchanka
body: There's a "Parent Link" field that should be available in the **epic** (add if necessary).

Type the initiative id (ticket number) or title in that field and link it (similarly to 'epic link") but on a level above.


author: Liviu Damian
body: No, this is not working. I put parent link field in all screens and does not appear in any of the screens.

comments: author: Steven F Behnke
body: Ask your own new question instead of "answering" someone else's question with a new question years later.


author: tvishakha
body: can anyone help, i made Initiative in Issue link as parent task of Epics , previously with same linking EPICS were coming under INITIATIVES, but after few days with same link type (Initiative - "as parent task of" EPIC , is not coming in Jira.

Stories are linked to EPIC, but EPICS are not linked to Initiatives.

Can anyone please help ?


author: Tarang
body: If you made an Initiative as "parent task of Epics" then this will show up in the initiative under "Issue Links" -\> "is parent task of". and will not be identified as "Child issues" that "parent link" refers to.

So it depends where and how you created the Epic.

If you created the Epic within the Initiative in Jira Portfolio add-on app then all is good, as it will correctly place this in the hierarchy Initiative -\> Epic that Portfolio uses and relies on.

If however you created the Epic, and later you said I want this to be in the named Initiative then you have to **make sure you edit the Epic** and

1) define the "**Parent Link** " with the **Initiative name**.

**2) Do not use** "**Linked Issues" 'is child task of**'

as even though the 2nd links the Epic to the Initiative, its not recognized as such by Jira Portfolio in the same way and your portfolio plan will miss this.

Sure this has to be a bug, as if you can do the same thing 2 ways and each has different behavior then its a recipe for real screw ups downstream and no one will be any wiser.


Tags: advanced-roadmaps