--- title: Reimagined Roadmap Creation description: "Every new roadmap starts from one choice: Build from Existing or Build from Scratch. That choice sets how the roadmap is structured — whether its lanes come from your data or from lanes you create yourself. This article explains the difference and walks through each path." --- [Skip to content](https://support.productplan.com/reimagined-roadmap-creation#main-content) English Show submenu for translations [![ProductPlan\_Logo\_Positive 1](https://support.productplan.com/hubfs/ProductPlan_Logo_Positive%201.svg)](https://www.productplan.com/) Open main navigation Close main navigation - English Show submenu for translations - [https://www.productplan.com/](https://www.productplan.com/) [https://www.productplan.com/](https://www.productplan.com/) Find best practices and answers to common questions in ProductPlan - There are no suggestions because the search field is empty. 1. [Support Center](https://support.productplan.com/?hsLang=en) 2. [Roadmapping](https://support.productplan.com/roadmapping?hsLang=en) # Reimagined Roadmap Creation ## Start off on the right foot with two paths for creation in the reimagined roadmap experience. Every new roadmap starts from one choice: **Build from Existing** or **Build from Scratch**. That choice sets how the roadmap is structured — whether its lanes come from your data or from lanes you create yourself. This article explains the difference and walks through each path. ### What's different - **Items live in your product's backlog, not on a single roadmap.** The same item can appear on as many roadmaps as you need, and editing it once updates it everywhere. - **Roadmaps don't import from Jira themselves.** Jira items come in once, through the product's query in Product Settings. See *Importing items from Jira*. - **All roadmaps are a source for editing and creating.** There's no separate view-only roadmap type. Users with edit access to initiatives, epics and stories can update them anywhere they appear across roadmaps. ### Key terms | Term | What it means | | --- | --- | | **Product** | The roadmap's home. It determines who can access the roadmap, and it's where the roadmap is listed. | | **Backlog** | Every item in a product, whether or not it's on a roadmap. | | **Roadmap sourcing** | How the roadmap gets its structure: from your existing data (Build from Existing) or from lanes you create (Build from Scratch). | | **Data Selection** | The filters that decide which items a Build from Existing roadmap shows. | | **Primary & secondary groupings** | The grouping (and optionally, secondary grouping) of items on your timeline or board used for organization and pivoting. | ### Choose how to build ![Screenshot 2026-09-30 at 3.01.02 PM](https://support.productplan.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-09-30%20at%203.01.02%20PM.png?width=354&height=382&name=Screenshot%202026-09-30%20at%203.01.02%20PM.png) Pick **Build from Existing** when your items already carry the information you want to organize by. Pick **Build from Scratch** when you want to arrange things by hand. | | Build from Existing | Build from Scratch | | --- | --- | --- | | **Best for** | Portfolio views, roadmaps that stay current on their own, and anything built on fields or objectives | Quick drafts, one-off plans, or accounts that haven't set up fields yet | | **Where lanes come from** | Your data: product, objective or a dropdown field | You create and name them | | **How items get on** | Filters in Data Selection, plus individual items you add | Drag from the Backlog Items drawer, or create new ones from the toolbar | | **Products** | One or more | One | | **Data Selection** | Yes | No | | **Lanes and sublanes you name yourself** | No | Yes | You cannot switch a roadmap between the two types post-creation. Don't worry though, all items that you create are housed in the product backlog and can be flexibly added onto future roadmaps as you see fit! ### Create the roadmap ![Screenshot 2026-09-30 at 3.01.47 PM](https://support.productplan.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-09-30%20at%203.01.47%20PM.png?width=670&height=235&name=Screenshot%202026-09-30%20at%203.01.47%20PM.png) You need edit access to at least one product to create a roadmap. 1. Go to **Roadmaps**, either inside a product or in **All Products**, and select the create action. 2. Enter a **Roadmap Name**. 3. Choose a **Product**. This is the roadmap's home product: it controls who can access the roadmap and where it's listed. If you started inside a product, it's already set and can't be changed here. Switch to **All Products** in the navigation to pick a different one. You can add more products later in Data Selection. 4. Under **Roadmap Sourcing**, choose **Build from Existing** or **Build from Scratch**. 5. Select **Create Roadmap**, then follow the steps for your choice below. #### If you chose Build from Existing **Roadmap Setup** opens automatically, in two steps. You'll choose what the roadmap includes, then how it's laid out. **Step 1 of 2: Data Selection.