[Dashboards] Allow editing dashboard widgets while an unsaved time filter is active

Problem Statement

When a user applies a temporary custom time range to investigate something, the dashboard blocks editing with "You have unsaved dashboard filters. You can save or discard them." This forces a false choice: save the temporary range and pollute the shared dashboard's saved state, or discard it and lose the investigation window. Neither is acceptable for a quick widget edit mid-investigation. The gate conflates view state (time range and filters) with structural state (widget layout and queries), which are operationally different.

Why current behavior is insufficient
Ad-hoc time changes are usually ephemeral, yet they are coupled to the saved-filter/dirty state that gates content editing. Filtering to an incident window and then adjusting a widget is a common pattern, and today it is interrupted by an unwanted save-or-discard decision.

Solution Brainstorm

Proposed solution
Decouple ephemeral view-state changes (time range, environment, release) from structural edit mode:

• Allow entering edit mode while unsaved filters are active.
• On save, let the user choose to save only the structural changes, or also persist the current filters.
• Alternatively, treat time and filter state as always ephemeral and only gate on structural changes.

Acceptance criteria

• Edit mode can be entered regardless of whether view-state filters have been saved.
• Widget and layout changes can be saved independently of filter state.
• Users are not forced to persist a temporary time range to make structural edits.
• Discarding filter state does not discard widget edits.

Product Area

Dashboards