In 2017 the Strategy for JIRA Tour delivered 20 “JIRA Mistakes” virtual and physical presentations as we rolled through Texas, New Mexico, and Arizona. In 2018, we’re tackling the west coast with planned stops in California, Nevada, Oregon, and Washington! See the tour schedule.
Denver Atlassian User Group
Our first 2018 presentation, is a virtual one in Colorado. Rachel Wright is the featured speaker at the February 21 meeting of the Denver User Group. She’ll present “Top JIRA Administration Mistakes” based on the JIRA Strategy Admin Workbook.
The goal of the “Top JIRA Administration Mistakes” presentation is to keep others out of what I call the “JIRA swamp.” Or, if you’re already in it, help dig you out. This session is different – it’s about strategy. It’s recommendations from years of cleaning up horrible JIRA configurations! It’s about what you should do, what you shouldn’t do, and why. Hear the mistakes I made as a JIRA administrator and real examples of problems to avoid. Would you rather your application be an organized, tidy, and trimmed garden or a foggy, contaminated, overgrown swamp?
Atlassian Users Groups are where users meet, learn, network, and share best practices. The groups meet locally, all over the world, on a quarterly or more frequent basis. User Group members are newbies and veterans who like to “talk shop” about Atlassian software, about Agile development, and about related business topics. At these events, you can network with your peers, share solutions, meet Expert Partners, get special content from Atlassian, and enjoy a beer.
The Strategy for JIRA Tour rolls on! Rachel Wright is in Phoenix, Arizona to deliver her “Top JIRA Administration Mistakes” presentation on November 9, 2017.
Do you need help cleaning up your Jira application? How about managing users, configurations, or multiple instances? Join us and lets talk shop!
The goal of the “Top JIRA Administration Mistakes” presentation is to keep others out of what I call the “JIRA swamp.” Or, if you’re already in it, help dig you out. This session is different – it’s about strategy. It’s recommendations from years of cleaning up horrible JIRA configurations! It’s about what you should do, what you shouldn’t do, and why. Hear the mistakes I made as a JIRA administrator and real examples of problems to avoid. Would you rather your application be an organized, tidy, and trimmed garden or a foggy, contaminated, overgrown swamp?
Atlassian Users Groups are where users meet, learn, network, and share best practices. The groups meet locally, all over the world, on a quarterly or more frequent basis. User Group members are newbies and veterans who like to “talk shop” about Atlassian software, about Agile development, and about related business topics. At these events, you can network with your peers, share solutions, meet Expert Partners, get special content from Atlassian, and enjoy a beer.
Each quarter, Atlassian has a 24 hour hackathon, called ShipIt, where they stop all work duties to create something awesome. It embodies their culture of innovation and demonstrates a sacred company value: “Be the change you seek.”
This week, 24 non-Atlassians participated in the first Atlassian User Group (AUG) Leader ShipIt. Since we’re Atlassian customers, volunteers, and have work duties we can’t ignore, our hackathon lasted 3 weeks, instead of 24 hours. We worked nights and weekends to bring our ideas to life and then submitted our finished products as a three minute video.
Project Planning at Atlassian Summit
We were one of 10 teams that accepted the ShipIt challenge. Our team included six AUG Leaders from all over the country. We named ourselves “Atlas”. We wanted to solve a visibility issue that impacts the AUG program and we wanted to use Atlassian products to do it.
Problem Statement
As an Atlassian User Group Member, an AUG Leader, or member of the Atlassian Community Team, I’d like to:
See a visual representation of the active AUG locations around the world
Find the user groups near my location
View each group’s size, contact details, and the website URL
Encourage traveling users to connect with additional groups
Create a dynamic solution which will never be out of date or require manual maintenance
Encourage new membership by showing existing user groups
Encourage new group formation by showing location gaps
Use Atlassian tools to store the data and collaborate during the project
Our Solution
Jira Custom Fields
We built a dynamic map that pulls its data from Jira issues! We started with a Jira project, where each user group is represented by an issue. The project has custom fields, like “Map Location” and “Group Size”, to hold information about each group. The project has custom workflow statuses, like “Active” and “Inactive”, to show the current state of each group.
We used Jira’s REST API to retrieve issue data for only user groups in certain statuses. Next, we injected the JSON results into SQL 2016. We then restructured the data for map use. For example, we translated the plain text “Map Location” values into coordinates the Google Maps API would understand. Finally, we created a script that automates the REST API calls and the Geocoding of the locations. The script also generates an HTML file with all the user group data plotted. The process of updating the HTML file on the server is automated too. The file is uploaded to our Confluence instance and versioned through the REST API. It is also published to an external website, demonstrating additional viewing abilities.