** The item count updates as you go. ![Screenshot 2026-09-30 at 3.04.30 PM](https://support.productplan.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-09-30%20at%203.04.30%20PM.png?width=382&height=461&name=Screenshot%202026-09-30%20at%203.04.30%20PM.png) - **Products** — starts with the home product. Add any other product you can view to build a cross-product roadmap. - **Item type** — for example, only initiatives and epics for a high-level view. - **Objectives** — show only items tied to specific objectives. - **Fields** — filter by field values, including numbers such as percent complete greater than 50%. **Step 2 of 2: Layout.** **![Screenshot 2026-09-30 at 3.05.15 PM](https://support.productplan.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-09-30%20at%203.05.15%20PM.png?width=390&height=513&name=Screenshot%202026-09-30%20at%203.05.15%20PM.png)** - **Timeline or board.** - **Time scale** for a timeline. - **Primary grouping** — product, objective, or a field. This creates your lanes. - **Secondary grouping** (optional) — creates sublanes inside each lane. - **Legend** — any single-select field, which colors your items. **Finish setup.** Your roadmap opens with matching items already placed. Items missing a value for your grouping appear in a **No** lane, such as *No Objective*, so nothing is hidden. #### If you chose Build from Scratch There's no setup step. Your roadmap opens empty, with default settings, ready for you to shape. Build from Scratch roadmaps don't have Data Selection: the roadmap shows exactly the items you add. ![Screenshot 2026-09-30 at 3.06.04 PM](https://support.productplan.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-09-30%20at%203.06.04%20PM.png?width=670&height=374&name=Screenshot%202026-09-30%20at%203.06.04%20PM.png) 1. Select **+ Create First Lane** and name it. Add more lanes, and sublanes inside them, as you need. ![Screenshot 2026-09-30 at 3.07.11 PM](https://support.productplan.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-09-30%20at%203.07.11%20PM.png?width=427&height=298&name=Screenshot%202026-09-30%20at%203.07.11%20PM.png) 2. Open the **Backlog Items** drawer and drag items onto a lane. Items with dates keep them; items without dates take their start date from where you drop them. 3. To add something that isn't in the backlog yet, drag **Initiative**, **Epic** or **Story** from the toolbar's **+ Add** menu onto the roadmap. ![Screenshot 2026-09-30 at 3.10.13 PM](https://support.productplan.com/hs-fs/hubfs/Screenshot%202026-09-30%20at%203.10.13%20PM.png?width=314&height=325&name=Screenshot%202026-09-30%20at%203.10.13%20PM.png) 4. Drag a bar's edges to adjust its dates. ### After you create your roadmap - **Publish when you're ready.** New roadmaps start unpublished, and only you can see them until you publish. As the creator, you're the roadmap's owner. - **Add items at any time** by dragging from the Backlog Items drawer. On a Build from Existing roadmap, you can drop an item that falls outside your filters. It stays on the roadmap, and ProductPlan adds it to the Backlog Items section of Data Selection. - **Update values by dragging.** Dropping an item into a lane assigns that lane's value, such as a status or an objective. - **Fill in missing dates** from the **Unscheduled Items** drawer, which lists items on the roadmap that don't have dates yet. - **Refine what's included** on a Build from Existing roadmap from **Data Selection** in the roadmap header. - **Save views for different audiences.** Change the layout, time scale, grouping, legend or hierarchy depth in a view — for example, initiatives only for an executive audience. - **Share it** with the Share button in the roadmap header. ### FAQ **Can I change a roadmap from Build from Existing to Build from Scratch, or back?** No. The choice is set when the roadmap is created. To switch, create a new roadmap. Your items stay in the backlog, so nothing is lost. **Can a roadmap show items from more than one product?** Yes, with Build from Existing. Add the products in Data Selection. Build from Scratch roadmaps use a single product. **Why can't I create my own lanes on a Build from Existing roadmap?** Its lanes come from your data, so they stay in sync as items change. Custom lanes are only available with Build from Scratch. **Where do my Jira items come from?** The product's backlog, which is filled by the product's query in Product Settings \> Integrations. See [*Importing items from Jira*](https://support.productplan.com/roadmap-data-source-import?hsLang=en). **If I remove an item from a roadmap, is it deleted?** No. It stays in the product's backlog and on any other roadmap it's part of. **Why can't I choose a different product?** If you started inside a product, the roadmap is created there. 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