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How to use Hierarchy for Jira: step-by-step guide

Visualise your tasks and projects in a custom work type hierarchy, making it easy to connect every work item to the bigger picture.
Watch our explainer videos and read the step-by-step instructions on using each key feature, taking you from zero to Hierarchy for Jira pro in under 30 minutes!
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Here's what's in store

Hi there, I'm Jay, Senior Product Marketing Manager at Upscale. I know there's always a learning curve when onboarding your team to a new Jira app.
On this page, we've broken down each key feature of Hierarchy for Jira, with a video overview and instructions of how each part of the app works.
If you need help, have questions, or want a personalised onboarding session, we're here for you!
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Visualise your work in a nested tree view
See how stories, tasks, bugs, and subtasks connect to your bigger picture goals with a custom hierarchy.
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Plan and track work with a Gantt-style timeline
Turn your hierarchy into a visual roadmap to schedule work, manage dependencies, and keep projects on track.
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Track progress and keep everyone aligned
Roll up estimates, save custom views, and share live updates with stakeholders across your organisation.
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Installing Hierarchy for Jira

To get started, you'll need Hierarchy for Jira installed on your Jira Cloud instance.
1. In Jira, click 'Apps' → 'Explore more apps.'
2. Search for 'Hierarchy for Jira'.
3. Click the app card, then 'Try it free'.
4. Select a 30-day Cloud trial, and confirm.
5. Jira will quickly install your new app, and you're ready to get started!
Install Hierarchy for Jira

How to use Hierarchy for Jira: step-by-step

Now that you've installed Hierarchy for Jira, it's time to get started! Watch our video series to see how each feature works, and follow along in your own Jira instance. Have any questions or need extra help?
Reach out to Jay and the teamSchedule your app demo

See the full picture with a custom hierarchy

In this section, you'll learn how to build a visual hierarchy that reflects how your team actually works, with as many levels above or below epic as you need.

Visualise your Jira work items in a nested tree view

Getting started with Hierarchy for Jira and seeing your custom hierarchy is simple. Once the app has been installed via the Atlassian Marketplace, here's how to get started:
  1. Find the Apps section in your Jira sidebar.
  2. Open Hierarchy for Jira.
  3. Watch as your visual hierarchy is generated, based on your existing work item links. No complicated setup or time-consuming onboarding process required!

Link your work items in any way you need to

You can easily customise your work type hierarchy by updating the links between your work items.
To do this:
  1. Open any work item from your nested tree view.
  2. Select the + button to open the linking options.
  3. Select your link type from the dropdown menu, and specify which work item you want to link to.
  4. Click the 'link' button to create the linked work item. Your new work item relationship is instantly visualised in your custom hierarchy!

Create custom hierarchy views using work item links

Quickly customise your custom hierarchy view by configuring your work item link types and direction.
To customise your hierarchy:
  1. Click the settings icon to access configuration options.
  2. Select your preferred issue link type from the dropdown menu.
  3. Specify the link direction (inward or outward) based on your workflow needs.
  4. Save your settings and view the relationships between connected work items in the work item view.
  5. Use the quick access buttons for faster work item linking in the future.

Build custom hierarchies with levels above and below epic

Create comprehensive agile hierarchies that span multiple work item types, from themes and goals down to individual stories, without complex configuration.
To build your custom hierarchy:
  1. Set up quick filters to organise your view and toggle between different hierarchy views.
  2. Create relationships between your linked work items.
  3. Use the + icon and select the link work item option to establish connections between different levels.
  4. Refresh your view to build and see your complete hierarchy in action.
  5. Maintain clarity by keeping original work item names, without confusion, and without having to rename fields like epic.

Add extra data to your hierarchy for better project context

Hierarchy for Jira lets you add any data from your work items to your hierarchy view, giving you even more clarity into your project progress. Here's how to customise your hierarchy:
  1. Click the + icon to open the Manage Fields module.
  2. Browse and select the fields you want to display in your hierarchy.
  3. Scroll across your view to see the newly added information.

Use column grouping and sorting to organise your work items

Grouping your work items makes it easier to navigate your custom hierarchy and identify key work in progress.
To group and organise columns:
  1. Open your settings and go to the table preferences section to configure your view layout.
  2. Group work items by columns for easier navigation and choose if you want to hide completed work items.
  3. Use ellipsis in your column names to sort in ascending or descending order, or remove the column altogether.
  4. Use the quick access buttons for faster group-by functionality.

Create Quick Filters with JQL to find exactly what you need

You can use JQL to create handy Quick Filters and easily save them for later. Here's how to use them:
To create quick filters:
  1. Click the Quick Filters button and select Manage Quick Filters.
  2. Add a custom name for easy identification of your filter.
  3. Write your JQL query to target specific work items (e.g., status = "Done").
  4. Add the filter to your list for quick access in the future.
  5. Use your new Quick Filter to customise your hierarchy and see only items that match your Quick Filter's JQL query, with full context from all work items matching the filter.

Plan with confidence on the Gantt-style timeline view

In this section, you'll learn how to turn your hierarchy into a visual Gantt-style timeline where you can schedule work with drag-and-drop, manage dependencies, and spot risks before they lead to surprise delays.

How to switch to the timeline view

Viewing your project (or multiple projects at once) on a visual timeline is just a click away.
To do this:
  1. Open Hierarchy for Jira from your project or apps menu.
  2. Locate the Timeline button in the top right corner of the interface.
  3. Click the button to instantly transform your nested tree view into a visual roadmap.

Visualise your custom hierarchy on the timeline

Unlike standard Jira roadmaps, Hierarchy for Jira's timeline respects and reflects your unique project setup. Whether you use initiatives, epics, or a completely custom project structure to reflect your unique way of working, your timeline will match!
Here's how it works:
  1. Navigate to the Timeline view.
  2. Expand or collapse folders and work items in the left-hand panel.
  3. Timeline bars automatically align, based on your parent-child relationships, reflecting your real work structure.

