Jira Projects can be small, but commonly they are huge, with hundreds or thousands of issues. That’s why it’s necessary to get into more fine-grained grouping data. By organizing tasks into categories, you will be able to quickly sort through issues and ensure that the right people are working on the right tasks.
This article aims to guide you through the process of effectively using labels and Tags in Jira. You’ll also get recommendations for Jira Project Management Best Practices and tips. Let’s dive in!
Jira Tags Vs Labels
While these terms often get used interchangeably, there are subtle differences between tagging, and labeling.
Imagine you’re trying to organize your music library.
- Tagging: This is like adding your own personal notes to each song. You might tag a song as “happy,” “workout,” or “chill vibes.” It’s flexible and informal, just like adding tags to social media posts.
- Labeling: This is more like sorting your music into pre-defined folders. You might have folders for “rock,” “pop,” or “classical.” This helps categorize things neatly.
So, while they all help organize information, they do it in different ways:
- Tagging: Informal and user-driven, perfect for adding personal descriptions.
- Labeling: Pre-defined categories for efficient classification.
Jira Tags Vs Labels: Here’s a table summarizing the key differences:
| Feature | Tagging | Labelling |
| Formality | Informal, user-driven | Structured, pre-defined |
| Flexibility | Open-ended, users can create new tags | Limited set of pre-defined labels |
| Purpose | Informal description and association | Categorization and classification |
| Example | Movie tags like “funny,” “adventure” | Email labels like “urgent,” “spam” |
See below, we have some Jira Project Management Best Practices for you!
Which Jira field do you use for labels and tags? All in the Label field! the answer is “Poorly”
The core of issues organization in Jira projects is labels and tags! It’s not a good idea to use the native label field for labelling but is a perfect fit for tags as tagging is adding your own personal notes to Jira issues.
But why can’t we use labels themselves for tagging and labelling Jira issues?
Labels are more structured elements, typically representing the functional or technical aspects of a project.
Any authorized user can add labels to an issue as long as the label field is available on the issue. Consequently, it’s easy to end up with a very large number of labels. The danger here is that the project can end up with numerous capitalization and spelling variations, e.g., login vs. Login, user vs. User, ready_for_UAT vs. ready_for_uat, etc.
Jira Filter By Label: This can, in turn, render searching via labels inefficient and prone to error. Below, we’ll share some Jira Best Practices For Project Management to avoid this situation.
How to manage labels in Jira
Today’s complex projects require tracking many team dimensions, Working in Agile or Agile at Scale?
Adding custom label fields for project phases, feature areas, and additional workflow context can help you assess productivity and instantly visualize bottlenecks.
Colored Label Manager, a game-changing tool that transforms how to visualize and quickly manage both Jira (Tags) and custom label fields all in a central place (per project or globally).
- Colored Label Manager fields are smart label fields that can be used either as a label or as a select list field.
- Project admins can choose to allow teams to define labels, empowering them to work independently and save time OR restrict the label field, define needed labels and let the team use the field as a select list or smart checklist.
- Jira administrator create the label fields and then delegate management to project admins, freeing up your time while increasing productivity!
- Full range of customizations to manage labels and tags by enabling easy updates, label merge, rename and color choices.
Say goodbye to label chaos and wasted time on creating complex Jira Filter By Label and using bulk edit to label batches of issues.
Colored Label Manager comes with 3 built-in reports, View the Issues by Labels report, Labels in Time report, or Most used labels report. Get deeper label usage insights in moments without leaving the app.
For Jira Filter by Label, there’s absolutely no coding required and certainly no need to learn Jira Query Language (JQL) for that matter.
See below, we have some Jira Project Management Best Practices for you!
So, when should you use Jira Tags Vs Labels in Jira? The answer is simpler than you think!
Simply put:
- If you have information that you expect to be there, use a label field in Jira.
- If you have information, that’s the exception and not the rule, use a tag in Jira.
Hope this is helpful in explaining the Jira Tags Vs Labels debate!
By combining these techniques, Colored Label Manager for Jira unlocks the true potential of data, allowing for powerful searches, accurate analysis, and efficient information retrieval. So, while they might seem similar at first glance, tagging and labeling are crucial, each playing a unique role in managing and utilizing the ever-growing data jungle.
Jira Project Management Best Practices
To best take advantage of the benefits of labels & Tags and minimize potential pitfalls, here are some recommendations you can share with your team:
- Rename the native label field in Jira to Tags and let your team use it for tagging and not labelling.
- As a Jira Administrator create different label fields. Focus on a core set of label fields that capture the most critical aspects of your project. In our article about the use cases for labels in Jira , we listed the most popular uses cases.
- As a project administrator it’s recommended to restrict a label field when it’s needed, in this case you prevent users to create new label items , they are required to choose existing ones. This fosters consistency across fields like Definition of Done (DoD), Definition of Ready, Acceptance Criteria, or Simple select list.
- Focus on a core set of label fields that capture the most critical aspects of your project. In our article about the use cases for labels in Jira , we listed the most popular uses cases.
- In our article about the reports based on labels we listed 3 fully customized reports that let you gather data from labels for yourself or others, such as your team, department, or even your whole company. You can use these reports to gain insight into your business and share your data.
Now you know how to use Jira labels Vs Tags the right way. Jira Best Practices for Project Management will undoubtedly help you create simple but powerful classification and search tools for your projects.
Until next time, we will share Jira Components Best Practices, enjoy the process! Get a free 30-day trial
