If you work in Jira, then you’d probably agree that one of the platform’s biggest benefits is powerful workflow capabilities. With Create on Transition for Jira, you can make your workflows do even more without having to code — all you need are this app’s handy post functions.
This guide covers all things post functions to help you get started with automating your work, maintaining consistency across projects, and reclaiming your time.
Steps to complete before configuring a post function
Before we dive into setting up post functions, be sure you’ve completed the following steps (if you’ve already done these, feel free to skip to the next section).
1. Install the app
If you haven’t already, you’ll need to install Create on Transition. You can get more information about this on the Create on Transition for Jira Marketplace listing or in the documentation.
Note: You must be a Jira administrator to install an app. If you’re not an admin, share this app with your admin and let them know you’d like to try it out.
2. Set up a test workflow
If you’re trying out Create on Transition through a free 30-day evaluation, we recommend using a Jira test instance to create a workflow. If you’re not able to play around with the app in a test instance, at the very least, you’ll want to set up a separate test workflow that won’t impact any of your existing processes. (Again, if you’re not a Jira admin, you may need to talk to your administrator about setting up a test workflow.)
Hint: Need a refresher on working with Jira workflows? Check out this article.
How to configure post functions
Create on Transition for Jira provides two powerful post functions: Create Issue and Create Sub-task.
Both support a variety of issue fields that you can configure to control when issues or sub-tasks are created and what information is associated with them (like attachments or comments from the original issues or sub-tasks).
Hint: For more details on post functions, check out this page in our documentation.
Quick definitions
CREATE ISSUE:
Create one or more issues when the post function is processed after a workflow transition.
CREATE SUB-TASK:
Create one or more sub-tasks when the post function is processed after a workflow transition.
Here are the basic steps to follow every time you use these post functions:
1. Navigate to Issues
Head to the Jira Administration settings menu and then click Issues.
Then, navigate to Workflows and select a workflow.
2. Select a transition
Click on the transition you’d like to edit and then select Post Functions. On the new page that opens, click Add post function.
Hint: When designing a workflow, keep in mind that the order of your actions affects the way they’re processed. If something seems amiss, take a look at your current order and test different action arrangements.
3. Add a post function
You’ll notice that Create Issue and Create Sub-task are now options when adding post functions to a transition. Go ahead and select whichever post function you want to add to your transition and click Add.
Now the real fun can begin — let’s move on to the different issue fields that you can use to customize your post function.
Note: For more detailed instructions on how to add Create on Transition post functions to a transition step within an existing workflow, check out these additional guides on Create Issue and Create Sub-task.
Issue fields
After adding either the Create Issue or Create Sub-task post function to a workflow transition, you have the option to define the contents of various fields when an issue or sub-task is created.
Issue fields are grouped into these categories:
- Basic Fields — common fields like description, environment, notes, and summary.
- Detailed Fields — These fields allow you to define where new issues or sub-tasks are created, their assignee, due dates, and more.
- Links — This is where you can create and copy links and link types between different issues. Hint: Learn more about creating links in Jira.
- Comments & Attachments — These fields define how comments and attachments are handled (adding a new comment, copying over attachments from the parent issues, etc.).
- Custom Fields — If your team uses custom fields, you’ll want to take advantage of this section so that those values can be copied over to the new issue.
- Note: Learn more about our supported custom field types.
Now that we’ve covered the basics of issue fields, let’s dig into the secret sauce of customizing your automated workflows: substitution variables.
How to use substitution variables to customize automation
Create on Transition uses powerful substitution variables that give you tons of options for customizing the creation of issues. And don’t worry about having to code anything — substitution variables are simple text strings that allow you to set field values based on other field values, construct conditional values, and create multiple issues or sub-tasks at once.
For example, if you want issues that are automatically created to inherit the summary of the parent issue, you could simply insert %parent_summary% in the Summary field under Basic Fields.
Hint: See a full list of all the substitution variables supported in Create on Transition’s post functions here.
With Create on Transition, substitution variables can be used in any of the issue fields. So be sure you take advantage of the app’s full power by considering where substitution variables could be used to make your workflows more efficient.
Adding conditional rules for better control
Another essential component of configuring post functions is controlling whether an issue should be created at all. With the “Conditions” feature, you can configure your post functions to create an issue or sub-task only if certain conditions are met by the issue in transition.
There are two options you can use to define when a new issue or sub-task should be created:
- Sub-task conditioning — Allows you to create a sub-task with the same parent issue as the original issue.
- Pattern matching conditioning — uses substitution variables to match issue information with a regular expression (regex). This provides a flexible way to condition issue creation based on specific details of the original issue.
Hint: Since pattern matching is a more complex configuration that involves substitution variables and regex patterns, we recommend checking out this documentation article to learn more.
For example, let’s say you want your post function to create several new sub-tasks only when the issue type is a product launch. You can use a substitution variable that defines the condition as %issueType% and then match it to the regex pattern Product Launch.
Hint: Learn more about how to use regex patterns in our apps here. And if you want to test some of your regex patterns before putting them to work in Jira, try experimenting in the sandbox at RegEx101.com.
One more important thing to remember: if you define some conditions and they are not met, no issue or sub-task will be created. On the other hand, if you choose not to define any conditions, the issue or sub-task will always be created when the associated workflow transitions occur.
Further configuration
Believe it or not, there are even more advanced configuration options to enhance your workflow, such as creating multiple issues, using JQL queries, and more. Plus, there are several fields associated with conditions that determine how issues and sub-tasks should be created. To learn more about conditions and advanced configurations, head over to this documentation article.
Tutorials: Now it’s your turn!
Now that you’re through your crash course in post functions, you can try your hand at a few tutorials that will help you explore Create on Transition for Jira. Take a look at some of our best tutorials below.
Create sub-tasks for specific issue types
Learn how to automatically create a sub-task using the same summary as the parent issue depending on the issue type.
Copy a custom field value to another field
In this example scenario, you’ll learn how to copy a custom value from a sub-task to a newly created issue.
Define condition-based issue creation
This tutorial will get into the details of using post functions to create an issue if the original issue meets certain conditions.
Create multiple issues for each fix version
Let’s say that when an issue transitions between a certain step you’d like to create multiple issues — one for each fix version specified within the original issue. By following this example scenario, you’ll learn how to create one issue for each of the fix versions associated with the issue being transitioned, with each issue containing a link back to the parent issue.
Check out the full library of tutorials here. Are you looking to do something that’s not listed? Reach out to our support team, and we can walk you through it.
Final tips and tricks
We all know that workflow post functions can be complicated. To give you a running start when building workflows with Create on Transition, here are our four go-to tips for crafting seamless workflows:
- Test your workflows — Define a reasonable test scenario for your workflow on a test project or test system. This is often the only way to find errors before putting your workflow in production.
- Troubleshoot errors — Post functions are run after the transition has already occurred, so if your post function has configuration errors or you want to ensure your workflow changes have not introduced unnoticed errors, you have two options to troubleshoot:
- Create on Transition configuration (v7.3 and higher) – View and filter log messages based on different parameters (Jira administrators).
- Jira server log – Look for entries containing errors by following these steps (Jira system administrators only).
- Work with custom fields — Make sure the custom field is defined for the issue type you’re working with. Also, check that it’s supported within Custom Field Types when using set. Use one of the copy custom fields instead if appropriate.
When it comes to automating and customizing your Jira workflows, this guide is just a start. There are so many ways to dig into your processes and let Create on Transition automate your manual work. When equipped with the right tools and know-how, you can create the kind of process consistency your team needs.
Last updated: 2023-06-05