Navigate and zoom your view

Easily shift between short-term execution and long-term strategy. Adjust the timeline to focus on the level of detail that matters most for your current meeting or planning session.
To adjust your view:
  1. Use the Project selector or JQL bar to pull in work from one or multiple projects.
  2. Locate the zoom presets in the bottom right corner.
  3. Select Today, Weeks, Months, or Quarters to instantly adjust the scale of your roadmap.

Customise and enrich your timeline

Make your timeline work harder with baselines, milestones critical scope highlights, and real-time hover insights.
To customise your timeline:
  1. Drag or resize bars to adjust dates, and your changes sync instantly with Jira. Faded bars indicate missing start or end dates.
  2. Add milestones as diamond markers to flag key dates.
  3. Enable baseline mode in the timeline view settings to show your original planned dates as grey lines beneath current bars, showing how far you've drifted from the original plan.
  4. Set critical scope priorities in the settings tab and toggle to highlight project-critical items with a red glow.
  5. Hover over any item to view story points, time tracking, and other details at a glance.

Manage dependencies on your timeline

Visualise blocking relationships between tasks to identify bottlenecks and risks before they delay your project.
To manage your dependencies:
  1. View dependencies as arrows connecting related tasks on your timeline.
  2. Hover over any arrow to see the specific relationship (e.g., "HCTE-13 blocks HCTE-28").
  3. To create a new dependency, click the dot on the end of a timeline bar and drag the arrow to the related work item. Release to instantly create the link in Jira and visualise the connection on your timeline!

Track progress and keep everyone aligned

In this section, you'll learn how to roll up estimates in your hierarchy, save custom views, see your key metrics directly on the timeline, and share live updates with stakeholders to save time on reporting.

Roll up and sum up story points for accurate project estimates

See how to use Hierarchy for Jira to roll up or sum up story points, time estimates, or custom metrics, making it easy to report to key project stakeholders.
To compute story points:
  1. Click the ellipsis alongside any column you want to configure.
  2. Choose how you want to compute your story points. In this example, we choose roll up and select that option from the drop-down menu.
  3. Apply roll up and sum up calculations to any numerical columns in your hierarchy view.

Track progress and create estimates based on your team's schedule

Hierarchy for Jira allows you to set your team's true working hours, meaning better progress estimates and more accurate reporting. Here's how to set it up:
  1. Click the settings icon to access the configuration options.
  2. Select Time Tracking from the side menu.
  3. Choose your preferred time format display options.
  4. Modify hours per day and days per week to match your team's work schedule.
  5. Hit Done to save your settings and apply the changes across your hierarchy views!

Create and manage Saved Views for future reference

Save time and maintain consistency in how you manage your project by creating reusable Saved Views, which maintain your preferred hierarchy configuration settings.
To create Saved Views:
  1. Configure your hierarchy with your preferred settings, columns, and Quick Filters.
  2. Click the Saved views button and select Save as new view.
  3. Give your new view a custom name for easy identification in the future.
  4. Click on Manage Views to set additional options, such as making one of your Saved Views the default view for your team when they open your project, locking it to avoid changes, or making it private so only you can see it.

How to save and compare timeline views

Save your filters and timeline settings to quickly return to important views at any time.
To create a saved view:
  1. Configure your timeline with your desired filters, zoom level, and date fields.
  2. Click the Views dropdown and select Save as new view.
  3. Name your view (e.g., "Q1 Planning" or "PI Plan") and click Save.
  4. Switch between saved views at any time to see how your project has evolved.

Share live hierarchy views with key stakeholders

Generate live links to your saved views and share them with stakeholders. Here's how to share your hierarchy views:
  1. Navigate to the export and share button at the top of your hierarchy view.
  2. Select the copy shareable URL option.
  3. Send the shareable URL to any team member with a Jira licences.
  4. Recipients can paste the URL into their web browser to access your custom hierarchy instantly.

Share and export your timeline

Keep stakeholders informed by sharing a live link or exporting a snapshot of your timeline to drop into reports and presentations.
To share or export:
  1. Click the Share/Export icon in the top right corner.
  2. Select Copy Shareable URL to give team members a direct link to the live timeline view.
  3. Select Export Image to create a PNG snapshot.
  4. Choose your date range and click Export to save the image.

Export your hierarchy to a CSV for flexible reporting

Hierarchy for Jira makes it simple to export your entire hierarchy with rollups and data preserved. Here's how:
To create a CSV export:
  1. Navigate to the export and share button in your hierarchy view.
  2. Select the Export CSV option from the menu.
  3. Download the generated CSV file containing all your hierarchy data.
  4. When you open the file, you'll see all of the columns and data from your custom hierarchy, making it easy to keep external stakeholders up to date.

Resources to help you get started

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Documentation
Ready to become a Hierarchy for Jira pro? Visit Hierarchy for Jira's product documentation for release notes, getting started tips, full feature explainers, and more.
Read the documentation
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Support portal
Have any questions about Hierarchy for Jira? Visit our product support portal and our helpful support team will be there for you, no matter how specific your question or use case. We're here to help!
Visit the support portal
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Customer story
See how Robert Nadon of Forty8Fifty Labs uses Hierarchy for Jira to create a SAFe-ready hierarchy, resulting in a 20% efficiency improvement on a project management level and 10% improvement on a developer level.
See the story

Haven't installed Hierarchy for Jira yet?

Extend Jira's hierarchy to fit your unique project and team. Instantly see your work items in a visual nested tree view, based on your existing work item links. No complex setup required!
Start your free trialSchedule your demo with Jay