The easiest way to create a new project is to select the Create Project menu option from the Projects drop-down menu from the top navigation bar. This will bring up the Create project dialog. Note that, as we explained, you need to be a Jira administrator (such as the user we created during installation) to create projects. This option is only available if you have the permission.
From the Create project dialog, select the template you want to use under the Business heading and click on Next. On the next page, Jira will display predefined configurations for the template you have selected. In our example, we have selected the Task management template, so Jira provides us with two issue types and a very simple workflow with two steps. Click on the Select button to continue, as shown in the following screenshot:
For the third and final step, we need to provide the new project's details. Jira will help you validate the details, for example, by making sure that the project key is unique and conforms to the required format. After filling in the project details, click on the Submit button to create the new project, as show in the following screenshot:
The following table lists the information you need to provide when creating a new project:
| Field | Description |
| Name | This is a unique name for the project. |
| Key | This is a unique identity key for the project. As you type the name of your project, Jira will auto-fill the key based on the name, but you can replace the auto-generated key with one of your own. You will be able to change the key later.The project key will also become the first part of the issue key for issues created in the project. |
| Project Lead | The lead of the project can be used to auto-assign issues. Each project can have only one lead. This option is available only if you have more than one user in Jira. |
Once you have created the new project, you will be taken to the Project Browser interface, which we will discuss in the forthcoming sections.
You may have noticed that in the Create project dialog, there are the following three additional options at the bottom:
- Import a project: This allows you to import data from another compatible issue tracking system or data export, such as Bugzilla, GitHub, or CSV file, into a new or existing Jira project. We will cover this later in the chapter.
- Create with shared configuration: This allows you to create a new project based on the configurations of an existing project. This is a great way for you to create a project based on a standard set of configurations quickly.
- Create sample data: This allows you to create a new project and populate it with some sample issues, so you can start exploring the various features offered by different project type templates.