In many organizations, teams rely on Jira project management templates to do more than just organize their workflow and track progress. They also use templates to standardize how projects are initially set up and shorten the time it takes to start another one.
But the problem with native Jira templates is that they don’t have predefined issue structures, epics, and tasks. So, what happens when a large portion of your work items is highly repetitive?
To truly scale, you need repeatable projects that let your team get started without having to rebuild those tasks and issue hierarchies all over again.
This article will help you work around this limitation in native Jira project templates and, at the end, provide a solution to create truly repeatable projects.
Let’s begin by looking at what Jira calls a project template.
What Is a Jira Project Template (And What It Is Not)
A project template in Jira is a pre-configured project that teams can start using immediately instead of setting everything up from scratch. These templates come already preconfigured with work types, workflows, and other features intended for different use cases.
For example, if you’re a software development team, there are two main project templates to pick:
- Kanban. Best for continuous work and support.
Scrum. Best if you want to organize complex work into sprints and deliver tasks regularly.
You’ll also find several templates to explore in:
- Finance
- Marketing
- HR, sales, and other use cases.
There are also project templates for other areas, such as product, service, or work management, as shown in the screenshot above.
Just so you know, a project template is now called ‘space templates’ in Jira Cloud. They help you document, structure, visualize, and track the way work moves from start to finish.
Can I reuse my project settings in Jira?
One of the biggest benefits of Jira project templates is that you can reuse an existing project as a setup for the next one. Once you’ve configured a “master” project to match your workflow, you can share its settings with a new project. This way, you’ll have a consistent way of creating other similar projects.
That’s what makes native Jira templates repeatable by design.
However, when you share an existing project, you only carry over the structure or configuration. That includes things like:
- Your workflows. The defined stages your work goes through (i.e., To Do, In Progress, Review, and Done).
- Issue types. Your specific issue types, like Epic, Task, or Bugs.
- Fields and screens. The project data points you captured and how they’re displayed.
- Permissions. The rules for who can view and edit the project.
This approach not only saves you time when creating Jira projects but also ensures that recurring projects follow the same standards.
What Jira project templates do NOT include
Keep in mind that sharing an existing project only copies the settings, not the actual work items (tasks).
Your new project will have all the configurations and workflow, but it’s still an “empty container” without:
- The actual backlog (no epics, tasks, or subtasks are created).
- Issue hierarchies
- Project-level automations
- Contextual content like your descriptions, summaries, attachments, and checklists.
Because the actual work is excluded, your team will be forced to manually copy, paste, or recreate the same issues/tasks for recurring projects.
This limitation is the source of much of the confusion around Jira project templates. And the reason why many teams struggle to scale highly repetitive work.
There’s a way to work around this limitation. But first, it helps to look at how to create a project template in Jira and add all the configurations your teams need.
How to Create a Project Template in Jira Using Native Features
If your main goal is to create a “master” project to reuse as a blueprint for repeatable work, you first need to build a base project.
To do this, just follow these steps:Open your Jira dashboard and click the + icon to create a new space.
- This will open a list of templates for different use cases.
- Browse and select the template that closely matches your needs.
For example, if you’re in software development, you can pick Scrum or Kanban boards. - Next, give the project a clear name. Use a name like “Master Template: Standard Marketing Launch,” so others know not to delete it.
For the option on how your space is managed, select company-managed. This is important because team-managed projects are completely self-contained and cannot share their configuration.
Configure your project
After Jira creates the space, you can configure it according to your organization’s standards and way of working.
To do this, just go to the Space settings and:
- Create your workflow. Define the steps a work item will follow from creation to completion (e.g., To Do → In Review → Resolved).
- Set up your issue types. For example, Epic, Story, Bug, Task.
- Configure screen and field configuration schemes. Determine exactly what data points need to be captured (e.g., Priority, Account ID, Due Date).
- Set permissions and roles. Define who can view or edit the work.
