Software development is a sort of modern magic – people, who know the special language, can create full-fledged and functional programs to make users’ life easier. Joking aside, this activity is less about magic and more about hard work. Software developers are involved in a multilevel process of designing, specifying, programming, testing, and readjusting all imaginable software components.
When talking about software development as a team activity, one may easily conclude that these numerous actions require planning and cooperation with other members. Therefore, a team cannot do without a powerful task management platform. One of the most widely-used sources of that kind is Jira.
Jira provides a range of project management capacities, including task assigning, planning, and conversation. Initially, it was created for agile project management, which is a method of cooperation that values communication and result above everything else.
Therefore, most features provided by Jira aim to help users make the working process not only structured but also transparent and open. What is more, it has many amazing add-ons and provides numerous customization options. In this article, we are going to discuss Jira plugins that will certainly make your team’s cooperation better and easier.
Jira plugins: what are they and how to install one?
But first, let’s talk about plugins as they are. If you take a look at Jira workflow examples, you will see that in-built tools provide basic capacities, but what if you want more? Well, if you do, then you certainly need to check some add-ons. In general, these are additional features that supplement Jira’s functions and provide new capabilities.
They are similar to mobile applications that improve the functionality of your cell phone. Most plugins are aimed at making your working experience more convenient and fast. Gladly, there are numerous of them available for free, so you can download one and install it right to your Jira.
When it comes to installation, you should remember that only those users, who have the rights of an administrator can install new features. If you do have them, then you should visit Atlassian Market using your Atlassian admin page. Then just click the “Find new add-ons” button on your personal page and choose the ones that interest you. You will see an “Install” button in front of every available app, so just click it and it’s done!
If you want to download an app, then you should click the button “Get it now”. When you do, you will receive an OBR or JAR file. After that, you should open your admin’s page and click “Manage add-ons” > “Upload add-on”> select a required file > “Upload”. That’s it! The app will install after you make these simple steps. If the plugin doesn’t work right after installation, then try restarting Jira. Check the list of the top-5 plugins you can use for Jira.
Timesheet Tracking
As you can see from its name, Timesheet Tracking plugin is about creating reports that show the amount of time you and your coworkers have spent in Jira. Due to a number of useful features like charts, calendars, and filters, Timesheet Tracking is incredibly simple and convenient to use. You can find information about the time logged by a particular project or person.
This is incredibly useful when you need to know how much time your colleagues have been working on a task. What is more, you can see the team’s or user’s current workload to know whether you can delegate a new task to them. This way, you won’t have to distract them from work when you want to ask if they are available at the moment. All the answers are already there!
JExcel Lite
This Jira plugin will come in handy for those, who are used to Excel spreadsheets. With its help, you can manage tasks as if they were arranged in an Excel table. With an advanced search and convenient interface, you will easily find information about any task you are interested in.
Also, this plugin has a sorting tool that allows you to filter and edit information fast. You can copy text from your Excel file without losing initial formatting. With JExcel Lite, you won’t get confused even if there are many issues present in your project.
Related Issues
With Related Issues, you will retrieve a list of tasks that are marked with similar specifications. This is a perfect tool for arranging panels viewable for particular teams or groups. With this app, every user will see all tasks and those that are related to them, which excludes the risk of duplication. The related issues can be found by tags.
Collapsible Dashboard Sidebar
This one is a simple but extremely useful plugin. With Collapsible Dashboard Sidebar, you can manage the boards using the full size of your screen. If you think that there is nothing special about an app like that, well, you just have to try it once. Believe us, you will start wondering how did you live without it before.
My ToDo
Using Jira for project management, you can easily assign and view tasks, but sometimes you need to perform different actions. For example, you may need to leave a note for a certain subtask or check if a particular issue is already resolved.
To let you remember the important things that you have to do during the day, you should install My ToDo plugin. This is a customizable check-list for issues and tasks you have in your project. With the help of this one, you can locate reminders about things to do and track changes in the tasks you are interested in. My ToDo can be used as a personal application for yourself or as a general checklist for a team.
Conclusion
There are several benefits that Jira can boast of. First, it has a great deal of well-thought and useful features for project management that can be supplemented by additional plugins.
Second, it’s not that complicated to learn Jira. We mean that additional plugins don’t make the platform any difficult, because you can simply remove or change something that doesn’t fully correspond to your needs. Installation of plugins listed above won’t take you more than a couple of minutes, but they will transform your Jira into a real giant of task managing.
The best thing about them is that they all come for free. From the experience of our own development team, we can say that additional plugins are extremely helpful for all kinds of agile projects. We use them actively for efficient communication and encourage you to try them out as well!
