When to set a release date?

[Anders]

This question is in reference to Atlassian Documentation: Configuring releases

When setting a release date for a release, what's the best way, to set the date when the development stops which basically is the end of a sprint, or when the code is actually released to production a couple of days later?

[Nic Brough -Adaptavist- · Accepted solution]

That's one that depends on your process and what you want to report on really.  If you want to report on a release being packaged by developers, use that date.  If it's a production go-live that matters, use that.

I sway towards production myself, because the (smattering of) code I write is usually built and packaged by CI servers which can track the successful build dates that the developers go "yeah, put that one live" on, and most of my clients are more interested in "when it went live" rather than "when developers finished it"

[Anders]

Great response Nic, thanks!