When a user group transitions to another status, or if any Jira issue data is updated, those changes are automatically reflected on the map! This includes changes to the group’s name, estimated user counts, and group contact information. The map requires no manual updates, which was a project goal.
Clicking a map pin displays city information, like the group size, the city contact email address, and a link to the group’s website. The map also automatically centers to your current location and counts the total number of active user groups displayed. The look and feel is fully customizable and results can be embedded on other websites, including Confluence and Jira.
Additionally, we used HipChat’s Botler service to create map entry point. In HipChat, if an AUG Leader types “an AUG in” as in “Is there an AUG in Nebraska?” a link to the map will automatically appear. See our creation in action with the three minute ShipIt video below.
Meet JIRA author Rachel Wright at Atlassian Summit in San Jose, CA! After her Summit presentation, starting at 3:00 PM PDT, Rachel will host a book Q&A in the Atlassian Summit “Help & Learning” area. Look for her in the Online Community section, across from the Tempo booth.
Meet the author, learn from her JIRA mistakes, and talk shop about JIRA strategy!
Not at Summit? Use coupon code SUMMIT for 15% off the digital version.
The JIRA Strategy Admin Workbook is different – it’s not documentation. It’s over 150 recommendations from years of cleaning up horrible JIRA configurations. This book includes 32 real life examples of what NOT to do, over 50 worksheets to get you organized, and templates, code snippets, and wording samples to help you establish and streamline processes.
It’s time to make your way to Atlassian Summit conference room 201A! At 2:20 PM PDT, Rachel Wright, author of the JIRA Strategy Admin Workbook and Atlassian’s Josephine Lee present Upgrades and Admin at Scale: How to Become a JIRA Admin Champion. After the presentation, some lucky attendees will receive a print copy of the workbook!
Not at Summit? Use coupon code SUMMIT for 15% off the digital version.
The JIRA Strategy Admin Workbook is different – it’s not documentation. It’s over 150 recommendations from years of cleaning up horrible JIRA configurations. This book includes 32 real life examples of what NOT to do, over 50 worksheets to get you organized, and templates, code snippets, and wording samples to help you establish and streamline processes.
In celebration of the excitement, learning, and camaraderie of Atlassian Summit, here’s 15% off the JIRA Strategy Admin Workbook! Use these codes during the week of Atlassian Summit. Enjoy!
Atlassian Summit Sale! 15% off the JIRA Strategy Admin Workbook
Print Version Code: N6R64W5DShop Now
Digital Version Code: SUMMITShop Now
Valid: Sep 11, 2017 – Sep 15, 2017
Summit is the grand Atlassian event of the year. With the palpable enthusiasm of the employees, the knowledge of the presenters, and the immense networking opportunities, this is the place to experience all that is Atlassian. Add the next annual event to your calendar now. Visit summit.atlassian.com for details.
Read more about Strategy for JIRA coupons, discounts, and promo codes.
Will you be at Atlassian Summit 2017, in San Jose, California, the week of September 11, 2017? On September 13, Rachel Wright, author of the JIRA Strategy Admin Workbook, is presenting “Upgrades and Admin at Scale: How to Become a JIRA Admin Champion” at 2:20 PM in room 210A.
Directly after she’ll host a Q&A in the Atlassian Online Community Lounge. Meet the author, learn from her JIRA mistakes, and talk shop about JIRA strategy!
Look for the white alligator – and stay out of the JIRA swamp!
Find Rachel in a green or brown JIRA Strategy t-shirt in the following locations:
Wed, Sep 13, 2:20 PM: Presentation in Room 210A
Wed, Sep 13, 3:00 PM: Q&A in the Atlassian Online Community Lounge
Walking the conference floor, attending sessions, and enjoying Summit!
Want to become a wiz at workflows, a master of maintenance, and unafraid of upgrades? Hear real use cases and examples from Rachel Wright, author of the JIRA Strategy Admin Workbook, and learn how to avoid common JIRA Admin mistakes to keep your application clean and uncluttered. Walk through top tips for the smoothest JIRA upgrades with Atlassian Product Manager Josephine Lee, and make sure you can take advantage of the newest features, fixes, and performance improvements of each release. Together, they’ll help make your admin life easier and instance healthier so you can become a JIRA Admin Champion.