- Add the standard issue backlog manually and ensure the dependencies are respected.
Read this guide on how to configure a Jira project to see what needs to be configured in detail.
NOTE: Getting this step right is critical because any error in your “master” configuration will be repeated in every project created from it.For your information, custom business and software project templates for both team-managed and company-managed projects are now available in Jira Enterprise Plan. This upgrade allows you to copy team-managed space settings as well. But it’s only limited to Jira admins.
Settings included in custom space templates: Boards, Work types, Fields, Workflows, Roles, Notifications, Permissions, Shortcuts, Issue Security
Not included: Apps, automations, work items from the source space, enabled features, and feature settings.
Moving on, let’s look at why creating a space template in this way is not enough to scale standardized practices across your organization.
Why Native Jira Project Templates Do Not Scale
If you want to reuse your “master” template later, it will fail to scale for three main reasons:
- Native templates copy configurations only. Later, when you start a new project and share settings with an existing project, it excludes the actual backlog (Epics, Tasks, and Subtasks).
- They are “static” by nature. Because Jira doesn’t natively automate issue creation during project setup, your team is forced to manually copy and paste the same issues over and over again.
- Content is project-bound. While settings can be shared, issues are locked to the project where they were created.
This creates a few practical problems. For instance:
- Your team wastes valuable time rebuilding the same task lists they finished some days ago.
- Recreating work manually is prone to human error, which can result in inconsistencies
- Jira admins are often pulled from high-level work to help teams clone or move issues into a new project.
You can bridge this gap by using a marketplace app like Easy Issue Templates for Jira. While Jira provides the structural foundation, this app provides the content, which allows you to deploy full issue hierarchies, prefill descriptions, and complex task lists the moment a new project is created.
Examples of Jira Project Templates for Business Teams
Before we can move on, here are a few examples of Jira project templates that business teams usually scale:
Employee onboarding template
Every time a business onboards a new employee, usually the:
- HR handles contracts and documentation
- IT prepares accounts and equipment
- Learning and development coordinates training
- Finance sets up payroll and compliance
Unless these processes are standardized, structured, and made repeatable through a template, teams within these departments may struggle to stay aligned, and tasks can be easily missed.
Other common use cases:
Other familiar use cases where project structure can be defined once and reused include:
- Software releases. For example, if you run bi-weekly sprints, you can create a repeatable template for development, testing, bug bash, deployment, and post-release checks.
- Marketing campaigns. A typical campaign can have epics for strategy, tasks for execution, and subtasks for approval.
- Product launches. These often involve the same coordination every time, such as QA validation, documentation, and go-to-market planning.
Now, let’s look at what makes Easy Issue Templates for Jira the best marketplace app to design scalable epic → task → subtask hierarchies.
How to Turn Projects Into Truly Reusable Jira Project Templates Using Easy Issue Templates
While Jira helps you standardize project structure, it doesn’t scale content-specific tasks. To create truly reusable projects that include prefilled tasks, you need Easy Issue Templates to handle what Jira can’t scale on its own.
This app lets you automate repetitive Jira work by saving complex issue hierarchies as a recurring template.
Once your “master” project is configured and ready, you can:
- Save any existing Jira issue (or an entire hierarchy) into a reusable issue template.
- Save the epic template with subtasks and linked child issues.
- Automate the creation of epics, tasks, stories, and subtasks rather than manually recreating them.
- Easily restore full complex issue hierarchies from a Jira template.
- Automatically fill issue fields with saved data (summaries, descriptions, and custom fields) to speed up issue creation. This preserves critical context across all projects.
- Modify the template, add variables (to populate required fields dynamically), set template scope, and streamline your workflow.
Why business teams always choose Easy Issue Templates
Easy Issue Templates stands out because it doesn’t just simplify and automate issue creation; it also streamlines issue management. It brings consistency and speed to your repeatable projects, so your team can save time and avoid setup errors as well:
- It also works across Jira products. You can use it on Jira software, Jira Service Management (JSM), or Jira Work Management. It also works alongside third-party tools like Checklists and testing apps.
