/ COGNITIFF

User Guide

Applies to: Jira Data Center

Overview

Jira’s native ranking tools allow drag-and-drop ordering but make it difficult to visualize issues by other fields. Replacing the board filter’s sort clause often disables ranking and triggers the “Ranking is disabled…” warning. Sort by Any Field removes that limitation: it re-ranks issues in the background so you can sort by any field (including custom columns) while retaining manual drag-and-drop at any time.

With Sort by Any Field you can:

  • Prioritize flexibly: Sort by priority, business value, due date, story points, or other custom metrics.
  • Highlight what matters: Reorder by status, assignee, or any field required for stand-ups and planning.
  • Stay agile: Drag issues to fine-tune the order immediately after an automated sort.
  • Avoid rank errors: The app modifies the existing rank without breaking Jira’s board configuration.

Prerequisites

Before running a sort:

  1. Board filter must end with ORDER BY Rank ASC. This ensures Jira exposes a stable rank that the sorter can adjust.
  2. Users need the “Schedule Issues” permission. This allows the app to re-rank issues server-side.
  3. License must be active. The app displays a warning banner if it isn’t licensed — ask an administrator to activate it first.

Using the App

1. Open the Sort dialog

Launch the action labeled Sort Board, Sort Backlog, or Sort Sprint:

  • Software projects (Scrum/Kanban): open the More actions menu (…) in the upper-right corner of the board, backlog, or sprint view, then choose the relevant Sort action.
  • Business projects: a Sort Board entry lives directly in the project’s navigation bar.

2. Enter the JQL order clause

Inside the dialog, type your ORDER BY … expression, then choose Save. Examples:

  • ORDER BY priority DESC
  • ORDER BY "Story Points" DESC, Rank ASC
  • ORDER BY dueDate ASC, priority DESC

The clause is stored per scope (board, backlog, sprint, or project) and reused on future runs.

3. Run the sort

Press Sort to enqueue the job. The modal switches to a live status panel:

  • Running: background process is re-ranking issues; progress updates display processed/total counts.
  • Complete: success message appears; the notice auto-clears after a short delay (or you can dismiss it manually).
  • Error: any API or permission issue is surfaced so you can retry once resolved.

Once the job is enqueued, you may close the modal and return later to inspect the status.

4. Refresh Jira if needed

Most boards update automatically, but occasionally you may need to refresh the page or toggle between views to see the new order.

Tips

  • You can still drag issues manually after an automated sort — the app only changes the underlying rank.
  • The saved ORDER BY clause is scoped to the current board/backlog/sprint or project; adjust each context once and reuse it instantly.
  • For more examples, see Atlassian’s JQL documentation.