Integrating Apps for Smarter Workflows: External Share for Jira Meets Smart Fields
In today’s fast-paced business environment, apps for Jira don’t just help teams work smarter - they open the door to even greater potential when integrated. By connecting tools, you empower your team with seamless workflows, enhanced insights, and powerful automation.
When we met the Decadis team, we saw an incredible opportunity to combine the strengths of our apps - External Share for Jira and Smart Fields (an app created by Decadis as a complement to their Jira Workflow Toolbox app) - to create a dynamic, user-friendly solution. This integration brings together the ease of sharing Jira issues externally with the precision and flexibility of custom field calculations.
About Warsaw Dynamics
At Warsaw Dynamics, we build tools that help teams handle complex challenges with ease. We specialize in creating apps for Atlassian platforms, focusing on collaboration, efficiency, and bridging the gaps in existing systems.
Our flagship apps, like Approval Path, External Share, and Contract Signatures, address real-world needs, helping organizations streamline approvals, securely share data, and simplify contract management. We pride ourselves on understanding our clients’ goals and delivering intuitive solutions that foster success in every corner of your business.
About Decadis
As an Atlassian Platinum Marketplace Partner, we build exceptional, enterprise-ready apps designed to enhance your experience with Jira and Confluence.
With offices in Koblenz, Germany, and Seville, Spain, along with a dynamic remote team, we’ve earned the trust of over 14 million users across top global companies. This success stems from our unwavering commitment to innovation and ensuring customer satisfaction. Our passion for expanding within the Atlassian ecosystem keeps us leading the way in the industry.
How the Integration Works
The integration between External Share for Jira and Smart Fields allows users to seamlessly include calculated field values from Smart Fields when creating a share.
Here’s how it works:
-
Set the necessary Smart Fields within Jira.
-
When creating a share in External Share, the configured Smart Fields will appear in the permission panel.
-
Select the fields to include in your share, ensuring the right data is accessible to your stakeholders.
-
Once set, the shared link displays Smart Fields data alongside other issue details.
For more details, please watch the video:
This integration eliminates manual data preparation and enhances transparency by automatically sharing up-to-date information.
Why Use This Integration?
The combined power of External Share for Jira and Smart Fields enables organizations to deliver dynamic, accurate, and actionable updates to stakeholders. Let’s explore a practical use case:
Use Case: Enhanced Stakeholder Reporting with Smart Fields and External Share
Let’s consider a scenario, where a consulting firm is managing a high-profile project for a client. The client requires daily updates on:
-
Overall project progress (percentage completed).
-
Upcoming deadlines and time remaining for key tasks.
-
Resource allocation and time spent on activities.
-
Task priority descriptions for a better understanding of what’s critical.
The challenge here is that manually compiling detailed reports every day is time-consuming, and without Jira access, the client can’t monitor real-time progress. The integration of External Share for Jira with Smart Fields provides an automated and transparent way to share key project data:
-
Smart Fields Setup:
-
Completion Percentage by Status: Tracks overall project progress and displays it as a percentage.
-
Remaining Time Until Due Date: Highlights how much time is left for critical tasks.
-
Sum of Time Spent: Calculates the total time invested in specific issues, giving clients insight into resource allocation.
-
Priority Descriptions: Converts Jira’s priority levels into meaningful descriptions (e.g., “High: Immediate attention required”).
-
-
External Share for Real-Time Updates:
-
Create a shareable link for the project or key issues.
-
Customize the share to include Smart Fields, making the updates clear and actionable for the client.
-
Allow access without requiring Jira accounts, ensuring seamless communication.
-
-
Effortless Distribution:
-
Share the link via email or your client’s preferred platform.
-
Clients can check progress, view priorities, and monitor time spent at their convenience.
-
By applying this solution, a company obtained:
-
Time Savings: Automated updates eliminate the need for daily reporting.
-
Transparency: Clients see live progress and resource usage without extra effort from the team.
-
Clarity: Priority descriptions and time-spent summaries provide actionable insights.
This streamlined process ensures the client is informed, satisfied, and confident in the team’s efforts—all without interrupting the workflow.
A full list of Smart Fields use cases (and how to use them) is available under this link
Use Case: Streamlining Creative Collaboration with Smart Fields and External Share
Let’s consider a scenario where Decadis is working on a marketing campaign that involves multiple stakeholders, including an external ad agency. The agency is responsible for producing creative assets, such as banner ads and social media visuals, while Decadis needs to provide clear feedback and ensure that all materials align with branding and campaign goals. The challenge here is that exchanging files and feedback through emails or third-party platforms is inefficient and difficult to track. Without Jira access, the agency has no direct insight into project timelines, requirements, or requested revisions. Additionally, managing multiple creative requests at different stages of progress requires a structured way to track deadlines, approvals, and priorities efficiently. By integrating Smart Fields for Jira with External Share, Decadis created a streamlined, semi-automated process to enhance collaboration with the agency and improve transparency.
Smart Fields & External Share Setup for Creative Asset Management
-
Automated Project Overview with Smart Fields:
-
Smart Fields dynamically calculates the overall campaign progress by aggregating the status of multiple creative assets (e.g., “LinkedIn Ad – Q1 Campaign” at 60% completion).
-
Smart Fields tracks the remaining time until deadline and auto-flag overdue tasks in Jira, ensuring internal teams and agencies stay aligned.
-
A calculated priority field categorizes tasks based on urgency (e.g., “High: Final Approval Needed” vs. “Low: Initial Draft Pending”).
-
-
External Share for Seamless Collaboration:
-
A shareable External Share link is generated for each creative request, allowing the agency to access:
-
Creative Briefs with real-time status updates.
-
Deadline and remaining time fields dynamically calculated by Smart Fields.
-
Attachments (design drafts, reference materials, and feedback).
-
Latest Details without needing Jira accounts, ensuring streamlined, real-time communication.
-
-
-
Automated Tracking & Approval Process:
-
Smart Fields tracks time spent on revisions, allowing Decadis to measure efficiency and identify bottlenecks.
-
Approval status is automatically updated based on comments and issue transitions, giving clear insights into which assets are ready for publication.
-
External Share ensures that everyone involved always recognizes the latest progress without manual updates.
-
Results & Benefits
-
Efficiency: Automated Smart Fields reduce manual tracking efforts, while External Share eliminates unnecessary email exchanges.
-
Transparency: External as well as internal stakeholders gain instant access to real-time progress updates, deadlines, and feedback.
-
Improved Workflow: Structured approval processes and auto-calculated priority levels ensure projects stay on track.
By combining Smart Fields for Jira with External Share, Decadis transformed creative collaboration, making it more efficient, data-driven, and transparent for both internal teams and external partners.
Conclusion
The integration between External Share for Jira and Smart Fields offers an unparalleled advantage for teams looking to streamline their workflows and provide meaningful updates to stakeholders.
Whether you need to share calculated metrics or automate status updates, this integration simplifies the process while ensuring data integrity. Ready to see the difference it can make? Try it today and empower your team with smarter, more connected tools.