Clone tasks

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Clone tasks

Create tasks by cloning

Cloning adds tasks to the Box in which you initiate it.

If you want to clone the scope of a Box "Alfa" into "Beta", you have to go to the "Beta" Box and carry out the cloning there - during the cloning, you select a Box that serves as a source of tasks; those tasks are then added to a Box in which you have clicked "Clone existing scope".

Only the following field values can be cloned:

Data

Cloning result (Yes / No)

Data

Cloning result (Yes / No)

Jira issue

yes

Task structure

yes

Issue types

conditional yes

  • If the space does have the required issue types in the issue type scheme, they will be matched.

  • If a new space with different issue types (issue scheme) is used, the default issue type will be used for all tasks that cannot be matched (usually, it will be either "story" or "task").

  • Sub-tasks will be cloned as default issue types. It is not possible to maintain the distinction.

Jira epics

yes

Dependencies

Yes. All dependencies (both soft and strong) get copied, and all the settings (ASAP, lag time, etc.) are preserved.

Summary field

yes

Start / End date synchronized fields

yes

Skills

yes

Available only in the cloud version of the app.

Manual Colors

yes

Milestones

yes

Original Estimate

yes

Basic tasks

yes

Additionally, task templates can be created or inherited, allowing you to create a whole group of Basic tasks with a single click. Basic tasks in a time template can't be nested (it is possible to change their placement in the hierarchy later).

Trello tasks

yes

Conned as Basic tasks. 

Status

no

Task status depends on the Jira project configuration. The initial status of its workflow (for example, "OPEN") is applied to all copied tasks.

Other fields besides Summary and synchronized date fields

no

 

Required fields

no

The required fields can not be populated by the app; before cloning the tasks, make sure all possible fields are set as optional.

Version or Component

no

The app is capable of creating Jira Issues and recreating the structure. It is not capable of creating anything that is not a Jira Issue while cloning, therefore it will automatically replace the original Version or Component with a Basic Task.

No other information will be copied during the cloning process, even if fields are filled in and set to "required".

Steps

To open the clone scope dialog, click "+add" button and select 'Clone existing scope':

Next:

  • select the Box you want to clone (tasks from that box are copied)

  • select the target project to store the cloned tasks (tasks are copied to a selected Jira space - you can set up a new, empty project for the clone)

Cloned tasks will be added gradually. 

The process progress is indicated by the icon:

Refresh the page so that you can observe the results. 

Automatic linking of the original and cloned tasks

When you clone tasks, the original task and the new task can be linked, depending on the settings.

Possible problems and solutions

Setting up an empty Jira project

Cloning JIRA tasks effectively means they get copied. To successfully perform such action, you not only need a source (a Jira space that you make a copy of) but also somewhere to put them (a Jira space where the copied issues live). The copies are visualized in the App, but they must exist somewhere in Jira itself.

You can easily create a new, empty Jira space. If you wish, you can use an existing Jira space to perform this action ("Create with shared configuration" option) - this will result in copying the Jira space setup (permission, notification, issue security, workflow, issue type, issue type screen, field configuration).

You don't have to set up an empty Jira project and can use an existing one. In such cases, copied issues will be added to the existing ones.

 

Copy issues

In the App, in the Gantt module, click the "+" Add task button and select "clone existing scope" from the list ("clone existing scope" functionality is also available in the Scope module). 

In the first drop-down select a Box - the scope of that Box (Jira projects, issues, etc) will be copied. Keep in mind, that you are not selecting a Jira project, you are selecting a Box; tasks from that Box get copied. This means, that if a Box includes multiple projects or just a limited number of issues from one project, that's what will get copied. 

The second drop-down gives you the destination Jira project. 

If the destination Jira project already contains issues, they will automatically be included in the scope.

scope = copied items + existing destination items

 

Cloning Option is Unavailable:

Scope type dictates whether the option is available. 

In Boxes with "Own" scope

If a Box type was created with "Own" scope, the option is available. You can clone a scope of an existing Box (with "Own" scope) or import a file. 

 

In Boxes with "Own" scope from boxes with "Sub" scope

If you try to copy tasks from a Box with "Sub" scope type, you won't be able to select it as a source. "None" and "Sub" scope type Boxes won't be coming up on the list of possible options, as the action doesn't make sense. A Box with "Sub" scope doesn't have its own scope you could copy. 

In Boxes with "Sub" scope

If a Box has been created with "Sub-scope" the options are inactive. 

The scope of a box with a "sub-scope" type is based strictly on the upper-level Box; a sub-Box itself doesn't have its own scope. You can't clone or import tasks to a Box that doesn't have its own scope. The action has to be performed in the upper-level Box with "Own" scope. 

"None" scope Boxes 

A Box with "None" scope doesn't display any tasks at all, it only aggregates its sub-Boxes. 

You can't clone a scope into a Box with "None" scope.

You can't clone a scope from a Box with "None" scope - you can't find such a Box on a list of available scope sources. This means you can't select such a Box, not on purpose, not accidentally, as a source to be cloned. 

Required Fields 

The most common reason for the cloning process to fail is related to Jira Field Configuration. 

The "Required" fields have to be changed to "Optional" for the time when the App is importing the program.

Keep in mind, that the change of the Field Configuration scheme has to be applied to the target Jira project (the project issues get copied to). 

We recommend creating a temporary scheme instead of changing an existing one. This way, other projects will not be affected. Then, when needed, you apply a "temporary" configuration to a project instead of changing an existing configuration (that may be in use by multiple different projects) to minimize the impact.

To make things easier you may copy an existing configuration:

Name it to make things clear for other users:


Click on the field configuration name and change all items to "optional" within it:

Add a new field configuration scheme:

Make sure that the correct field configuration is associated with the scheme:

Go to the Jira project that is added to the Box scope (the project Jira issues will be copied to):

Find the field configuration:

Change the scheme:

You can proceed with the cloning after changing the Field Configuration.

 

Need support? Create a request with our support team.

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