Rename system fields in Jira server
Platform Notice: Data Center Only - This article only applies to Atlassian products on the Data Center platform.
Note that this KB was created for the Data Center version of the product. Data Center KBs for non-Data-Center-specific features may also work for Server versions of the product, however they have not been tested. Support for Server* products ended on February 15th 2024. If you are running a Server product, you can visit the Atlassian Server end of support announcement to review your migration options.
*Except Fisheye and Crucible
Symptoms
You cannot rename standard, out of the box fields in JIRA. This includes fields like Summary, Description, Labels, Versions, etc.
There is a feature request to improve this, tracked in JRASERVER-21293 - Rename any system field via the admin section.
Resolution
This process is intended for JIRA versions 4.4.x+ and is not officially supported.
Modify a Language Pack to carry the values you want then install.
Go to Atlassian Translations
Download the appropriate Language and version you are looking to modify
Unpack the JAR file
Navigate to <Language_Pack_Unpack>/com/atlassian/jira/web/action
Open JiraWebActionSupport_<LANGUAGE>.properties
This file contains all the names for the fields and areas in JIRA. You'll need to make according changes to this file to rename fields.
As an example, if you wanted to change the column heading for "Priority" under the Issue navigator, you'll want to change...
issue.column.heading.priority
When finished with modifying the file, re-pack the entire contents of the folder.
You can zip the contents then just change the extension to .jar
Install the jar using Managing apps document.
If your modifications do not look correct, uninstall the plugin and fix your modifications.
Was this helpful?