Jira milestones and markers serve slightly different purposes, but both truly shine when you pair them withvisual project management toolslike the Gantt chart. Today, we will discuss what Jira milestones and markers are and how they differ from each other. Next, we will move on to showing several ways to create milestones and markers, first in Jira and then with the help of Jira-compatible PPM softwareBigPictureandBigGantt.
Difference between Jira milestone and Jira marker
What is amilestone in Agile?A milestone is asignificant eventor abranching decision point within aproject lifecycle. This significant event could be aproject’s start or end date, external reviews, budget checks, meeting with stakeholders, launch, or completion of amajor deliverable. In other words, anything that you deem as important in your project and which would help you measure the progress toward the final goal.
On the other hand,a markeris avertical line thatallows you to mark (highlight) certain datesor date ranges. Like milestones, markers represent events. You can display multiple markers on atask or anywhere on the timeline.
Moreover, milestones and other critical tasks that need to occur from the start to the end of aproject are part of awork breakdown structure(WBS). This is as opposed to markers which are not the project’s components per se.
You can think of Jira milestones and markers as book chapters and bookmarks, respectively—When you finish reading achapter, you know you have made some progress in the story plot or your studies. On the other hand, bookmarks are not part of the book—you can insert one or several anywhere inside the book and remove them anytime, and the story will still carry on uninterrupted.
Jira milestones and markers are visual elements that become most beneficial when added to aGantt chart. You can also use markers on theAgile boardand other modules that BigGantt and BigPicture offer. (You will find more details on that further in this article.)
Can you add milestones in Jira?
Not quite. Neither plain Jira nor Jira (Advanced) Roadmaps have the Milestone feature as aseparate entity. Jira usersrequested this featurein 2019, which is still “under consideration.” Therefore, it is really difficult to tell when Jira milestones will be available—and if at all.
How do I create amilestone in Jira?
Even though there are no milestones in Jira as such, you canwork around this shortcoming by using the existing featuresto serve milestone purposes. There are 4 methods we can suggest:
Define Start/End or Due dates
With the first method, you define Jira milestones either as aproperty of Sprint, Releases, Project (Start/End Date), or as apart of the task itself (Due Date; for example, atask with no duration).
Create versions
In the second one, you createversions(points in time for aproject). Although versions are typically used for software releases, it does not mean you cannot use them as milestones. Simply create several versions and name them as you see fit, for example, “Milestone 1,” “Milestone 2.” etc.
Use aKanban board
In the third method, youcreate an Agile boardwith milestone-like columns, for instance, “Analysis,” “Design,” “Final release,” etc. However, you will not be dragging tasks from left to right between the columns this time. Instead, acompleted “milestone task” will remain in its original position, labeled as “Done.”
Extend Jira with BigPicture or BigGantt
If the 3 methods we suggested are not for you, there isanother way. Not aworkaround. This time you will be able to work with afull-fledged Gantt chartthat visualizes Jira milestones and markers and baselines, critical path,task dependencies, andcross-project dependencies.
To have all of that (and more), you will need to turn to the Atlassian Marketplace, where you will find (arguably) the best software for Jira—BigPictureandBigGantt. Both of them pick up where Jira left off and help you manage your projects, programs, and portfolios while keeping them synced with Jira.
Not aBigPicture user yet? Start your free 30-day trial today. Or visit our demo page to play with the app straight in your browser — no registration or installation needed.
Creating Jira milestones with BigPicture and BigGantt is fast and easy. The same goes for markers. Let’s find out how you can do it.
Create aJira milestone
You create aJira milestone by converting atask (issue) to amilestone. (You can convert amilestone back to atask, too). First, navigate to theGantt module,where you will find your project’s Gantt chart and atask list (WBS). Then, select atask from the task list next to yourGantt chartand right-click on it. A small vertical menu with options will pop up. Click on theConvert to milestoneoption.
After you have converted the task to amilestone, the same issue in Jira will receive a#milestonelabel. (Here, we converted an MNS-9 task.)
Jira issues labeling process also works the other way round—when you manually label an issue as a#milestone, BigGantt and BigPicture apps will recognize it as aJira milestone.
What if you already have alarge project created in Jira but no BigGantt/BigPicture added yet? No problem. In such acase, you canlabel multiple issues in bulkin Jira to, later on, see them as proper milestones on atimeline in BigGantt or BigPicture.
Let’s move on to markers now.
Create aJira Gantt chart marker
To create amarker, you need amodulethatsupports atimeline. Here, we will use aGantt module and highlight adate on aGantt chart.
Open the Gantt chart and hover over the timeline. You will see ablue vertical line appear. Click on it. A “New marker”windowwill pop up where you fill in the details for yournew Jira marker, including aname, date, color, and description (optional). To edit or delete it, right-click on it to prompt alist of options.
Once you have your marker in place, you can also view it on other modules. In BigPicture, you will seemarkersin the Board, Roadmap, and Calendar modules; in BigGantt, these are the Gantt and Overview modules.
Using markers beyond the project level
Markers are not only for projects; you can also use them for programs and portfolios. Let’s say there is an important event that concerns several initiatives that belong to your portfolio, not only one project. In such acase, you could define amarker at the portfolio level.
First, navigate to theOverview module(or move to the root/Home level of your initiative hierarchy) and switch to the Timeline view. Then, add amarker following the same process as we described above.
When you move back to the individual projects or programs, you will notice that theyinheritedthe “portfolio marker.” You will also notice that you cannot delete it from the lower hierarchy level.
Please take alook at the example below.
Hint: You can also usemarkers on aBoard timelineto represent the SAFe® milestones, includingProgram Increments (PIs).
How to track milestones and markers in Jira?
No matter how many markers and Jira milestones you have created, you can always conveniently track them.
First, on the right-hand side of your Gantt chart, you will find theInfobar. Here, you will see alist of all the milestonesin your project. Inforbar is available in aGantt module in BigGantt and BigPicture.
Second, in the Reports module, you can generate aMilestones & Markers report(available in BigPicture Enterprise). It will give you aquick view of your project’s or portfolio’s milestones and markers.
And finally, since you can add several markers to the same date, you also need away to look them up, as you can see only one line on aparticular day. Right-click on the marker and selectShow markers list.
On the screenshot above, there are 3 markers on July 15, 2022: 1 belongs only to agiven project; the other 2 come from the “upper” initiative.
