Documentation

Starting LinkMap

To access LinkMap, expand the App menu in the main sidebar navigation and select LinkMap from the available apps. This will open the LinkMap start page, providing an overview of your saved maps.

To create a new map, simply click the "Create new LinkMap" button. This will bring up an overlay where you can choose one or more projects and filters for visualization. Additionally, you can select specific fields to display for each issue.

By default, sub-tasks and issues marked as done are excluded, but you can override this by adjusting the corresponding checkboxes. You can also configure the link direction to display relationships as either active (e.g., "blocks") or passive (e.g., "is blocked by").

Open LinkMap in Different Contexts

LinkMap can also be opened from Jira search results, backlogs, sprints, or entire projects. In all cases, the graph immediately visualizes the complete set of work items.

Open search results in LinkMap View entire project in LinkMap Open sprint items in LinkMap

Display Link Context in Issue Detail View

Enable LinkMap to show a work item's link context directly in the standard issue detail view. It retrieves links up to three levels deep by default, but you can adjust depth and direction in settings. The link structure can also be dynamically expanded (see below).

Understanding the Visualization

LinkMap effortlessly handles loading and displaying several thousand issues simultaneously, each represented as nodes. When zoomed out, these nodes appear as familiar Jira issue type icons.

Connections between issues are illustrated as edges linking the nodes. For directed link types like 'blocks', an arrowhead points towards the issue impacted by the blockage. Each link is labeled with its respective link type. Link direction can be changed as desired (e.g., from 'blocks' to 'is blocked by').

Relationships such as parent-child associations, such as between epics and stories or stories and sub-tasks, are also depicted as edges but marked with dashed lines.

The layout is optimized to minimize overlaps through a force-directed simulation.

Note: By default, issues without links are hidden. To display them, uncheck the "Hide issues without links" option in the control panel.

Navigating & Accessing Issue Details

Navigate the issue space by zooming (using the mouse wheel or trackpad gesture) and panning (dragging the stage). Issues can be repositioned freely through drag-and-drop.

To select and reposition multiple issues simultaneously, hold down the Shift key to select multiple issues by either single-clicking them or using the lasso tool (click and drag the mouse on the canvas to draw a selection area). Once selected, you can drag the group of issues to a new position.

To select connected issues, right-click on an issue and choose "Select linked items" from the context menu.

When zooming in, issues increase in size and evolve their appearance to gradually reveal more comprehensive information.

In addition to the issue key and summary (and any individual fields selected in the "New LinkMap" dialog), all standard attributes are displayed (mirrored by filter attributes on the control panel). If an estimate is available, the aggregated time-to-finish is shown; otherwise, story points are provided.

To access issue details while zoomed out, hover the mouse over a node. This action triggers a tooltip containing the key and summary of the respective issue. Additionally, to clarify the link structure, the issue along with all directly connected nodes is highlighted.

Searching

Use the search field to enter keywords for finding issue keys and/or summaries. Upon entering keywords, the app automatically zooms in on the first matching issue. The matched keywords are highlighted. Navigate through all matching issues by pressing the Enter key or clicking the arrow buttons.

Reset the search by clearing the content from the search field or by clicking the 'x' icon.

Filtering

Use the control panel to select one or multiple filter values from the dropdown menus. Issues that don't match all selected filter values across all filter attributes will be instantly hidden.

Remove a specific filter value by clicking the 'x' button next to its label. Clear all filters by clicking the reset icon button.

For filtering links, utilize the 'Link Types' filter. If the 'Hide issues without links' option is enabled, nodes lacking links to other issues will be instantly hidden.

Toggle 'Use passive link direction' in the app menu to switch between active and passive link directions.

Loading Additional Links

Issues that have links to other issues beyond the current view are indicated with a '+' sign. To load these additional links and update the visualization, right-click on an issue and select 'Load all links' from the context menu.

Note: This action does not load additional parent/child relationships as they are not standard links. Enable "Load parent/children" in the app menu to include them.

Editing Issues and Links

Double-click an issue to edit it and add/remove links using the familiar Jira modal. The map updates automatically when you save and close.

A shortcut to delete an existing link is to right-click on the link and select 'Delete link' from the context menu. Consequently, the link is deleted from Jira, and the visualization updates accordingly.

Note: This function does not apply to parent/child relationships (dashed lines).

Creating a New Issue

To create a new issue:

1. Right-click on an empty space (not an issue)
2. Select 'Create new issue' from the context menu
3. Enter the issue data into the standard Jira dialog and click 'Create'
4. The new issue is created and added to the visualization along with its links (if any)

Note: Due to the current filter settings, the new issue might be hidden. In such cases, the app displays an alert.

Creating a label

Easily add labels to name your clusters. Simply right-click on the canvas and choose the label action from the context menu. Right-clicking on a label allows you to edit or delete it.

Settings

Access settings through the burger menu:

• Enable graph tooltips: Display tooltips for nodes and edges
• Dimm filtered nodes: Fade filtered-out nodes instead of hiding
• Load parent/children: Include parent and children on loading linked nodes
• Use passive link direction: E.g. 'blocked by' instead of 'blocks'

Preserving Layouts

Save a map by clicking the save icon. It captures the query, additionally loaded issues, issue positions, settings, and filters. Saved maps appear on the LinkMap start page.

Sharing Maps

Toggle the share button next to a saved map to make it available to others in your organization on the "Shared with Me" tab. Users with the link can access but not delete it.

Toggle "Read only" to control edit permissions. When enabled (default), others can view but not save changes—only the owner can edit.

Delete Maps

Permanently delete a map by clicking the delete icon button in the "Saved Maps" list for the respective map. Note: this action cannot be undone.