Issue Types

Issue types allow a manager to define different types of issues with different properties. Different issue types may have different fields and different access rights for different roles, company users who are not members of the project, and anonymous users. For instance, a "Bug" issue type may have certain fields that would not make sense in a "Feature Request" issue type. A manager may also want to allow any user in the company to submit "Feature Requests", but only allow project members to submit "Bugs".

From a project page, click Admin > Issue Types to access the Issue Types screen.

Squish comes with three issue types already created: Bug, Feature Request, and Support Issue. They can be used out of the box, modified for your use, or deleted.

The order that the issue types appear in the Submit drop-down menu can be changed by dragging and dropping the issue types in the table until it reflects the order you want. To move an issue place the cursor on the icon (three parallel lines) to the left of the issue name, click on it and drag it to the position you want.

Overview of Issue Types

Click Admin > Issue Types and then click See overview of all issue types to access the Issue Type Overview screen.

The tables show what permissions each role has for each issue type. 

• View - Members with that role can see the content of issues of that type.
• Submit - Members with that role can submit new issue of that type.
• Comment - Members with that role can add comments to existing issues of that type.
• Update - Members with that role can make changes to existing issues of that type.
• Modify Resolved - Members with that role can update resolved issues of that type.
• Delete - Members with that role can delete issues of that type from the system.

These permissions can be changed when editing issue types or when editing roles.

To add an issue type, click Create a new issue type on the Issue Types screen.

1. Enter a name for the issue type.
2. Enter a description.  This will appear in the Description column in the table on the Issue Types screen.
3. Enter instructions if desired. The instructions will be displayed at the top of the page when submitting an issue. You can use comment formatting tags.
   • If Instructions are added, you may select when they will be displayed to users in the Display Instructions field: On Submit, Until Issue Resolution, or Always.
   • If no instructions are needed, skip the Display Instructions field.
4. Leave the Active box checked if you are ready to have the field displayed on issues. If not, uncheck the box.
5. If desired, fill in a value for the Color field by selecting one on the color picker or adding a Hex color code. A square of this color will appear next to this Issue Type in all searches.
6. Make a selection in the Company Access field. This applies to company users who are not members of the project.
   • No access - Company users who are not project members cannot view or submit issues of this type.
   • Can view issues - Company users can view issues of this type that are not marked confidential.
   • Can submit issues - Company users can submit issues of this type.
   • Can view and comment on issues - Company users can view non-confidential issues of this type and can comment on those issues.
   • Can view, submit, and comment on issues - Company users can view non-confidential issues, submit issues, and comment on issues of this type.
7. Make a selection in the Anonymous Access field. Anonymous users can either be given no access or view permissions for issues of this type. This is only in effect if anonymous access is allowed via the company settings.
8. To allow users to mark comments as confidential in this type of issue, check the Allow confidential comments checkbox. Unchecking this box will remove the option to mark comments as confidential from the comment box. Note: Only users with the View Confidential role permission can view comments marked as confidential.
9. If you would like to display related issues for this issue type at the top of the issue, select the Show related issues for this type checkbox.
10. If you want to only allow certain statuses to be selected for this issue type, check the box next to Limit statuses for this issue type. Select the statuses to be shown for this issue type from the Statuses field. Only those statuses will be shown.
11. The Notification fields box can be used to select which fields will be included in the body of email notifications for this Issue Type.
12. In the Configure fields table select the appropriate options for each project field as it relates to this issue type. 
    1. Active - Marking this box indicates that the field is active and available for use with issues of this type.
    2. Show on Submit - Marking this box indicates that this field will be shown when entering new issues of this type.
    3. Required - Determines when a value is required for this field:
       • Not Required
       • Always
         
       • On Update - Only required when the issue is being updated after the initial submit.
         
       • On Resolution - Only required when the issue is being resolved.
    4. Read-Only - Determines when fields in are not editable for this issue type:
       • Never
       • After Submission
       • After Resolution
    5. Default - Enter or select the default value associated with this field for the issue type. The Parent ID field cannot be given a default value.
    6. Location - Determines where on the issue details page the field will be shown: 
       1. In the fields section - Where the "Subject" field is in the example image.
          
       2. Above the description - Where the "Assigned To" field is in the example image.
          
       3. Below the description - Where the "Priority" field is in the example image.
          
       4. After the last comment - Where the "Confidential" field is in the example image.
13. In the Configure Roles table, check the boxes for the permissions that you would like the different roles to have for this issue type. This will update the individual role(s) pages to match selected permissions.
    
    • Can View - The members with the role can see issues of this type.
    • Can Submit - The members with the role can submit issues of this type.
    • Can Comment - The members with the role can enter comments on this type of issue, but cannot update other fields.
    • Can Update - The members with the role can enter comments and make changes to other fields in issues of this type.
    • Can Modify Resolved – The members with this role will be able to update or comment on issues which have been marked as resolved.
    • Can Delete - The members with the role can remove issues of this type from the system.
    • Notify on Submit - Users with this role will get an email notification when issues are submitted with this Issue Type.
    • Notify on Update - Users with this role will get an email notification when issues with this Issue Type are updated.
14. Click Create Issue Type.

Edit an Issue Type:

Edit issue types by clicking the type names on the Issue Types screen. The screen looks the same as when adding an issue type except that the button to save the changes is called Submit Changes and there is a Delete Issue Type button if the issue type has never been used.

Delete an Issue Type:

If an issue type is not being used for any existing issues, there will be a Delete Issue Type button on the bottom of that issue types editing screen. Once an issue type has been used it may not be deleted. To delete issue types, click on the name from the Issue Types table. The editing page will open and you can delete it from there.

Users with permission may convert issue types after they have been submitted.  The Convert To button appears in the title bar for the issue.

Click on the icon to open the drop-down menu. Select the new issue type from the available list. A screen will open describing any changes to the issue that will occur by converting the type. The page will also give you the opportunity to enter a value for fields which were inactive for the original issue type but which are active for the new issue type.

To complete the conversion, click on the Convert Issue button. The issue details page will open, displaying the new issue type.