In our previous chapters and exercises, we have built and customized a JIRA project to collect data from users. What we need to do now is to process and present this data back to the users. The goal we are trying to achieve in this exercise is to set up a portal page for our Help Desk team, which will have useful information such as statistics and issue listings that can help our team members to better organize themselves, to provide better services to other departments.
The first step is to create a useful filter that can be shared with the other members of the team and also act as a source of data to feed our gadgets. We will use the advanced search to construct our search:
- Browse to Issue Navigator.
- Click on the Switch to searching link to bring up the JQL interface.
- Type the following in the JQL search query:
project = GHD and issuetype = Incident and status != Resolved and status != Closed order by priority - Click on the Search button to execute the search.
- Click on the Save as button to bring up the Save Filter dialog.
- Name the filter as
Unresolved Incidents GHDand click on the Submit button. - Share the filter with the HelpDesk-team group setup from Chapter 8, Securing JIRA, by clicking on the Details link next to the Save as button.
This filter searches and returns a list of unresolved issues of type Incident from our Help Desk project. The search results are then ordered by their priority so that the users can determine the urgency. As you will see in the later steps, this filter will be used as the source of data for your gadgets to present information on your dashboard.
The next step is to create a new dashboard for your help desk team. What you need is a dashboard specifically for your team so that you can share information easily. For example, you can have the dashboard displayed in a large overhead projector showing all the high priority incidents that need to be addressed:
- Browse to the Manage Dashboards page.
- Click on the Create new dashboard button. This will bring you to the Create New Dashboard page.
- Name the new dashboard as
Help Desk. - Select Blank dashboard as your base.
- Tick the new dashboard as favorite.
- Share the filter with the HelpDesk team group.
- Click on the Add button to create the dashboard.
In your example, we will use the default two columns layout for your new dashboard. Alternatively, you are free to experiment with other layouts and find the ones that best suit your needs.
Now that you have set up your portal dashboard page and shared it with the other members of the team, you need to start adding some useful information to it. One example would be to have the dashboard display all the unresolved incidents that are waiting to be processed. JIRA has an Assigned to Me gadget, which shows all the issues that are assigned to the currently logged-in user, but what you need is a global list irrespective of the assignee of the incident.
Luckily, JIRA also has a Filter Results gadget, which displays search results based on a search filter. Since you have already created a filter that returns all the unresolved incidents in your Help Desk project, the combination of both will nicely solve your problem:
- Browse to the Help Desk dashboard you have just created.
- Click on the Add Gadget option at the top-right corner. This will bring up the Gadget Directory window.
- Click on the Add it Now button for the Filter Results gadget.
- Click on the Close link to close the Gadget Directory and return to the dashboard.
- Select the Unresolved Incidents filter you created.
- Select Default Columns and any additional fields you wish to add.
- Set Refresh Interval to 15 minutes.
- Click on the Save button.
This will add a new Filter Results gadget to your new dashboard, using your filter as the source of data. The gadget will auto-refresh its contents every 15 minutes, so you will not need to refresh the page all the time. You can add some other gadgets to the dashboard to make it more informative and useful. Some other useful gadgets include the Activity Stream and Assigned to Me gadgets.
This is pretty much all you have to do to set up and share a dashboard in JIRA. After you have added the gadget to it, you will be able to see it in action. The great thing about this is, since you have shared the dashboard with others in the team, they will be able to see the dashboard too. Members of the team will be able to search for your new dashboard or mark it as a favorite to add it to their list of dashboards.
You do have to keep in mind that, if you are using a filter as a source of data for your gadget, you have to share the filter with other users too, or they will not be able to see anything from the gadget.