Understand built-in issue filters

You can’t always tell how a filter is set up by the name alone. For example, you may think the MyOpenIssues filter shows all the issues that still need to be resolved on all the projects you own. Or does it show all the issues you have submitted that still need to be resolved? Or does it show all the issues that have been assigned to you that you haven’t resolved? You can open it up to find out.

The MyOpenIssues filter has three filter rules. The first filter rule reads, show me issues where I am the issue owner. This means you will not see issues assigned to you unless you are designated as the issue owner. The next rule says, show only issues that do not have a resolving object. A resolving object can be a project, task, or another issue, which when completed will also resolve this issue. This rule finds only issues that have not been assigned to a resolving object.

The last rule says, only show issues where the status is not a complete status. The answer to the question, what does MyOpenIssues show me, is this. It shows you all issues that are not closed or linked to a resolving object where you are the primary person assigned. It’s important to note that the filter will not show you an issue assigned to multiple users unless you are the primary or the assigned to user. Notice anything else? There is no filter rule checking the status of the project an issue is assigned to. An open issue can’t exist on a project with a status of complete, but it can exist on a project with a status of dead or on hold. Before using this filter, take a minute to consider whether it meets your needs as it is. If it doesn’t, you can edit the filter and save it as your own. The next filter we’ll look at is MySubmittedIssues. When you’re looking at the issue list in a project, this filter shows you all the issues you submitted or someone else submitted on your behalf, regardless of the status of the issues. This filter shows you all your issues, not just those that are open. This allows you to get a good look at all the issues that you created and issues that were created by someone on your behalf, so you can see which of those were resolved and when they were resolved, and which ones are still being worked on, and which ones have not yet been started.

When you open this filter, you see a single filter rule. It says, show me all the issues in this project where the logged in user is the primary contact. What does primary contact mean? It’s often the person who submitted the issue, but it doesn’t have to be. When you submit a new issue, you can designate anyone as the primary contact, as is the case in this issue. This is the person who wants to be kept informed about the status of the issue and who could normally answer questions about it. Many request queues let you designate the primary contact when you submit an issue or request. The primary contact defaults to the person who submits the request, unless you designate someone else.

By knowing how a filter is built, you can decide if it’s meeting your needs. If you want to change a built-in filter, simply make a few edits and save it as your own custom filter.