Frequently asked questions
Jira Assistant began as a simple utility in 2016 for quickly adding worklog and pulling reports from Jira. Hence its motive is not to generate revenue. However, due to browser updates and other factors, it requires considerable effort to maintain the stability of the tool. Hence contributions from users in any form are welcome.
JA is an open-source project where the source code is available on GitHub. Any developers are more than welcome to raise a PR for a bug fix or for a new feature. Guidelines for development are available on GitHub.
Yes, JA works with both cloud and data center version of Jira. But it supports OAuth based authentication only with the cloud version. If you want OAuth to be supported in your datacenter version of Jira, please contact the developer.
If you want a Web, Mobile, Desktop or Browser extension to be developed and would like to pay for it, you can contact the developer through mail with the detailed requirement and can discuss further.
Jira Assistant pulls the data from Jira by calling the API exposed by Jira. Sometimes due to indexing issues, Jira API doesn't return some worklog, issues, comments, etc.,. If you face such issues, then I would suggest to check with your Jira admin and see if indexing in Jira is optimal. Most of the times, re-indexing Jira solves this issue of missing data in JA. This is not really an issue with this tool, but in Jira's API.
Jira Assistant is a free tool and is developed and maintained by a single developer. Due to the huge volume of support incidents and other priorities, it may not be always feasible for the developer to respond on timely basis. While contacting the developer, always provide exact information about the issue you are facing along with required screenshots / console errors if any. Unfortunately, not all issues are resolved and sometimes may not be attended due to other priorities.
Currently JA does not support holidays and leave of absence/time-off configuration. Holiday API integration is already a feature being tracked as part of #26. Please have a look at that for more details and provide your comments.
Due to the way notifications are implemented currently, it is not possible to mark all the notifications as read. If you open a Jira ticket, all the notifications related to that ticket is automatically not pulled next time. That way, only option to not show notification next time is to open individual tickets. There could be some better options in future and until then please bear with me.
With chrome, Jira Assistant is supported only for Chrome version above 102.x. So if you are using a old version of chrome, You are requested to upgrade to latest version of chrome and enjoy latest security updates provided by chrome along with updated version of Jira Assistant.
While importing issues, you can provide comma separated values for parent or project column, that way you would be able to generate sub-task for multiple tickets or create same issues under multiple projects. But you cannot use both the features together. Multiple values are allowed only in parent or in project field.
On the worklog popup, the comments section is mandatory by default. You have an option to configure the number of how many characters has to be entered to consider it as a valid comment. To configure this, go to Settings > General > Worklog [Tab] and find the section "Min length for worklog comments" and eidt the minimun characters required. Setting this to '0' would make it a non mandatory field.
By default, JA doesn't allow to add worklog on closed tickets. But you can configure this behaviour, go to Setting > General > Worklog [Tab] and check the checkbox "Worklog for closed tickets". Enabling this would let you to add worklog on closed tickets. Note: This option would work only if Jira is configured to allow this behaviour.
From calendar view you can easily copy worklogs by two different ways. One by right clicking on the event and click on the copy menu which will open worklog popup where you can provide date and time of target worklog. Second option is even quicker and easier, just press the Alt key and drag and drop the worklog where you want it to be copied.
You can change the list of tickets shown in the suggestion drop down by changing the JQL. To configure the JQL, go to Settings > Advanced page and find the JQL corresponding to "Ticket suggestions JQL" label. You cannot edit the default JQL as it is for reference only, but you can edit the instance specific JQL.
As of now, JA doesn't support adding worklog from some of the views under Calendar. This is already known and in future based on popularity it could be supported. But as of now it is kept as low priority.
To rename your dashboard, navigate to that dashboard and click on the name header label. There you can change both the name and the default icon of that dashboard.
You can change the list of tickets shown in My Open Tickets gadget by changing the JQL. To change the JQL, go to Settings > Advanced and find the JQL corresponding to "Open tickets JQL" label. You cannot edit the default JQL, but you can edit the instance specific JQL.
Yes, you can build a new gadget by building a report using Custom Reports or Report Builder module. Once you have built a report and have saved it, it would be available under add gadget popup from where you can add it to dashboard as a gadget.
Some levels of customizations are allowed for each gadgets. You can look at the corresponding gadget's settings by clicking on the wrinch icon and JA Advanced settings for some options to customize the gadget. But most of the customizations you expect can be built using Custom reports/Report builder.
This is no more an issue for chrome users as of JA v2.71. As you would be able to integrate JA with any Jira instance, this permission is required. This is particularly necessary because JA does not ask for/store your credentials and directly connect to Jira with the authentication established by your browser.
While trying to integrate the extension with Jira, ensure that you are logged in to Jira from your browser. Also ensure that you put appropriate URL while integration. Ensure to use http:// or https:// appropriately. Also see to that you provide Jira basepath and not page url. Jira basepath would be something like https://jira.yourcompany.com or https://yourcompany.com/jira or https://yourcompany.atlassian.net. Don't provide url's like https://jira.yourcompany.com/browse, which would fail with network error.
