A well-organized Jira board can make all the difference when it comes to managing projects effectively. One of the most powerful customization features in Jira is the ability to configure card layouts on your board. Card layouts control what key information appears on issue cards, allowing you to surface the most important details right where your team needs them.
In this guide, we’ll walk you through the process of configuring card layouts on a Jira board, helping you and your team stay on top of essential data at a glance.
What is a Card Layout in Jira?
A card layout refers to the display settings of issues (or “cards”) on your Jira board. These cards represent tasks, stories, bugs, or any issue type in your project, and can be customized to show relevant information such as priority, assignee, due dates, or custom fields.
Customizing your card layout is especially useful for:
- Highlighting critical issue data (e.g., priority, assignee, due date).
- Improving visibility on workload distribution or task status.
- Reducing the need to click into each issue for essential information.
Step 1: Access the Board Configuration
To get started with customizing card layouts, follow these steps:
- Go to your Jira board:
- Open the project that contains the board you want to configure.
- Click on the board to display its current view.
- Access board settings:
- At the top-right corner of your board, click on the three-dot menu (or board options).
- Select Board settings from the dropdown menu.
Step 2: Navigating to the Card Layout Section
Once you’re in the board settings:
- On the left sidebar, locate and click on Card layout.
- In this section, you’ll see two main configuration areas:
- Backlog view: This layout controls what appears on cards when they are in the backlog (for Kanban boards).
- Active sprint view: This layout controls what appears on cards during an active sprint (for Scrum boards) or in the board itself (for Kanban boards).
Step 3: Configuring Fields on Cards
Now that you’re in the Card Layout section, it’s time to customize what information will be displayed on your issue cards. Each card can display up to three additional fields besides the default fields like issue type and summary.
- Adding fields to your cards:
- Under either the Backlog view or Active sprint view, you will see a dropdown list labeled Add field.
- From the dropdown, select the fields you want to add to your cards. You can choose from system fields (e.g., “Priority,” “Assignee,” “Due Date”) or custom fields that you’ve created for your project (e.g., “Risk Level,” “Story Points”).
- Arrange the fields:
- Once you’ve added the fields, they will appear in the card layout. You can drag and drop them to reorder how they will appear on the issue cards.
- Keep in mind that the layout allows you to add a maximum of three fields in each view, so choose the ones that provide the most value for your team.
Step 4: Customizing for Different Issue Types
If your board contains multiple issue types (e.g., tasks, bugs, stories), you might want to customize card layouts differently depending on the issue type. Unfortunately, Jira does not support issue-type-specific card layouts directly, but there’s a workaround:
- Use custom fields that apply to specific issue types and add them to the card layout. For example, if only bugs have the custom field “Severity,” you can add it to the card layout to display this field exclusively on bug cards.
- Alternatively, you can configure quick filters to show only certain issue types on the board, making it easier to focus on relevant data.
Step 5: Previewing and Testing Your Layout
After configuring the card layout fields:
- Go back to your board:
- Exit the settings and return to your board’s main view to see how the cards look with the new fields.
- Navigate through both the Backlog and Active Sprint/Board views to ensure the fields are displayed correctly on each type of card.
- Test the layout:
- Create or move a few test issues to different columns or stages to ensure the new layout reflects the data you expect to see.
Step 6: Iterating and Refining Your Layout
Once your team starts using the new card layout, gather feedback on whether the information displayed is helpful or if additional fields are needed. You can return to the Card Layout settings anytime to:
- Add or remove fields based on feedback.
- Reorder fields to bring more important information to the forefront.
- Adjust layouts as your project evolves and different types of information become more critical.
Configuring card layouts in Jira is a simple yet effective way to improve your team’s visibility into the work being done. By customizing which fields appear on issue cards, you can make sure critical information is easily accessible at a glance, helping your team stay organized and focused on the most important tasks. With the right card layout, you can optimize your Jira board for efficiency and better project management.
For further details, you can refer to the Atlassian documentation on what you can do in a Jira board and explore community discussions on Atlassian Community.
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