Working with Workflows
The easiest way to work with workflows, is to copy an already active one, modify it, and then assign it to a board
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Using (Global)Issues/Workflows, find the project and copy the workflow. Once copied it will sit under Inactive workflows
In the project, go to project settings/workflow, Add Workflow, Remove the old workflow
Publish the change
Steps with a little more detail
Go to Jira global settings and select Issues
Now select Workflows
Locate your project and select the settings option (far right three dots)
Select Copy, to copy the workflow. Give your new workflow a new unique name that will identify you and the board
Modify your workflow according to how you see it working. In this example, we will remove the All transitions of all states except the one going into the BACKLOG. Jira automatically saves every change
Select a transition and a properties box will appear, select “Delete transition”
So the new workflow will look something like this, you need to add the transitions between the statuses (hover your mouse over a status, then click from a dot on one status to a dot on another status)
When you have finished, select the Workflows option on the left hand side. and then click on “Inactive Workflows”, your new workflow should be listed
If you want to check if the workflow is correct and was saved, select the options menu (3 dots to the right of the workflow) and Edit
Select your project from the Projects menu
Select the board you want to apply the workflow to
Select Project settings / Workflows / Add workflow / Add Existing
Locate your workflow
Select the issue types this workflow will affect, then select Finish
Finally, back on the Workflows page select Publish
Confirm that you want to associate this workflow with the board
Wait for the global change to complete then select Acknowledge
Go back to your board and refresh the screen. Try moving issues around. They should now be following the rules you created in the workflow