The JIRA Strategy Admin Workbook is different – it’s not documentation. It’s over 150 recommendations that stem from years of cleaning up horrible JIRA configurations. This book includes 32 real life examples of what NOT to do, over 50 worksheets to get you organized, and templates, code snippets, and wording samples to help you establish and streamline processes.
Summit is the grand Atlassian event of the year. With the palpable enthusiasm of the employees, the knowledge of the presenters, and the immense networking opportunities, this is the place to experience all that is Atlassian. Add the next annual event to your calendar now. Visit summit.atlassian.com for details.
A long time dream has come true; I’m a featured presenter at Atlassian Summit! Summit is the grand Atlassian event of the year for users and admins of JIRA, Confluence, HipChat, and other DevOps tools.
Featured Summit Speakers
My presentation proposal was selected from hundreds of submissions. Then, out of the hundred speakers, Atlassian chose to feature me! How exciting! That’s me, directly under Mike Cannon-Brookes, Atlassian Co-Founder & Co-CEO. Between this, the “One of Us” Community Award, and publishing the JIRA Strategy Admin Workbook, it’s been an amazing year! I am so thankful.
The conference is September 12-14, 2017 in San Jose, California. If you’re attending, please add my presentation to your agenda!
Presentation Details
Upgrades and Admin at Scale: How to Become a JIRA Admin Champion
Atlassian Summit – San Jose, California
September 13, 2017, 2:20 PM – 3:00 PM, Room 210A
Want to become a wiz at workflows, a master of maintenance, and unafraid of upgrades? Hear real use cases and examples from Rachel Wright, author of the JIRA Strategy Admin Workbook, and learn how to avoid common JIRA Admin mistakes to keep your application clean and uncluttered. Walk through top tips for the smoothest JIRA upgrades with Atlassian Product Manager Josephine Lee, and make sure you can take advantage of the newest features, fixes, and performance improvements of each release. Together, they’ll help make your admin life easier and instance healthier so you can become a JIRA Admin Champion.
Rachel Wright’s “How to Become a JIRA Admin Champion” Summit presentation featured 8 of her JIRA Admin mistakes to avoid. Download all 20 Top JIRA Administration Mistakes here! Included are bonus tips, recommendations, and links to helpful resources.
Atlassian Summit – San Jose, California September 13, 2017 2:20 PM – 3:00 PM Room 210A
Want to become a wiz at workflows, a master of maintenance, and unafraid of upgrades? Hear real use cases and examples from Rachel Wright, author of the JIRA Strategy Admin Workbook, and learn how to avoid common JIRA Admin mistakes to keep your application clean and uncluttered. Walk through top tips for the smoothest JIRA upgrades with Atlassian Product Manager Josephine Lee, and make sure you can take advantage of the newest features, fixes, and performance improvements of each release. Together, they’ll help make your admin life easier and instance healthier so you can become a JIRA Admin Champion.
Rachel Wright
Author, JIRA Strategy Admin Workbook, Industry Templates, LLC
Do you have duplicate JIRA fields, statuses, and issue types? I had dupes of dupes to clean up! Avoid this mistake and hear others at the Dallas, Texas Atlassian User Group on August 17, 2017 and the London, England group on August 22, 2017. Author and Certified JIRA Administrator Rachel Wright presents “Top JIRA Administration Mistakes” based on the JIRA Strategy Admin Workbook.
The goal of the “Top JIRA Administration Mistakes” presentation is to keep others out of what I call the “JIRA swamp.” Or, if you’re already in it, help dig you out. This session is different – it’s about strategy. It’s recommendations from years of cleaning up horrible JIRA configurations! It’s about what you should do, what you shouldn’t do, and why. Hear the mistakes I made as a JIRA administrator and real examples of problems to avoid. Would you rather your application be an organized, tidy, and trimmed garden or a foggy, contaminated, overgrown swamp?
Atlassian Users Groups are where users meet, learn, network, and share best practices. The groups meet locally, all over the world, on a quarterly or more frequent basis. User Group members are newbies and veterans who like to “talk shop” about Atlassian software, about Agile development, and about related business topics. At these events, you can network with your peers, share solutions, meet Expert Partners, get special content from Atlassian, and enjoy a beer.
Will you be in Dallas on August 17 or London on August 22? Join us, join the User Group in your city, or start a group!
