Jorge Iglesias

Author: Jorge Iglesias

  • Streamlining Release Management with Jira Automation

    Streamlining Release Management with Jira Automation

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    As project managers, our goal is to maintain a smooth and efficient workflow, especially when it comes to release management. Merging tasks into the master branch is a critical part of the software development lifecycle, and ensuring that these tasks are part of the upcoming release—or identifying when they are not—is essential for a coherent release process. With Jira’s automation features, we can streamline this process. Let’s explore how to set this up step by step.

    Setting Up Your Jira Automation Rule

    Step 1: Create a New Rule Go to your Jira project and select ‘Project settings’. Under ‘Project settings’, find ‘Automation’ (you might need to have admin rights to access this feature). Click on ‘Create rule’.

    Step 2: Choose a Trigger For our use case, we want to act when a pull request is merged. So, select ‘Pull request merged’ as the trigger.

    Step 3: Define Issue Field Conditions After a pull request is merged, we need to check if the merge is related to an issue that should be in the upcoming release. To do this, add a new component ‘Edit issue fields’ and select ‘Merged to Master’. Make sure to create this custom field in Jira.

    Step 4: Set Up Conditional Logic We need to compare the fixed versions of the issue with a regular expression to see if it matches the pattern expected for the release.

    For tasks expected in the release, use the condition: {{issue.fixVersions}} contains regex(A[0-9]{1,2}-9[0-9]{1,2}(\.0[1-9]|\.1[0-2])|(\.0[1-9]|\.1[0-9]|\.2[0-9])$)

    If this condition is true, you will ‘Send Slack message’ stating: “A ticket that is in the release has been merged into master. Please confirm.”

    Step 5: Handle Exceptions For tasks that are merged but are not expected in the upcoming release, set another condition to catch these instances: {{issue.fixVersions}} does not match regex(A[0-9]{1,2}-9[0-9]{1,2}(\.0[1-9]|\.1[0-2])|(\.0[1-9]|\.1[0-9]|\.2[0-9])$)

    If this condition is true, you will ‘Send Slack message’ stating: “A ticket that is NOT in the release has been merged into master. Please confirm.”

    Step 6: Finalize Your Rule Give your rule a name, such as “PR Merge to Master Marker”, and set the ‘Scope’ to the relevant project. Assign an owner who will receive notifications if the rule fails, and choose an ‘Actor’, which is usually ‘Automation for Jira’.

    Step 7: Test and Activate Before activating, test your rule to ensure it works as expected. Once confirmed, activate the rule by toggling the ‘Enabled’ switch.

    Why This Matters

    Automating this process:

    • Reduces the manual effort to track which tasks are part of the upcoming release.
    • Minimizes the risk of deploying features that are not ready or have not been included in the release notes.
    • Notifies team members promptly, allowing for quick action if something has been merged incorrectly.

    Conclusion

    Automations in Jira are powerful tools that can significantly improve your team’s efficiency and accuracy, especially when managing releases. With the above steps, you can set up a robust automation rule to monitor and notify about the state of issues in your master branch. Embrace these automations and let them take over some of the heavy liftings in your project management processes.

  • Is Email Dead? Alright, Stop the Funeral – We’ve Got Text Alerts!

    Is Email Dead? Alright, Stop the Funeral – We’ve Got Text Alerts!

    Reading Time: 2 minutes

    You ever notice how everyone’s always saying, “Email is dead”? Like it’s some kind of digital dinosaur, just waiting for a meteor called ‘WhatsApp’ to wipe it out. Well, as someone cruising through the fabulous 40s – yeah, that’s right, the age where wisdom starts to peek through the chaos of youth – I’ve seen communication tactics flip more than pancakes at a Sunday brunch.

    Remember the good ol’ days? When getting an email was as exciting as Eddie Murphy dropping a new movie? You’d rush to that computer, heart pounding, thinking, “Who’s thinking about me? What’s this mystery message?” Fast forward, and here we are, drowning in a sea of emails, most of which scream urgency but read like the back of a shampoo bottle.

    The Saga of the Overflowing Inbox

    Inbox Zero? More like Inbox Hero if you can even get close. It’s like every email is a little gremlin, and they just keep multiplying, especially if you feed them after midnight. And by feeding, I mean replying. You send one out, and three come back – it’s the Hydra of the digital age!

    Enter the Mighty Text Alert

    So, what’s the game-changer? Drumroll, please… Text alerts! That’s right. We’re talking about taking communication back to basics, to the times when a “beep” meant something juicy was coming your way, not just another newsletter telling you how to lose weight by eating air.

    Text alerts are like that friend who cuts through the nonsense at a party and tells you there’s no more pizza. Disappointing, sure, but at least you know where you stand. It’s direct, to the point, and you’re gonna see it because, let’s be real, who isn’t glued to their phone these days?

    Setting Up Your Own Comedy Show… I Mean, Text Alert System

    Thinking of bringing some laughs and efficiency to your communication? Here’s how to set up your personal text alert system, Eddie Murphy style:

    Find Your Platform:

    Pick a text alert service that doesn’t need a PhD to understand. You want to send messages, not launch a spaceship. I specifically use zapier to connect gmail with slack.

    Emails are already labeled and anytime an email with a specific label comes in, slack will send me a message alerting me to the new email. Hopefully I will never miss an important email again.

    Keep It Fun:

    When crafting your alerts, channel your inner Eddie. A touch of humor can turn a mundane message into a mini comedy show.

    Timing is Everything:

    Just like delivering a punchline, timing your text alerts is key. You want to be the highlight of someone’s day, not the reason they’re throwing their phone on silent.

    Navigating the Text Alert Etiquette

    Now, before you go all “Delirious” on your text alerts, remember the golden rule of comedy and communication: timing and audience. Don’t be the person sending text alerts at 3 AM, unless it’s an actual emergency or you’ve discovered a guaranteed way to bring back “Coming to America” with the original cast.

    Wrapping It Up With a Laugh

    So, there you have it, folks. Email might be taking a long nap, but communication is more alive than ever with text alerts. It’s quick, it’s personal, and if done right, it might just bring a smile to someone’s day. And remember, in the wise words of Eddie Murphy, “If you ain’t laughin’, you ain’t livin’.”