Questions about milestones in Structure Gantt

Question

I am using Jira Server 8.14.0 (moving to DC in the near future) and I am running Structure Gantt 2.7.0 as well as Advanced Roadmaps (to build out a hierarchy over Epics)

I have created a Gantt chart and I have added a milestone to a Structure by converting an Epic to a milestone. Using Advanced Roadmaps, this Epic is considered to be a child of an Initiative (custom issue type that represents a corporate project).

I have two separate questions related to this.

* This Epic is also being displayed on another Structure that is using the same Gantt chart configuration but it is not currently showing up as a milestone. Is there a way to configure/convert the milestone so that it shows up as a milestone on every Structure where the parent Initiative is displayed without having to go to each Structure and convert it to a milestone?
* When I extend the Structure to bring in Stories that are part of Epics, then the Epic that was previously a milestone is no longer showing as a milestone, but only as an Epic. Is this expected behavior and, if so, is there any way around it so that the Epic continues to display as a milestone even while its Stories are being displayed within Structure?

alexeypegov · Answer

Hi Matt!

Another (and probably much easier) option is to use Slice's "Item Behavior" instead of "Treat issues with zero duration as milestones", see attached screenshot, Slice like this should convert all your epics into milestones (and you can actually use JQL instead of Issue Type as Slice criteria to tweak it the way it will include only specific Epics instead of all).

Alexey,

ALM Works

Matt Parks · Answer

Having all of the 0 duration issues treated as a milestone won't work for us.

What I ended up doing was creating a custom sub-task issue type of Milestone and  putting that on our Initiatives. Each individual milestone has its own Target end date (we use Target start/end as the manual scheduling dates) and we extended the Structure to pull in any sub-tasks that are Milestones.

So, if we have a project kickoff Milestone that has an end date that is the start date of the project, it builds out the 'bracket' of the Initiative that shows the start/end of the Initiative as well as all of the subsequent milestones along the way.

It's not necessarily ideal, but the Milestones automatically show up in all appropriate Structures and they stand out clearly (plus they can always be minimized so as not to take up real estate in the Structure).

Thanks,
Matt

David Niro · Answer

Hello Matt,

David from ALM Works here.

Epics being displayed on another Structure:

There are a couple of ways to create milestones that would carry over to Gantt charts using the same Configuration

A quick way to do this is by enabling the option "treat issues with 0 duration as a milestone". this would be any issue with 0 duration though, so it may not fit your need.

The best way to accomplish this would be to use slices.  You can use a JQL query to identify the type of issue, and some additional criteria such as a duration value, identifying text, or even a custom field. You would then enter what you want to happen once the issue has been identified, in this case, convert to an epic.

For the epic not showing as a milestone when extending to show stories:

This may be due to the "treat parent issues as group" setting, which takes precedence over milestones.

It can be turned off in the scheduling section of the Gantt chart configuration.

Let me know if this helps. I look forward to your feedback!