This article documents a resolved support case involving custom field grouping in BigGantt on Jira Data Center. The customer wanted to group their Gantt chart view by a custom field but couldn't find the field in the grouping options.

Outcome: The issue was resolved by adding the desired custom field as a column in the active Column View, which makes it available for both grouping and sorting.

Issue summary

A customer using BigGantt (Data Center, v8.70.1.1) wanted to group their Gantt chart view by a specific custom field ("project" custom field and "Label"). The grouping dropdown only showed certain fields (e.g., Plant) but not their desired custom fields.

Symptoms observed

• The Group tasks dropdown did not show the customer's custom field.

• The Sort By option also did not display all expected custom fields.

• Some fields (like Plant, Chief / Systems engineer) were available for grouping while others were not.

Root cause

In BigGantt, both grouping and sorting options are derived directly from the columns visible in the current Column View. Fields that are not added as columns in the active view will not appear in the grouping or sorting options.

The customer's desired custom fields were not added to the currently active column view, which is why they didn't appear in the grouping/sorting menus.

Resolution

The customer was instructed to add the desired custom field as a column in the active Column View:

1. Click the cog icon (or + icon) on the far right of the task list header.

2. Use the search box to find the field to add (e.g., the "project" custom field or "Label").

3. Add it as a column.

4. Once the field is visible as a column, it automatically appears in both the Group tasks and Sort By options.

The customer confirmed that this resolved the issue and they were able to use multi-level grouping as well.

How to troubleshoot similar cases

1. Check the active Column View — Verify which columns are currently visible in the task list header.

2. Add missing fields as columns — Use the cog/+ icon on the right of the task list header to search for and add the desired field.

3. Verify field availability — Note that Key and Summary columns cannot be used for grouping.

4. Check Column View switching — If the user switches to a different column view that doesn't include the field, the grouping will be cleared.

5. Multi-level grouping — Remind users that multiple grouping elements can be activated simultaneously with a defined hierarchy order.

Key notes

• The Key and Summary columns cannot be used for grouping.

• If the user switches to a different column view that doesn't include the field, the grouping will be cleared.

• Multi-level grouping is supported — users can activate multiple grouping elements and define their hierarchy order.