Allow Rules for Subtasks

J_C · June 23, 2021, 5:59pm

I would like to apply rules to subtasks as well.

caelias · July 16, 2021, 2:42pm

Hi. Its been 18 months since the start of this thread and it is hard to believe that ASANA is asking its users to change their behaviors rather than adjusting their technology to work better for its customer needs. Is there a timeline to have this fixed?- Its not only a matter of rules but subtasks also dont show in timeline, calendar and many other functions. This is a very poor experience. If subtasks work for users, then lets have all the functionalities for subtasks as well!

Emily_Sherman · July 30, 2021, 6:46pm

While I understand the original reason rules don’t apply to subtasks, I think it would make a big difference. Even being able to create a rule that makes a subtask, which we can then rehome on our own. For instance, we use parent tasks to track articles we are publishing, and would like to use subtasks to notate social media posts for these articles. It makes sense to use subtasks for this, as we can create multiple tasks per article for different social channels and easily associate them with the article they are about. But we’d like to automate this process - creating a rule that makes a subtask and adds the subtask (not parent task) to our social media board when we designate in the article parent task that it has potential for social. I’m open to other solutions, but I think the organization makes sense for us.

Jenn_Nading · August 19, 2021, 5:34pm

I agree with you @Chris_Labatt-Simon !!

Carmen_Mackenroth · September 13, 2021, 3:00pm

Dear asana community,

I am trying to work with rules to create an easy workflow across projects. In our case, we have several tasks that sort of flow from one project to another and back to the first. This means some tasks of one project are dependent on the completion of subtasks of another project and vise versa. I have searched for solutions but so far haven’t found anything helpful. Maybe someone here can help? It would be greatly appreciated. I’ll include some details below.

Basically, I need this rule:

Notification when a subtask is no longer blocked

Context:
I have Project 1 and Project 2. In Project 1, I have task 1.1 with several subtasks. Some of these subtasks (but not all of them) can only be done when a task in a specific section of Project 2 has been completed. So far I have only been able to make the different tasks dependent on each other, so when I am looking at the different subtasks in task 1.1, I can see that some have the hourglass icon (I think that’s what it is?) instead of the check icon, so I know I cannot yet complete that subtask. But I need to constantly check whether the hourglass icon is still there or not. It would be great if I could get a notification whenever there is no longer a dependency because the task from project 2 has been completed. I know there is a rule that allows you to add a comment to the task when it is no longer blocked. This would suffice as a notification. But unfortunately, this only works for the entire task, not for subtasks. Or at least I don’t know how to apply it to subtasks as well. Is there a way around this?

Rebecca_McGrath · September 13, 2021, 4:29pm

Hi @Carmen_Mackenroth, welcome to the Asana Community forum

At this time, Rules do not apply to subtasks. This is a popular request in the forum and so we do have an existing thread for this in the #productfeedback category already. I’ve gone ahead and merged your post with the existing one to consolidate feedback, I hope you don’t mind

Hopefully we will see some new Rules, and subtask specific Rules, in the near future. I’ll let you know of any updates

JD_Nelson1 · September 13, 2021, 5:39pm

if you create the rule on your My Tasks window it will at least give YOU the notification when a subtask you’re assigned to gets unblocked. I’ve had my team set up the same rule in their instance so we have ultimately created a somewhat global rule (for my team) to be notified when a task is no longer blocked.

Carmen_Mackenroth · September 13, 2021, 6:21pm

Thank you very much @Rebecca_McGrath, I appreciate your help

Carmen_Mackenroth · September 13, 2021, 6:27pm

Brilliant! Thanks a lot, that is a decent work-around and actually helps a lot!

Ashley_Mott · September 23, 2021, 7:31pm

I am struggling to find a way to use rules at ALL because of the way we are set up and use subtasks. I really want to use them to cut down on the ticky tacky work of account managers setting up work for designers.

Rebecca_McGrath · November 11, 2021, 2:35pm

14 posts were merged into an existing topic: Add “Create subtask” as an Action for Rules

Rebecca_McGrath · November 8, 2021, 2:01pm

Rebecca_McGrath · November 8, 2021, 5:21pm

Amy_Scott · December 3, 2021, 6:32pm

A rule where an attachment from one subtask is forwarded to the next subtask would be SO helpful.

Stacy3 · December 4, 2021, 10:17pm

I cannot express how happy this just made me. I have a project that catches all the work that’s assigned to me. I just have a rule in My Tasks that adds any task assigned to me to a Project called AllTheThings (because I hate the fact that you cannot filter or sort well in the My Tasks view like you can for tasks that are in a project).

Problem was that I have numerous subtasks that I don’t want to see until they are unblocked, but you can’t run rules on subtasks. This was the answer for me. Now I just have a rule in My Tasks that says that when a task assigned to me is unblocked, add it to my AllTheThings project.

You are my hero, JD! Thank you so much!!

Aaron_Kishbaugh · December 6, 2021, 9:50pm

Our teams use boards to move media pieces through production. We use other projects to track and plan project (Product A), team (Video Production Team), and sprint tasks. What I would like to do is, as a piece moves from section to section through a workflow (that beta is awesome btw) have a rule that would enable the adding of a subtask to a project. The subtask rules are nice now, but by adding it to other projects we’d be able to track the particular work by person more easily and have it actually report the hours to the correct projects, which subtasks currently do not do without adding to a project.

Phil_Seeman · December 7, 2021, 4:04am

Hi @Aaron_Kishbaugh,

FYI Flowsana’s rules can apply to subtasks so you could accomplish what you’re wanting. Feel free to DM me for more info if desired.

Idle_Idle · January 23, 2022, 7:57pm

I have a task.

Let’s call it:
“Allow user to login”

It has 3 subtasks:
“iOS implementation”
“Android implementation”
“Website implementation”

The 3 subtasks also live on another board that has your traditional software dev columns. “Todo” “In progress” “In QA” “Done”

The parent task has 3 fields.
iOS Status
Android Status
Website Status

How can I link it so that when I move iOS subtask to the column “In QA” I don’t have to manually change the status on my parent task?

Rebecca_McGrath · January 24, 2022, 9:50am

Hi @Idle_Idle, thanks for reaching out! At this time, you would have to update the status of the custom field manually as Rules do not current support subtasks.

We do have an existing thread for this feature request in the #productfeedback category so I’ve gone ahead and merged your post with the existing one to consolidate feedback.

I’ll keep you posted and let you know if I have any updates

Jake_Parker · January 25, 2022, 10:49pm

@Rebecca_McGrath How can I find the link in #productfeedback to where this feature request is being requested. I’d like to vote it up.
I probably need more rules that work / trigger off of subtasks than I do main tasks.
Cheers, Jake