Plus, Easy Issue Template is SOC 2 type II compliant, meaning it’s been proven to be private and secure to use. - It has a wide range of use cases. You can create templates for epics, tasks, bug reports, user stories, test cases, employee onboarding, and offboarding. The list goes on.
- Faster and easier to set up. Just install the app and start using it right away. No complex configuration is required.
- You can create complex issue hierarchies. Most importantly, this app allows you to create epics, stories, tasks, subtasks, and tickets with predefined relationships. These can all be prefilled from saved issue templates automatically to save time.
So, if you’re tired of manually creating the same Jira issues over and over, Easy Issue Templates simplifies and speeds up issue creation. Ultimately, this will save your team time and boost your efficiency and consistency across projects.
Best Practices to Maintain Jira Project Management Templates
The following best practices will help you get the most out of Easy Issue Templates, especially if you care about efficiency, consistency, and a smooth experience as your projects scale.
- Keep your templates focused on a specific use case. Tailoring your template to specific projects, issue types, or teams can help you ensure functions within a relevant scope and improve usability.
- Leverage placeholders and variables. Instead of using fixed values such as dates, names, or versions, use dynamic variables. Doing this will make your templates flexible and adaptable for different scenarios.
- Write clear and actionable names and descriptions. For example, instead of naming your template “Bug template”, give it a name that clearly defines its purpose. Something like “Bug Report – Critical.” For the descriptions, keep the instructions clear to easily guide assignees. You can use markdown to highlight key details, steps, and links.
- Review and update your templates regularly. Periodically auditing a template lets you spot and remove outdated ones. You’ll also be able to adjust fields and content as your team’s needs and feedback evolve.
- Manage access and permissions wisely. To avoid unwanted modifications, ensure you share your templates with only the right people.
- Train your team. For example, you can provide them with documentation or organize training sessions to train your team on how to use templates effectively.
Jira Project Management FAQs
Can I copy a Jira project to use as a template?
Yes, Jira has a native clone option that can duplicate issues and their content. It reasonably works well when your templates are simple, only a few fields need updating, or your team doesn’t mind manually editing field values and summaries. Although it’s simple and universally available, most teams don’t use this approach when work becomes more complex and requires frequent updates.
Project cloning doesn’t scale well if you have:
- Extensive template structures, especially those that span several projects.
- Projects with complex issue hierarchies.
How do I create recurring projects in Jira?
It depends on your Jira subscription plan. For enterprise plans, you can use the native “Save as template” feature. For all other plans:
- Select Create Project.
- Choose the company-managed project type.
- Then check the box that says “Share settings with an existing project.“
- Select your “Master” project from the dropdown.
However, it’s important to note that both methods only copy the project structure (workflows, fields, and permissions). You can use the Easy Issue Template app to ensure that your work items are carried over.
Can non-admins use project templates?
Only if they’re granted specific permissions. Non-admins can use templates to create team-managed projects, provided they have a specific system-level permission to do so.
However, they cannot use templates for company-managed projects. Those are more tightly controlled because they can use shared schemes, custom fields, etc., that impact the entire Jira instance. Whereas team-managed projects are completely self-contained and don’t affect other projects.
Conclusion
Creating repeatable projects helps teams move faster, stay consistent, and scale without rebuilding the same work “content” every time.
However, native Jira project management templates only handle workflows and configuration, and they stop there. The actual backlog (your task lists, hierarchies, etc) still has to be recreated manually, which makes repetitive work hard to scale.
To move from just having a consistent project structure to truly scalable projects, you need a way to template the work itself. That’s where Easy Issue Templates fills that gap.
It lets you instantly create predefined issue (epic → task → subtask) hierarchies alongside a ready-to-use project structure from Jira.
