Looking for Jira Dashboard examples to streamline your workflows? You’ve come to the right place!
When you log in to Jira, your dashboard is the first thing you see. Think of it as a homepage for your Jira instance, offering up high-level information at a glance. It’s your central HQ, the flight deck of your project management system. On your Jira dashboard, you can view tasks and project statuses, track issues, and more. You can create a private dashboard for your eyes only or share it with other players on your team.
Jira offers a default dashboard, but as we all know, every project is different. Sometimes the basics just won’t cut it. Fortunately, Jira gives you the power to curate this command center with the project information that matters most to you.
What’s the difference between a dashboard and a system dashboard?
While anyone can create a dashboard in Jira, only administrators can create system dashboards. The system dashboard serves as the default landing page for everyone using your Jira instance. Since only admins can make edits, it’s a great place to house organization-wide announcements and ultra high-level progress reports.
How can you customize your Jira dashboard?
Using a feature called Jira gadgets. Jira offers up plenty of pre-installed visual tools, known as gadgets, that help you personalize your dashboard view. Gadgets display compelling content like:
- Assigned to Me Gadget: See all of your open issues in one place.
- Activity Stream Gadget: Check out a summary of your recent Jira activity.
- Created vs. Resolved Gadget: A chart where you can compare the number of issues you or your team has created vs. those you’ve resolved over a given time period.
- Filter Results Gadget: Presents the results of an issue filter (like status, assignee, and type.)
- Pie Chart Gadget: View issues from a project or one of your issue filters right in a convenient pie chart.
These are just some of the popular go-to gadgets that come pre-installed with Jira, but there are thousands of possibilities available in the Atlassian Marketplace. Jira sets a 20-gadget limit per dashboard (which you can increase by editing the Jira-config.properties file if you need more), but most Jira users find the sweet spot in 4-6 gadgets. After all, the purpose of a dashboard is to show you a bird’s-eye view of the most critical information, so keeping it brief is the preferred method for most users.
First steps: How do I create a new Jira dashboard?
Let’s get started with a new Jira dashboard. Choose to set up a basic dashboard, or if you’re an admin looking to change the view for your entire instance, skip to that section below.
5 quick steps to creating a new Jira dashboard
- At the top of your screen, click Dashboards.
- Type in a name for your new dashboard and add a description if you’d like.
- From the drop-down menu, select the audience. You can make it a Private Dashboard that only you can view. Interested in sharing your Jira dashboard with others? Select Project, Group, or Open.
- Click Add.
- Click Save.
How to copy a Jira dashboard
If you’re already viewing a dashboard you’d like to copy, click the three dots in the upper-right-hand corner and select Copy Dashboard.
How to share an existing Jira dashboard
Click the three dots and select Edit Dashboard. Here, you can adjust the board permissions. Keep in mind that some gadgets come with their own permission settings. Users will only be able to see the gadgets they’re allowed to view.
Voila! Your Jira dashboard is ready. You can start adding out-of-the-box gadgets from the Jira library or peruse the Atlassian Marketplace for a more customized experience.
How to add or edit the system dashboard
If you’re an administrator, you have the power to customize the system dashboard. This will serve as the default dashboard for everyone in your organization.
- Click System in the Jira Settings menu.
- Select System Dashboard.
- You’re presented with a screen where you can drag available gadgets onto the system dashboard or even add a new gadget from the Atlassian Marketplace.
Bonus tip: Jira offers five different layouts for your dashboards. Click the “Edit Layout” button in the upper-right-hand corner to pick the one you like the most.
Five must-have Jira dashboard examples used by Jira pros
Now that you know how to set up your new dashboards, you might be scratching your head: what gadgets are best for me? There are thousands of gadgets available in the marketplace to sift through—it can feel overwhelming! Get started right away with these five dashboards preferred by top Jira users.
Team progress dashboard
Create a team progress dashboard for a one-stop-shop view of how your team is performing. Load in these gadgets to instantly start monitoring project health:
- Created vs. Resolved Gadget: To meet the next milestone, you’ll have to resolve issues more quickly than you create them. This helpful line chart will give you a quick visual.
