Allow customization of time periods on Epic Roadmaps

Epic roadmaps currently only support three predetermined date range presets:

  • This quarter: Includes weeks in the current quarter
  • This year: Includes weeks or months in the current year
  • Within 3 years: Includes weeks, months, or quarters from the previous 18 months and upcoming 18 months

This proposal adds the ability to define custom date ranges to better support diverse planning use cases and timeframes that don't align with these fixed presets.

User Story

As a product manager or team lead using epic roadmaps, I want to define custom date ranges (e.g., "next 90 days", "last 6 months", "Q2-Q4 2026") so that I can visualize and communicate plans that align with my organization's specific planning cycles and stakeholder needs.

Proposed Solution

Add a "Custom range" option to the date range selector that allows users to:

  1. Select a custom start and end date using date pickers
  2. Save the custom range in the URL parameters (consistent with current roadmap settings behavior)
  3. Automatically select the appropriate layout preset (Weeks/Months/Quarters) based on the selected range duration
  4. Persist the custom range when sharing the roadmap URL with stakeholders

Design Considerations

  • The custom date range selector should follow existing GitLab date picker patterns for consistency
  • Consider a combined start-end date selector workflow to minimize clicks (similar to Asana's approach noted in competitive research)
  • The custom range should be preserved in URL parameters like other roadmap settings
  • Layout preset (Weeks/Months/Quarters) should intelligently default based on range duration but remain user-configurable