Creating new issues, such as a new Epic (milestone) or Story (task) under an existing initiative, can be done from several different places in Jira. There is no right or wrong page to start from. These steps walk through one approach.

1. Be sure you are viewing the project. From the Jira homepage, click on the name of the project to view it.
2. Click Create in the top menu, on the right.
3. The “Create issue” window will open. Use the Issue Type dropdown menu to select the type of issue that you want to create. For more information on each issue type, visit the "Managing Issues" page. (Note: Subtasks and Risks must be created directly from within existing Tasks).
4. Depending on the type of issue that you select, different fields will appear where you can provide more information about the issue. The red asterisks (*) mark required fields.
5. When you’re done, click Create in the bottom right.

1. From the Jira homepage, click on the name of the project to view it.
2. Click the Board dropdown in the left-hand menu and select Create board, located toward the bottom of the list.

    

3. Select the type of board you wish to create. You can pick “Scrum” or “Kanban”. We will walk through the process of setting up a Kanban board.
4. Select whether you’d like to set up your new board from an existing project(s) or filter. Depending on what you select, the options that follow will differ.  We will set up a board from an Existing Project. After making your selection, click Next.

    

5. A new window will load where you can begin setting up your board.
   • Board name – Give the board a short, descriptive name that will make it easy to identify.
   • Project – Select one or more projects within Jira that will be included in this board.
   • Location – Pick the Project that this board will live within. In the future, this will be the Project that you will go to in order to view and manage this board.
6. Click Create board. Once your board has been created, it will be accessible from the left-hand menu when viewing the project.

The Project Backlog is a list of all outstanding tasks in a Project (workspace). It’s the “Do Later” list. Issues can easily be moved into and out of the backlog via drag-and-drop.

For example, let’s say the Event Professionals team has two Initiatives they’re going to undertake:

1. Plan Mary & Sanju’s wedding.
2. When the wedding is over, Refurbish the Boston office.

The Event Professionals team can create all the issues (Initiatives, Epics, Stories, etc) for both Mary & Sanju’s wedding and Refurbish the Boston office. Then, they can move all issues related to Refurbish the Boston office into the Backlog while they focus on the wedding. This way, the issues are set up and work on the office can be started as soon as the wedding is over.

A project’s Backlog is not enabled by default. To enable the backlog:

1. Be sure you are viewing the project. From the Jira homepage, click on the name of the project to view it. The Backlog is already enabled if it appears in the left-hand menu:
2. If you do not see the Backlog, you will need to enable it. In the left-hand menu, make sure that the board you want to enable the Backlog for is selected.
3. Click the Options button in the top right corner and select Board Settings.
4. Make sure Columns is selected in the Settings menu.
5. To enable the Backlog feature, click-and-drag one or more of the statuses from the “To Do” column (e.g. “Identified”) to the Backlog column that is located all the way to the left of the board.
6. The Backlog will now be ready to use and will be selectable from the left-hand menu of the project.

1. From the Jira homepage, click on the name of the project to view it.
2. In the left-hand menu, select Backlog.
3. The Backlog page will load. Two main sections will be displayed – To Do and Backlog. To Do are any issues that your team has not yet started. When issues are created, they are put in the To Do status by default – no work has yet been done on them. You can click and drag issues back and forth between the To Do section and Backlog sections.
   Note: If you drag an issue from the To Do section to the Backlog, you may be asked to comment on the change in status. In the example pictured below, the user is commenting on why the issue's status was changed to "On Hold".

    

1. From the Jira homepage, click on the name of the project to view it.
2. Select Project Settings in the left-hand menu.
3. Select People in the “Project settings” menu.
4. Click Add people. A window will appear where you can start adding new people to your project and select their desired roles.
5. Search for one or more people to add to the project. Suggestions will appear as you type.
6. Select the role you want these new people to have on the project.
7. Click Add.

1. Be sure you are viewing the project. From the Jira homepage, click on the name of the project to view it.
2. Select Project Settings at the bottom of the left-hand menu.
3. Select People in the “Project settings” menu.
4. A list of people with access to the project will appear. Use the Role dropdown menu next to someone’s name to change their role in the project, or click Remove to take them off the project completely. Multiple roles can be selected if necessary.

When a project is no longer needed, Jira administrators can choose between archiving or deleting the project. Deleting a project will permanently remove that project and all issues and data it contains. By contrast, archiving a project removes it from the project list in Jira, so it does not clutter the Jira dashboard, but still preserves the data the project contains. At any point in the future, an archived project can be restored. However, a deleted project can never be brought back.

To archive or delete a project:

1. Find the project on the Jira home page. You can use the search feature, if necessary.
2. Click on the Actions button for the project and select one of the available options.
   • Move to trash – Description from Jira: “The project along with its issues, components, attachments, and versions will be available in the trash for 60 days after which it will be permanently deleted. Only Jira admins can restore the project from the trash.”
   • Archive - Description from Jira: “The project along with its issues, components, attachments, and versions will be archived. Issues will be read-only and can be accessed via a direct link. Archived projects won't appear in directories and their issues won't appear in search. Only Jira admins can restore the project.”

To restore an archived project, follow the steps outlined on this page.