- Activity Stream Gadget: Get a quick summary of your team’s recent Jira activity.
- Road Map Gadget: This helpful bar graph displays which versions are due for release with a summary of your current progress.
- Days Remaining in Sprint Gadget: Add a countdown clock to remind you that time is of the essence.
Use this gadget recipe for easy visual insight into your team’s performance.
Sprint Burndown Dashboard
The Sprint Burndown Gadget shows you, in real time, if your team is on pace to meet a sprint goal. It serves as a countdown clock, showing you how much work is left in the queue and how long your team will take to complete it.
If you notice that the remaining workload is pacing slower than the delivery date, you can quickly jump on any issues.
In this dashboard, you can also use the Filter Results Gadget. Set this gadget to display the real-time status of issues in the current sprint. You’ll have a quick view of what issues your team has completed, which are in progress, and which ones have yet to be initiated.
Workload analysis dashboard
Having trouble balancing the workload amongst your team? Set up this dashboard for immediate insight into this critical metric:
- Average Age Gadget: Show the average number of days issues went unresolved. This can give you valuable insight into task distribution and how you might allocate resources differently.
- Jira Issue Statistics Gadget: Set “Assignee” as the Statistic Type. A basic table will show you the workload of a team member. You can quickly see if one person is carrying a disproportionate brunt of the load and re-distribute assignments accordingly.
- Workload Pie Chart Gadget: You can also use the handy pie chart to visualize workload. This one can show you the total number of open issues and how the responsibility is split amongst team members.
There you go! These three gadgets will get you started with a quick visual of how you’ve distributed work amongst your team.
Watched issues compared to Progress Dashboard
Sometimes you just need insight into the most critical pending issues.
- Watched Issues Gadget: Displays the issues you are watching in a table. Pick from dozens of display columns like Issue Type, Status, Assignee, Priority, and more.
- Activity Stream Gadget: Get a quick summary of your team’s recent activity. Are people working on the right issues? Are they making any progress on your watched issues? Find out using this gadget.
- Calendar Gadget: Watched issues might be the highest priority, but you also want to keep an eye on what’s next. Use the calendar to see upcoming issue due dates to resolve problematic items before new assignments crop up.
With these three gadgets, you can easily get a handle on where high-priority issues stand while also bearing in mind future assignments.
Power Dashboards, Reports & Gadgets
The secret weapon in any Jira power user’s toolbox is Power Dashboards, Reports & Gadgets. While Jira’s library of pre-installed gadgets is helpful at the outset, they are limited. Here are some of the most popular dashboards Jira hotshots create using this easy-to-use app:
- Open vs. Closed Issues: Power Dashboards goes beyond the standard charts offered in the Jira gadget library. With a few lines of SIL, you can create colorful, robust visual aids comparing open and closed issues.
- Open vs. Resolved Issues: This powerful bar chart will compare the number of open and closed issues across your projects. See what projects your team is making the most progress on and which ones need more attention.
- Health Report: If you’re the captain of your Jira flight deck, Health Reports are your virtual first officer. Get incredibly valuable tips in a snap: find orphaned issues, discover roadblocks, and reveal ways to speed up your Jira experience.
When you’re ready to move beyond the basics, Power Dashboards, Reports & Gadgets are the go-to project tracking tool.
As your organization scales, so will your dashboard needs. It’s essential to revisit your dashboards from time to time to make sure they’re still serving up information most relevant to your goals. Try out different layouts and gadgets to find the right dashboard setup for you!
Last updated: 2023-07-31
Appfire
Appfire is an enterprise collaboration software company that enables teams to plan and deliver their best work. Since launching in 2005 as one of the original Atlassian ecosystem partners, Appfire has built a portfolio of top-selling apps for more than 30,000 customers — including 55% of Fortune 500 companies. As a product-led company, Appfire identifies gaps in industries serving developers and client support teams and then builds solutions that drive productivity and efficiency.
See all content by Appfire
