Clunky Jira automation can be nearly as painful as manually solving a repetitive problem.

In that spirit, we recently released an update to Jira Misc Workflow Extensions for Jira Cloud that eliminates the need to use duplicate post functions to copy multiple field issues.

Now, a single post function, Copy issue fields, can be used to pass numerous field values from epics, issues or subtasks to any other issue fields you have.

Here's an example:

You want an issue's Assignee as the Approver of associated subtasks, while also ensuring a consistent Due date across the issue and its subtasks.

With the "Copy issue fields" post function, you simply map the issue to any related subtasks and connect Assignee to the Approver field within your Jira workflow. Do the same with the Due date fields and those field values will copy over as subtasks are created. 

Setting multiple field values 

Automation fields with pre-defined or calculated text or JSON values has long been a staple of JMWE through the "Set field value" post function. Now, however, you can set multiple field values within a single post function — no more building each in separate one-at-a-time processes. To highlight this multi-field functionality, we have renamed this post function "Set issue fields."

Some examples:

• Text value: Add an epic's Reporter as a watcher of related user stories when a new story is created.
• Calculated value: Set the Original Estimate field based on the difference between its creation and due dates.​

Also released this month, add the Comment Required Validator to your workflow transition to make it mandatory for the user to enter a comment while transitioning an issue. You can customize an error message to be displayed if the Comment field is left blank during the transition. You can also add conditional validation using Jira expressions to validate a transition for specific scenarios.

Undoubtedly, there are ample automations that Jira administrators want to run at regular intervals. And that's why Jira Misc Workflow Extensions (JMWE) introduced Scheduled Actions last year, enabling Jira admins to run post functions using JQL queries.

But what about those one-off instances when you need to perform an action in Jira and possibly repeat it at irregular intervals? 

 This solution was provided by Joy Melendez. It has earned a $100 donation to FIRST. 

Troubleshooting challenge:

A JMWE validator is being used during the issue creation step. It validates that the issue has a certain linktype associated with it. The validator works properly when issues are being created. However, it doesn't work when a user clones an issue in Jira UI - even if the 'clone links' option is selected. 

Jira Misc Workflow Extensions (JMWE) gives you the tools to automate virtually unlimited use cases no matter how simple or sophisticated they might be. It comes with many useful features, and most of them are covered in our new Getting Started Guide for JMWE for Jira Cloud.

Most videos in this guide - with an introduction by Rachel Wright, Certified Jira Administrator and author of the popular Jira Strategy Admin Workbook - are only a few minutes long. You can go through the entire guide in just one lunch hour! 

Keep in mind that below each video, we include all steps covered in the example (for easy reference).

Jira automation is a no-code rule builder that lets users build "if-this-then-that" rules to automate their processes. The rules are triggered by Jira events and are relatively simple to build. Anyone with Global or Project Admin permissions can create automation rules to quickly automate many processes.

Automation is included with every Jira Cloud Standard, Premium, and Enterprise offering. However, there are notable Global and multi-project rule limits that may impact your experience with Jira's automation offering.