There are two ways in which you can edit an issue in Jira. The first and more traditional way is by clicking on the Edit button or by pressing E on your keyboard. This will bring up the Edit Issue dialog box, along with all the editable fields for the current issue. This allows you to make changes to multiple fields at once.

The second option is called in-line editing. With this feature, you will be able to view the issue and edit the field you want on the spot, without having to wait for the edit dialog to load. Scroll down to find the field. To edit a field inline, all you have to do is hover your mouse over the value for the field you want to update, wait for the edit icon to show up, click on the icon, and start editing, as shown in the following screenshot:

The fields you can edit are controlled by the screen that's used for the edit issue operation. Screens will be discussed in Chapter 6, Screen Management.