I’m working on a project with multiple Epics and their related tasks. My board shows everything mixed together in one column instead of grouping them properly. Right now all my items appear in random order based on when I created them. I want to see each task positioned under its parent Epic, maybe even indented to show the hierarchy better. Can Jira automatically arrange items this way or do I have to manually move everything around? Looking for a way to make the board more organized without spending hours dragging items.
Board configuration is key here. Go to Board Settings and locate the Swimlanes option; set it to group by the Epic Link field. This method automatically organizes your cards beneath their respective Epics, providing horizontal lanes for each Epic along with the corresponding tasks arranged correctly. This setup is much neater than the default view. Additionally, consider using Quick Filters to create Epic-specific filters for focused workstreams. I’ve found that swimlanes maintain the visual hierarchy effectively without needing third-party tools or manual rearranging. The setup takes about five minutes, drastically enhancing your board’s readability.
Had this exact problem last year during a big product release. Jira’s default Kanban doesn’t group by Epic automatically, but I found a solid workaround. Hit your board settings and find ‘Card Layout’ - add the Epic field to each card so you can spot groupings easily. The real lifesaver is Epic filters in quick filters. Make separate filters for each Epic and toggle between them when you need focused views. Check if you’ve got Portfolio add-on too - way better for hierarchy stuff. I ended up making separate boards for major Epics instead of wrestling with one huge board. More setup upfront but saves tons of time vs manually sorting everything.
swimlanes work great, but here’s another trick - use the groupby feature. just click the group dropdown at the top right of your board and select epic. jira automatically stacks cards under each epic without messing with board settings. way faster than dragging everything around manually.