Manage Project-Specific Picklist Values with Categories

Published Date: June 25, 2025

Validated: Yes

Audience: Everyone

Products and Versions Covered:

Jama Connect®

Summary Case

When working with items that require multiple project-specific field values, it can be challenging to capture this data in a way that scales across projects.

Jama Connect® item types and most fields, such as Picklists, are global by design to support simpler administration and common methodologies and metrics across projects. Categories, however, are project-specific, support multiple selections, and are controlled by administrators.

Using multiple Category Trees lets you capture project-specific multi-select values without creating custom item types or fields for each project.

Resolution

Use one Category Tree per data dimension that requires project-specific values. For example:

One Category Tree for Product Versions
One Category Tree for Models
One Category Tree for Regions
And so on

Configure Category Trees

Step 1. Jama Connect administrator adds new Category Trees representing each data dimension that requires project-specific values.

Step 2. Populate the Category Trees with project-specific values.

Step 3. Manage Category access to ensure visibility is correct in each project.

Step 4. Users select the appropriate Categories for each item.

Users can type in the search bar when managing Categories to narrow the list of available Categories.

Step 5. Optional) Create filters and dashboards to highlight missing or invalid combinations for easy audit.

Benefits

Using Category Trees for project-specific values allows teams to:

Assign multiple Categories to an item, such as one or more Versions or Models, without creating new custom fields or item types.
Use filters to identify conflicts or missing Categories.
Conduct periodic audits to identify incompatible combinations that may have been accidentally assigned.
Scale Category Trees across multiple projects.

Other Considerations

Category Trees do not currently support dynamic, value-dependent lists, such as filtering the Model list based on the Version selected. Careful naming and disciplined use of the Category Trees can help manage these relationships manually.

Alternative Options

Approach	Pro	Con
New Item Type per project	Complete customization per project.	High administrative burden and less standardization across teams.
Project Tags	Can be project-specific and multi-select.	Uncontrolled values — any user can create, which risks typos and inconsistencies.
Relationships to reference items	Flexible and can support project-specific options.	Requires extra maintenance; less straightforward for end-users.
Release Field(s)	Existing project-specific picklist feature.	Single-select; limited flexibility; scales poorly when many values are needed.

Additional Resources

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