Primarily users will have to be logged into Jira from the same browser where JA is used. Some times user get this error even when user is authenticated with Jira. The reason for that is JA need to access to Jira and sometimes for some users, this access is automatically removed. The root cause for that is still unidentified, but is believed to be environmental issue. To solve it, from 401 page in JA, just click on "Grant permission" button and the issue would be resolved. Have a look at #214 in GitHub issue tracker for more details.
While trying to integrate the extension with Jira, ensure that you are logged in to Jira from your browser. If you are sure that you are authenticated and you had used the URL properly, then contact the developer with console screenshot/error details.
For integrating Jira or for using JA, you will have to authenticate with Jira on the same browser window. So, ensure that you are able to access Jira from same browser. If you still continue to face this issue, open console tab (F12) and see if you are getting any CORS issue. If you see CORS issue, try upgrading your browser. If issue persist, then contact the developer for any additional support. But this CORS issue, as of date is non reproducible in developer end and so unfortunately no solution is available.
Firefox Multi Account containers are a very minimally used feature with JA. But still it works for most of the users. But for specific users, it doesn't work and so far root cause is not identified. As this issue is not reproducable, it becomes difficult for the developer to fix it. For more details visit GitHub issue tracker #103 and add your comments there.
Expressions are basically JavaScript Code. You will get the current data in Field object in the expression. You would be able to use most of the inbuilt JavaScript functions as well in your expression. For example you can write Field.assignee.name, Field.summary, parseInt(Field.timespent), etc.. You can use the usual JavaScript Math class and other operators for calculations as well.
Charts component in report builder module uses chart.js component. So, you can refer the official website of chart.js on how to pass data and other properties. But as of now no samples or documentation is available to explain about it. I will try to put something together in the future if time permits. But as this is not a widely used feature, it is of low priority at this moment.
As of now one sample YouTube video is available on how to generate simple reports with report builder. But as of now no documentation is available to explain about it. I will try to put something together in the future if time permits. But as this is not a widely used feature, it is of low priority at this moment.
From any of the reports, the user list popup doesn't save the details persistently. If you permanently want to save the users, then go to Settings > User groups and save the user groups to persisr them. So, while generating report, sometimes if you want to generate report for only few set of users/groups, you can safely remove other users from popup and generate report. Once you reload the report, you will still see the old set of users.
From any of the reports, the user list popup doesn't save the details persistently. So, if you don't want to generate the report for a specific user, then you can safely remove the user/group from the reports page. It will not get saved and so next time you reload the report, all the saved users/groups will be populated again. Hence no separate users/groups selection is required in any of the reports.
By default, Jira Assistant would use your local timezone while uploading the worklog. Hence if you have not configured Jira with your local timezone, then Jira would show worklog in different timezone. Hence it is always necessary for you to configure Jira with your local timezone.
Any worklog in Jira should be pulled by Jira Assistant. Ensure that you are providing appropriate query, User details, date range, etc.. If you are sure that filters you provided is accurate and still worklog is missing, then it is probably the issue with Indexing in Jira. If there are any recent updates or it has been sometimes long since last indexing in Jira has happened, then most probably re-indexing Jira would solve this issue. Contact your Jira admin about re-indexing.
In worklog report, click on the config icon from top right corner of the worklog report which would open a popup. This popup will contain a tab named JQL. Here you can add any additional filters you want.
No, currently there are no such features available and no plans to implement it in future as well. Browser extension are not meant for such background task processing and we cannot rely on extension to do it. There could be instances where it fails and could cause troubles.
As of now, there is no inbuilt feature available as such. However, you can work around it by using other fields in Jira. For example, you can add a label to all the issues for which billing is not necessary and in worklog report, you can add a JQL filter to not pull issues with those labels.
Yes, you can export the settings only by selecting user groups which would generate a .jab file. You can share this file with anyone to whome you want to share the groups with.
Jira Assistant doesn't store any sensitive information anywhere. It just stores the settings, Jira url, Jira profile details including mail id in browser cache. However, while using credential based authentication, JA has to store the credentials you provide as well within cache. Additionally it stores schema of Custom Report and Report Buuilder if you have created any. You can read more about it from Privacy Policy page.
Jira Assistant stores all your data in your browser local storage only. It does not send any of your information outside your browser. Additionally, no credentials or other sensitive information is stored anywhere. To know more about our privacy policy, please visit https://www.jiraassistant.com/privacy-policy
JA stores all your data in your browser local storage only and in an unencrypted format. However, it does not store or send any of your information ourside your browser. Additionally no credentials or other sensitive information is stored anywhere. Hence there are no known security concerns about the stored data. To know more about what kind of data we store, please visit https://www.jiraassistant.com/privacy-policy
Go to Settings > General > General [Tab], you have the option to change the working days.
