Alpha program for the new Jira Cloud issue view

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One of Jira Cloud’s key components—the issue details view—is getting a redesign, grouping key actions and information in a logical way and making it easier for users to scan and update issues. We’ve already rolled the new issue view out for a small percentage of users on boards and backlogs in Jira Software and Jira Core projects, and it’s also available when viewing Jira issues from Bitbucket. The rollout has so far been limited to those who don’t have apps that appear in the view issue page.

The new issue view will eventually be the basis for every issue view in Jira Cloud, including the full page and issue navigator views, meaning there’s an exciting opportunity for apps that extend the issue view. Deploying your app once and having it appear in the same place on every issue view, new-app notifications, and adding apps right from the issue view all mean you can reach a wider audience and offer an even better user experience.

We’ll share more information on timing and other details closer to the start of the alpha program.

Sign up for the alpha

Right now we’re looking for ecosystem partners to join our alpha program, where you’ll get early access to see how your apps look in the new issue view. The sign-up period will run until mid-January, when we expect to start enabling access for the alpha program. To take part, add your details via the link below and we’ll be in touch with more details—API documentation, guidelines, and plenty of examples—closer to the start of the alpha program.

I’m interested! Sign me up for the alpha.

Changes in the new issue view

We share updates with users on our documentation page on the new Jira Cloud issue view. We recommend you visit the page to see what’s changed, and watch it to be notified when we ship new features to users. Below is a high-level overview of what each of these changes mean.

The major changes that will affect marketplace apps are the introduction of quick-add buttons and glances. While your existing apps will still display with these new patterns, you’ll likely need to update them to provide a high quality user experience.

Quick-add buttons

The quick-add buttons—under the issue summary—give users one consistent place to add content to issues. When a user clicks the quick-add button for an installed app, a panel provided by your app will be displayed below. This quick-add button can be used to display a dialog initially to help customers input some details before loading the web panel below. The purpose of this is to only show apps when there is content available to display, reducing the clutter.

Advantages of the quick-add pattern:

  • Ecosystem apps are shown alongside primary Jira features, like attachments and subtasks, so users can quickly and easily build out content about the issue.

  • The structured set of quick-add buttons will adapt to user behavior over time, allowing their favorite apps to be more accessible in their day-to-day work.

  • The Add more option lets users discover and install marketplace apps right from a Jira issue, driving more potential customers to your business.

  • Users can easily see when new apps are installed, increasing the visibility for everyone on the team.

The quick-add buttons will replace the current atl.jira.view.issue.left.context location. (Changes are backwards compatible. Apps that use this location will still work in the new Jira Cloud issue view, but may need to be updated to provide a high quality user experience.)

Glances

Glances appear in the context area of the issue details. This is the right column for the board or full page issue view, but appears just below the quick-add buttons in the backlog or mobile view due to their single-column layout.

Glances have two states: summary and detail. The summary can contain small pieces of information, like the number of support tickets linked to the issue and a status. The detail view—shown when the user clicks on the glance—takes over the right column and displays a panel provided by your app with details for the items included in the glance.

Advantages of the glances pattern:

  • Marketplace apps can specify whether they want the glance to open the detail view or a modal dialog.

  • Users can focus on the content of the issue whilst also referring to information provided by your app.

  • Initial load times are improved and critical information is displayed up-front, helping users focus.

Glances will replace the current atl.jira.view.issue.right.context location. (Changes are backwards compatible. Apps that use this location will still work in the new Jira Cloud issue view, but may need to be updated to provide a high quality user experience.)

Other locations on the issue

There will be minor changes to other UI issue view extension locations as they’re implemented in the new design. We’ll continue to support operations web items and the tab panel for the activity section of the issue view.

Questions?

If you have questions about the new Jira issue view or the alpha program, head over to the Jira Cloud section of our community forum and ask away.