Configuring Smart Filters

Owned by Bogdan Butnaru
Last updated: May 23, 2024 by Praveena Manohar
6 min read

Contents:

About Smart Filters

Smart Filters are more versatile than the two other filter types (static and dynamic). Smart filters allow the users to:

  • Filter the issues displayed by gadgets based on the current Rich Filter. The smart filters can be displayed as buttons with drop-down menus in Rich Filter Controller gadgets (similar to dynamic filters).

  • Add computed columns and/or color-coding in Rich Filter Results gadgets.

  • Build statistics on configurable criteria.

Smart Filters' Key Attributes

The Smart filters section of your rich filter allows you to add new smart filters and view existing ones and their key attributes. 

The key attributes of a smart filter are:

Attribute

Description

Attribute

Description

Name

Each smart filter has a name that identifies it. This name is mandatory and must be unique among the other smart filters within the Rich Filter.

Tag Type

Each smart filter has at least one tag type. There are two possible tag types: labels and colors. A smart filter can have any or both of these.

  • The labels tag type is necessary to use the smart filter in Controller gadgets for filtering (each Label is an option in the filtering drop-down menu), in Filter Results gadgets as a computed column (each Label is a possible value of the column), or in Statistics gadgets (as statistics criteria).

  • The colors tag type is necessary to use the smart filter for color-coding in Filter Results and Statistics gadgets. 

Clauses

A smart filter contains a list of clauses (options). Each clause is identified by a color and/or a label tag and has a JQL that is applied when the clause is used.

Adding & Editing Smart Filters

The Smart Filters section of your rich filter allows you do to the following operations: 

To do the following:

Do this:

To do the following:

Do this:

Add a new Smart Filter

Click on the Add smart filter button at the top-right of the page.  

Insert a name, select at least one tag type, and click the Add smart filter button.

Add clauses to the Smart Filter

Select a color and/or insert a label (depending on which Tag types you have selected for your smart filter), insert a JQL for the clause, and click the Add button.

Edit the clauses of the Smart Filter

Click on the color, label, or JQL of the clause to edit it, and click on the update icon to save the changes.

Delete clauses from the Smart Filter

To delete clauses, click on the Trash icon.

Reorder the clauses of a Smart Filter

Hover over the vertical “grid” icon of the clause, then drag and drop up or down to the new position.

When the smart filter is displayed by Rich Filter gadgets, the smart filter options are displayed in the order as configured in this section. 

Edit a Smart Filter’s Attributes

Click the Edit icon at the right of the smart filter’s name.

A dialog appears as shown below. Make your changes and click on the Save smart filter button.

Delete a Smart Filter

Click the Delete icon at the right of the smart filter’s name.

Move a Smart Filter

Click on the menu at the right of the smart filter’s name.

When the smart filters of this rich filter are displayed by Controller Gadgets, they are displayed in the order configured in this section by default. 

Copy (duplicate) a Smart Filter

Click on the Copy option in the smart filter’s menu.

Choose the name of the new smart filter. You can also change the Tag types setting for the copy. Click the Copy smart filter; a new smart filter identical to the first one but with the name you have inserted will be created.

Using Smart Filters in Rich Filter Gadgets

Once configured, smart filters can be used in several rich filter gadgets:

  • The Rich Filter Controller gadget – You can use the smart filters to apply additional filtering to the other rich filter gadgets. The smart filters are displayed as drop-down menus (similar to dynamic filters).


    Learn more: Rich Filter Controller Gadget 

  • The Rich Filter Results gadget – the smart filters can be added in views as smart columns


See also:

Configuring Views

Rich Filter Results Gadget

When deciding under which clause an issue falls, we use match-all criteria: the same issue can be part of multiple clauses if it matches the JQL of each clause. This means that when the smart filter is used as a computed column or statistics criteria, it behaves as a multi-select option field.

If you want your clauses to be mutually exclusive, you need to write your JQL in such a way that an issue can match only one clause at any particular time. For instance, these are mutually exclusive clauses; an issue cannot possibly match more than one clause at a time: