Overview

This document outlines the interactive capabilities available to external users when accessing a shared Jira work item (ticket) via an External Share link. Beyond standard viewing, External Share for Jira enables real-time collaboration through direct field editing, rich media support, and interactive voting. Additionally, this guide covers advanced automation integration, allowing you to trigger custom internal workflows based on external actions taken within the shared work item.

External users can modify work item via shared link

Interactive Features for External Users

1. Direct Field Editing & Advanced Controls

External users can modify work item details directly within the shared link interface, eliminating the need for complex workaround automations. Administrators retain microscopic control over exactly what can be viewed, edited, added, or deleted.

• Time Tracking & Budgets: Allow external contractors or freelancers to directly view and edit Original Estimates, Time Tracking, and Budget fields to keep project finances transparent.

• Sub-tasks & Linked Work items: Empower external users to break down work by creating Sub-tasks or add Linked work items directly from the shared work item.

• Advanced Checklists: Full visibility support for popular third-party apps like Smart Checklist and Checklist for Jira.

2. Seamless Communication & Rich Media

• Comments & Secure Mentions: External users can write formatted comments and tag authorized team members or other users using @name.

• Internal Comments: If explicitly permitted, external users can also add internal comments for private notes.

• Direct Rich Media Uploads (Copy-and-Paste): Users can copy images or GIFs to their clipboard and paste them directly (Ctrl+V or Cmd+V) into the description or comment box. Pasted media files are automatically attached to the work item, removing the need for manual uploads.

3. Attachment Management

• Attachment Control: Standard file attachments can be uploaded to provide logs, documents, or reports. With granular permissions, external users can even be allowed to manage or delete attachments on their own tickets.

4. Interactive Voting System

The voting system allows external stakeholders to communicate product feedback and prioritize backlog items directly.

• Upvoting and Downvoting: Authenticated external users can cast or withdraw votes on a shared work item to express priority.

• Bi-directional Visibility: Vote tallies are saved to a dedicated, configurable numeric field in Jira, keeping both internal and external teams aligned.

Automating Internal Workflows Based on External Actions

Now that external users can directly edit fields and change statuses on shared links, you might want your internal team to react instantly. For example, if a client changes a ticket status to "Approved" or leaves a new comment, you may want to automatically notify a team via Slack or auto-assign the ticket to a specific agent.

Space Settings → Automation

• System User Account ID: 5caf360937b1dc049479af84

• Configuration:

  • Trigger: Any (e.g., work item commented, work item field value changed)

  • Condition: Add an Advanced compare condition.

    • First value: {{initiator.accountId}} (or {{comment.author.accountId}})

    • Condition: equals

    • Second value: 5caf360937b1dc049479af84

Use Case: Comment-Based Automation Workarounds

Configuration Steps

1. Set the Trigger:

   • Add the Issue commented trigger.

   • Select Comment is the main action as the comment type.

2. Verify the External User (Security Condition):

   • Add New condition -> Advanced compare condition.

   • First value: {{comment.author.accountId}}

   • Condition: equals

   • Second value: 5caf360937b1dc049479af84 (External Share System User)

3. Define the Keyword Trigger:

   • Add another Advanced compare condition.

   • First value: {{comment.body}}

   • Condition: contains

   • Second value: priority=high

4. Execute the Field Edit:

   • Add New action -> Edit Issue.

   • Choose the Priority field and set its value to High.

5. Optional: Clean up the Comment:

   • To keep the ticket history clean, add an action to Delete comment.

   • Comment ID: {{triggerissue.comment.last.id}}

Result: Adding a comment with the text priority=high on the shared page will automatically update the Jira priority to High and remove the trigger comment. (Note: A page reload may be required to see the updated value on the shared link.)