Worklog report, by default pulls the report in current users local timezone. If the users are working from a different timezone, then pulling worklog in local timezone would cause difference in date/time. To solve it, for individual users/groups you can add timezone settings from user groups. Setting appropriate time zone would solve the issue.
To show customized list of menus, go to Settings > General > Menu options [Tab]. Select 'Show menus' and then select all the list of pages to be shown in menu.
To directly open a page when clicking on JA icon, go to Settings > General > Menu options [Tab]. Select 'Auto launch' option and select the appropriate page to be loaded directly.
To show a quick view of dashboard first you should enable quick view. To enable quick view, go to Settings > General > Menu options [Tab]. Select 'Show quickview dashboard' option and select the appropriate dashboard to be shown as quickview.
Currently JA does not support syncing the settings anywhere. Though browser like chrome provide option to sync settings across reinstalls, it is not suitable for JA to use those sync feature. You can use Backup feature for now to export the settings. Refer issue #67 in github for more details.
Latest version of Jira Assistant support exporting settings and later after reinstall you can import it from Integrate screen. You can export or import it by clicking on the instance name from top right side of JA.
Unfortunately, JA is developed and maintained by a single developer and as of now no other support is available. Hence it becomes difficult for a single developer to allocate time of replying to chats or resolving a bug on time. Queries raised are prioritized and resolved based on the supporting details provided and severity of the query
JA Web would receive updates as and when the issue is fixed and has a quicker turn around. But when it comes to extensions/desktop apps, it takes more time due to the waiting time in queue and publish of the store. Due to this waiting time, there will not be frequent publishes unless there are major bug fixes/features.
Some times their could be fixes specific to a browser or their could be very minor feature additions. So in such cases not all browsers gets JA updates immediately. But after a month or two, it would get updated along with new additions. Their could be one more reason where their was major refactoring in code which could have some negative impacts. In such cases also updates are first published to one browser for testing.
You can request for any new features by raising a ticket in GitHub with detailed description. Depending on available bandwidth, we would prioritize. If you are badly in need of a feature and if you are willing to make a one-time contribution for it, then after raising the ticket, you can contact the developer through mail. We can discuss further on it.
As of now, Jira Assistant works better with Chrome, Firefox, Edge and Opera. But few users use it with other browsers with minimal issues/work arounds. With Vivaldi it is known to work well, but is not officially supported at this point. Additionally this can also be installed as an App within Jira cloud and let all your employee's use it.
Being a single developer, it is very difficult for us to getting into calls with individual users. So, we would suggest you to raise a support ticket with required details in Git Hub. Alternatively, if it is a question, discussions under GitHub can be used to ask your question.
Their are no specific interval on when the release would happen. Usually it would happen on weekends. But if their are major issue fixes, then it can happen on any day. Usually for planned feature releases, you would see the notification in JA with expected date of publish.
Mostly it depends on the availability of the developer and how soon you need it. Also if a feature is required within Jira Assistant, then it has to be generic and usable by all the users. Enhancements/requests which are useful only to specific users are generally not addressed.
Jira Assistant is a open source free software for both Personal and Official use. The source code is available in GitHub. You can even customize the code for use within your company and use it. If you are expecting for any specific usecase, please contact the developer.
JA Web is primarily introduced to support BETA testing by user and for providing quicker fix in case of major bugs. As Web version can be published at any point of time without and waiting time, every day the build would be published and users can experience the next version of JA. Additionally, people who cannot install the app can still use JA Web from the browser using OAuth integration with Jira.
Currently when using OAuth integration in JA, sprint report does not work. This is due to the limitation that this specific API is not supported in OAuth. This would be resolved in upcoming weeks once other priority works are completed.
JA Web is primarily introduced to support BETA testing by user and for providing quicker fix in case of major bugs. So, build would be published when ever there are changes. Sometimes the changes may not be fully tested and so there could be some short term bugs which would get resolved in subsiquent builds.
Yes, JA Web is already available which is hosted using GitHub pages. If you would prefer hosting it within your datacenter, you can very well do it. However minimal code changes may be required based on how JA integrates with your instance of Jira.
Similar to extension, JA Web also stores the data in your browser cache only. JA Web is a static site hosted in GitHub itself which does not have any server storage.
You can switch back and forth between Web and Extension anytime. If you want to switch from either of it, just click on Web from top right corner of the page and you would be able to switch from there. Sometimes if Web version of JA crashes and if you were not able to switch back, you can go to extension options page and select/unselect the checkbox accordingly. To open options page, right click JA icon and then for Chrome click Options and for Firefox click Manage Extension -> Options tab
JA web can be either used as a standalone app or can be integrated with extension. When it is integrated with extension, all the settings are still stored with extension only and Web version just communicates with extension and display the data.