You can track projects with deadlines in mind using the Release functions in Advanced Roadmaps. Each release can contain the work of one or multiple teams to give you a higher-level view of your goals. Once you associate a project with a release, you can then track their progress against your projected due date.

Viewing and managing releases is all done in the Releases tab underneath your plan name. This list will include any set releases (or fix versions) that you've created in Jira Software in your plan, as shown below:

Before you begin scheduling against a release date, review your teams' capacity settings to ensure that your target date is achievable. These settings will impact how tasks in sequence are scheduled. Once you confirm these settings, you can map out releases and schedule them in your plan.

This page covers setting up and tracking work against releases in Advanced Roadmaps. To learn how to monitor the health of your releases, see our Monitor releases from your timeline page.

Release types: Project release versus cross-project release

There are two types of releases which are treated slightly different in Advanced Roadmaps. A single-project release only contains one project. A cross-project release combines multiple project releases into one plan so you can align dates, prioritize work, and monitor multiple projects at once.

One key difference is that a single-project release can be saved in Jira Software as a fix version. A cross-project release is only used for planning purposes in Advanced Roadmaps. When you save a cross-project release to Jira Software, only the single-project release associated with the teams in your plan will be saved.

Create a single-project release

1. From the Releases tab, select Create release next to the project name.
2. Name your release and add a description.
3. Choose a start date for this release. Advanced Roadmaps gives you the following options:
   1. As early as possible: When auto-scheduling the plan, the release will start as soon as there are available teams to work on the issues in the release.
   2. Fixed date: You can set a preferred date for the start date.
   3. Relative to previous release date: You can specify the gap of time that you want to allocate after the previous release finishes, and work on the new release starts. For example, you can start work on the beta release one day after work for the alpha is completed.
4. Choose a release date. Advanced Roadmaps gives you the following options:
   1. After all issues are completed: The release date will be automatically generated based on when the issues in the release are scheduled to be completed using predefined capacity and velocity.
   2. Fixed date: The release will happen on this chosen date, overriding the capacity and velocity settings. The release icons on the timeline will turn red for overbooked releases. See Monitoring releases for more information.
5. When you’re happy with your release, select Create and your new release will be added to the plan.

Your release will now be available in your plan, but the changes won’t be finalized until you Save changes made on your timeline to Jira Software using the Review changes button.

Create a cross-project release

1. From the Releases tab, select Create release next to the project name.
2. Name your release, add a description, and choose the project and release you want to add. Then select Add release.
3. Repeat to add as many releases as necessary.
4. When you’re happy with your release, select Create and your new release will be added to the plan.

Edit a release

You can edit the releases in your plan at any given time.

1. Start by navigating to the Releases tab and selecting more  > Edit on the release you’d like to edit.
2. Make the changes you want and then select Save changes to update the release details in your plan. The changes won’t be finalized until you Save selected changes in Jira Software using the Review changes button.

Align release dates in cross-project releases

When managing work across multiple releases, keep an eye out for misaligned release dates. You can quickly fix these by aligning the release dates in a cross-project release.

To align the dates in your cross-project release:

1. Navigate to the Releases tab and find the cross-project release whose release dates you want to align.
2. Select more  > Align dates which will show you the same date options discussed when creating a single release.
3. When you’re ready, select Set dates to update the dates in your plan.

Remove and delete releases

Over time, releases that have already been shipped or completed will start to accumulate in your plan. Whether you can remove or delete a release depends on if the release has been saved to Jira Software. If the release has been saved in JJira Software, you can remove it from your Advanced Roadmaps plan though it will remain in your Jira instance. If your release has not been saved to Jira Software (either because you haven’t saved it yet or because it’s a cross-project release which can’t be saved) you’ll get the option to delete the release. Once deleted, releases cannot be recovered.

To remove a project release:

1. In the Releases tab, find the single-project release you want to remove from your plan.
2. Select more  > Remove. Then select Remove in the modal window to confirm.

To delete a release:

1. In the Releases tab, find the release you want to delete and select more  > Delete.
2. On the modal, you'll see the option to Remove all releases from the plan. This will not only delete your cross-project release. It will also remove the included releases from your plan. Any project releases that have been previously saved to Jira Software will still exist in Jira. Any releases that haven’t been saved will be permanently deleted.
3. When you’re ready, select Delete to confirm.