How to Fix Jira Resolution Issues Across All Platforms

Summary

This article outlines the issues that can occur when a Resolution field is incorrectly set in Jira and what actions can be taken to resolve these situations.

Solution

When a Resolution is incorrectly set, we can see the following:

1. Newly Created or Reopened Issues will show as strikethrough ( example: KEY-1234 ) on:

   • the Activity Stream

   • when Linked to Other Issues or Confluence Pages

   • Agile boards do not show "resolved" issues

2. On Service Management related projects, the Customer Survey may be sent inadvertently when the Customer initially creates their request

   • Or may not send if the Resolution Field is not set

3. "Done" work items are not removed from Scrum or Kanban Boards when Sprints are Completed or Versions are Released

4. In Advanced Roadmap, "Done" work items without a Resolution do not show on the Plan

5. Some Jira reports are not working or returned zero or empty report.

We've been able to identify 4 states a Jira work items can be in:

1. Resolved

   • This would be the Correct State for work items that are considered "Resolved"; ie Done, Completed, Resolved, Closed, etc

2. Unresolved

   • This would be the Correct State for work items that are considered being "Worked On"; ie In Progress, To Do, Open, etc

3. Should be Resolved (ie Closed status with Unresolved resolution) - Click here if your Configure resolutions in a Jira workflow This can occur when a POST Function or Screen does not occur on the Resolve Issue Transition

   1. Resolution is set on a Transition

      1. A POST Function is added to the "Resolve Issue" transition so that the Resolution is set automatically to a specified value

   2. Allow a User to Choose a Resolution

      1. A Screen on the "Resolve Issue" transition contains the Resolution Field which will allow the user to select the appropriate value

4. Should be Unresolved (ie New work item or work item Reopened) - Click here if you want to Remove resolution from Jira work items that aren't actually resolved. This can occur when a work item is reopened, moved between projects with different configurations (e.g., business to service projects), or with misconfigured Screens. Even if workflows and screens appear identical, underlying mapping differences may clear the Resolution field during the move.

   1. Resolution Field is added to All Screens

      1. this also brings in the event where a Custom "Unresolved" Resolution is added - This is NOT needed as Jira treats an Empty Resolution Field as Unresolved - this Custom "Unresolved" is value for the Resolution field and will be treated by Jira as Resolved.

      2. Potentially a newly created work item will have a Resolution upon creation. If the Resolution field is present on the Create Work screen, Jira treats it as required, even if optional in Field Configuration, which may cause errors like 'The selected resolution is invalid.' To resolve, either remove the Resolution field from the Create screen or create a specific screen for this operation, excluding the field.

   2. Custom created "Reopen" Transition that does not have a POST Function to clear the Resolution

      1. Resolution is only clearable via POST Function. To address unresolved work items in bulk, Jira's automation rules or bulk update functions can be used. However, note that the Resolution Date will default to the update timestamp in bulk updates. To retain the original closure date, use the CSV import feature via the External System Importer, ensuring correct field mappings such as mapping 'Issue Key' or 'Work item Key' as necessary.

      2. Customer may have added the Resolution field to a "Reopen" screen with a Custom "Unresolved" Resolution