Guides
Guides
Step-by-step answers to common Jira and Confluence questions: what the products do natively first, then where an app helps. Where one of our apps fits, the guide says so and links to its documentation.
How to enforce a Definition of Done in Jira
How to add a Definition of Done in Jira Cloud without an app, then three ways to enforce it: exact steps, what each one blocks, a JQL check.
How to block a Jira transition until a checklist is done
How to stop a Jira work item moving to Done while checklist items are open: conditions vs validators, what they can check, and how to test the gate.
Definition of Done vs acceptance criteria, with Jira examples
Definition of Done vs acceptance criteria in one table, both lists worked out for the same user story, and where each one belongs in Jira.
Jira checklist: what to look for in a checklist app
A Jira checklist can be native action items or a Marketplace app. What each one can and cannot do, points to check before you install one, and the apps with their prices.
Jira checklists vs subtasks: when to use which
A decision table for Jira checklists vs subtasks: assignees, estimates, boards, gating the transition and audit, and when a checklist is the wrong tool.
Jira Automation with checklists: apply a template, add and check items, read status
Four Jira Automation recipes for checklists: apply a template on create, add items from a rule, check items automatically, and find work by checklist state.
Checklist history and audit in Jira: who checked what, and when
Why native Jira checklists have no per-item history, what to ask of a checklist app's audit log, and how a tamper-evident, exportable history works.
Checklist Flow with ScriptRunner for Jira Cloud: read checklist state in scripts
How ScriptRunner for Jira Cloud reads Checklist Flow's Definition of Done state from an issue property and JQL: a validator, a nudge and a listener.
Apply a checklist template to existing Jira work items
You have a checklist template and 200 existing stories without it. What Jira's native action items cannot do, how the Smart Checklist route works, and how Checklist Flow's Apply checklist template action does it with an Automation rule.
Where does a Jira checklist app store your data, and can you export it?
Jira checklist items can live in the description, in the app's storage on Atlassian, or on the vendor's servers. How to find out which, what to ask before you rely on one, and how Checklist Flow stores and exports.
Testing a Definition of Done gate: does a required item really block Done?
A checklist that blocks a Jira transition has one job. How Checklist Flow checks that job every night with random checklists and random clicks.
Jira sign off: how to require a sign-off before a work item moves on
How to require a sign-off in Jira before a work item moves on: native approvals, a field and a validator, or an app. What to check in a sign-off app, and the apps with their prices.
Multiple approvers in Jira without Jira Service Management: 3 ways compared
Three ways to get multiple approvers on Jira Software and business work items without Jira Service Management: fields and a validator, Premium, or an app.
Which Jira and Confluence plans include approvals
Native approvals need Premium or higher in Jira work items and in Confluence pages, but Jira Service Management lists multi-user approvals from Standard. A table with Atlassian's own wording, and what to do on Standard.
Jira approval workflow example: a purchase approval with three spend tiers
A worked Jira approval workflow example: purchase requests in three spend tiers, with fields, statuses, approvers, a transition gate, routing and tests.
Jira approval step skips the workflow validator: what you can do
Atlassian's approval step can skip workflow validators (JSDCLOUD-6988, open since 2018). What the ticket says, a workaround you can test, and how Approval Flow gates a transition.
Jira: require a comment when someone approves or declines
Jira's approval buttons do not force a written reason. The open Atlassian requests, a Community answer, and how Approval Flow requires a comment on a requirement.
Jira approval: 50% plus one when the approver group keeps changing
Needing more than half of a group to approve, when the group size changes. What Jira's approval step offers, a workaround from the Community, and Approval Flow's percentage quorum.
Jira approvals when the approver is out of office
What happens to a Jira approval when the only approver is away. Atlassian's open delegation request, practical options, and the out-of-office substitute in Approval Flow.
Jira approval reminders that repeat until the approver acts
Approvers forget. What Jira sends natively, Atlassian's open reminder requests, and Approval Flow's repeating reminders and escalation, which are off until an administrator turns them on.
Release approval in Jira: what exists before a version is released
Jira has no approval step for releasing a version (JRACLOUD-92893, open since 2017). What is possible today, what Forge apps cannot do, and a work-item pattern with Approval Flow and Checklist Flow.
Jira release approval process: how to record who approved a release and when
Someone asks when a Jira release was approved and by whom. What Jira records for a version, what it does not, and a work-item record that answers the question, with an honest limit.
Is a Slack approval valid audit evidence? What to record in Jira instead
An auditor samples a change or an access request and asks who approved it. A Slack message is hard to answer with. What Jira records natively, where it is weak, and how to keep the decision in the work item.
ISO 27001 change management evidence in Jira: what to keep for Annex A 8.32
What an ISO 27001 auditor can ask for under Annex A 8.32 change management, how far Jira and Jira Service Management get you without an app, and where Checklist Flow and Approval Flow fit.
NIS2 and change control in Jira: what to record
What NIS2 Article 21 says about risk measures, where change control fits in it, which entities have explicit change management rules, and what to record in Jira for each change. Not legal advice.
Jira approvals in Slack, Microsoft Teams and e-mail, without losing who decided
Three Jira Automation recipes that ask for sign-off in Slack, Teams or e-mail while the decision stays in Jira: on a transition, a daily digest, and e-mail.
Approval Flow with ScriptRunner for Jira Cloud: read approval status in scripts
How ScriptRunner for Jira Cloud reads Approval Flow's approval status from an issue property and JQL: a release query, a validator and a listener.
How we test approval rules in Jira: a million random cases a night
Separation of duties, quorums and rejections are easy to get almost right. How Approval Flow checks them every night with random sequences of sign-offs, and what that caught.
Our nightly tests went red on the first run. The app was right.
We started testing the installed version of Approval Flow every night. The first run failed. What it was, and why we keep a list of known failures instead of deleting tests.
Read and understood in Confluence: how to get proof, not just page views
How to run read and understood in Confluence Cloud: what page views and native features show, DIY options, and what a version-bound record needs.
Confluence policy: owner, review date and next review
Keeping a review date and an owner on a Confluence policy page. What Confluence offers natively (properties, databases), the open requests since 2004 and 2007, and how Attestation Flow records a periodic review.
Policy acknowledgement evidence for ISO 27001 and SOC 2 audits: what to keep, and how to produce it from Confluence
Which policy acknowledgement records ISO 27001 and SOC 2 auditors ask for, why signed PDFs fall short, and how to produce version-bound evidence.
ISO 9001 documented information: showing a review in Confluence
What an ISO 9001 quality system needs you to show for reviewed documents, which edition is current, and which records Confluence and Attestation Flow can produce. We do not quote the standard.
ISO 27001 awareness for staff: how to run a quiz, and keep the evidence
Running ISO 27001 security awareness with a quiz: what the standard asks for, how to write useful questions, and how to keep per-person, per-version evidence.
Policy acknowledgement nudges in Slack and Microsoft Teams with Confluence Automation
Two Confluence Automation recipes that remind people in Slack or Teams to acknowledge a policy page, while the confirmation stays on the page.
Comala Document Management alternative for Confluence: when Attestation Flow fits and when it does not
Comala Document Management alternative: what Comala does, where Attestation Flow covers page approval and read confirmation, and where it does not.
When is "everyone has read it" actually true? Testing read and understood in Confluence
A green "all acknowledged" on a policy page is a claim an auditor may rely on. How Attestation Flow checks, every night, that it only goes green when it should.