Similar to my workaround for 
Automated task progress battery bars to show completion of subtasks, this workaround will automatically update the status of a parent task, based on the completion of subtasks!
Below is a small preview where we see that the 
Stage field of the parent task automatically displays the subtask that is currently in progress.
Note that this workaround works with predefined subtasks which could either be created using a Task template or the custom rule action Create subtasks. In this example, each Blog post task will always contain 6 subtasks, no more. However, if you want the Stage field to change based on a certain percentage of subtasks being complete, then you could use a combination of the below workaround along with this one.
Here’s the recipe:
- If you don’t already have a status/stage field, create one and add it to your project. In this example, we will use a Stage field with the same/similar values as per the subtasks, like the below:
There is no ‘actual’ connection between the subtasks or the stage options; you can phrase/word them as you like.
- Create & add a number field called
Complete (or anything you like such as ‘Completed subtasks’) without any decimal places.
- Create a custom rule so that when (sub)tasks are completed, set the Complete value to 1 and if incomplete, to clear it.
- Create a formula field called Stage # as per below, using the Rollup function:
- Create a custom rule as per below using the new number comparison conditions in rules and make sure to set this rule to run on tasks (in the top right area, select Run on tasks).
- Now for the best part! Whenever you complete a subtask, its Complete field will get populated with a 1 value, which in turn will populate the # Stage rollup value, which in turn will set the Stage field in line with the current subtask, as per below:
- Finally, hide the Complete and Stage # fields so your project looks cleaner like this:
See all of my top tips & tricks on my website.
