Redmine: Estimated Time as mandatory field

At work, we are using Redmine for all our project management needs. It is a flexible and powerful system that allows flexible configuration for the processes of most companies.

Recently, we have decided to make the Estimated Time field mandatory for all the tickets. Configuring this turned out to be trickier than I thought initially. I couldn’t find the option to do so on the first go.

Some Googling around suggested that Redmine’s source code needs to be modified for that. Not something that I wanted to do. And the tip is also from 8 years ago, so it’s probably quite outdated.

After digging deeper, I found a way, that doesn’t require source code changes. This can be accomplished via editing the Field Permissions in the Workflow. Here’s the process (for Redmine 3.3.0 stable, that we run currently):

  1. Login to Redmine as administrator.
  2. Navigate to the Administration screen (a link in the top bar or so, depending on the skin you are using).
  3. Navigate to Workflow.
  4. Switch to Field Permissions tab.
  5. Select desired roles and trackers.
  6. Press Edit button.
  7. Scroll down to the Estimated Time field.
  8. Select Required from the dropdown for each status, as needed.
  9. Press Save button.

You are all done. Now all tickets of the above selected trackers will require the input of the Estimated Time for all above selected statuses and roles.

Similarly, you can make other fields required or read-only, as per your company or team needs.

Leave a Comment