Jira Agile how to specify what branch or version an improvement or story goes in so it's less confusing?

Question

How should I handle telling our developers where to put the changesm wether it be a bug or new feature using JIRA?

Here is why I ask:

For Issues/Bugs I think the use of the Affects and Fix version fields are a no brainier. If fix version is 2.5, I know the code needs to go into the 2.5 branch.

However, to me the wording at least doesn't fit these fields for stories and improvements. An improvement could affect a future version but it doesn't "Fix" something.

Using the fields differently between bugs and improvements seems like a bad idea too? I think this would be confusing to the users?

Here is an example of what I mean:

• Bug/Issue: set Fix version to the versions you want this bug to fix.
• Story/Improvement: set the Affects version to where you would like this new feature to go.

For both of these scenarios, you are saying where to put the code. Using different fields, and if you want to start spelling out where the bug exists (version 1 and 2 but not 1.5) you then use both fields for a bug and one differently for an improvement.

How should I specify what branch or version an improvement or story goes in so it's less confusing?

Answer 1

Jira, being an issue tracking system, uses bug terminology

"Fix Version/s" is used in JIRA built-in reports and views for indicating:

• When issue is not yet done: In which version it is currently planned to fix a bug or implement a feature.

• When issue is done: In which version a bug was fixed or a feature was implemented.

"Affects Version/s" is used only for bugs - which version a bug was found in.

See this thread for more info.