Building a Somewhat Complicated Workflow - Rule using “Project name” to rename task not working + multi-homing issue

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1

I have a portfolio of Product Launch projects, and I’m trying to build a workflow in Asana that creates a 1:1 relationship between each project and a corresponding task in a GTM Calendar project.

The goal is that when a new project is created in the Product Launch portfolio (using a template), a task is automatically created in the GTM Calendar project. That task should mirror the project by using the same name as the Product Launch project.

Goal

For each Product Launch project, I want to:

  1. Use a template that includes a task called “GTM Launch Date”

    1. This template is already created & works well aside from this one thing.

  2. That task automatically gets a due date (relative to project start) - already set up & works

  3. Then automatically:

    • Rename that task to the project name

    • Add that task to another project: “GTM Calendar”

So the GTM Calendar shows:

  • one task per launch

  • named after the project

  • with the correct launch date

What I built

I created this rule inside a Product Launch project (see photo below)

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  • Trigger: Task is added to this project

  • Condition: Task name contains “GTM Launch Date”

  • Actions:

    1. Set task name to → Project name

    2. Add to an additional project → GTM Calendar DRAFT

What’s happening

When I test this:

  • The rule does not fire at all

  • The task is not renamed

  • The task is not added to the GTM Calendar project

What I’m trying to understand

  1. Do Rules really not trigger on tasks created via templates? The “GTM Launch Date” task is auto-created when the project is created from a template

  2. Does the “Project name” variable actually work in “Set task name”?

  3. Is “Task added to project” the wrong trigger for this use case?

  4. Is there a native way to achieve this without Zapier?

  5. What can I do to fully automate this? We have a TON of launches, and it is not feasible to be adding a manual step for each one. I am trying to fully automate this process!

Context

I originally tried solving this with Zapier:

  • creating a separate task in a calendar project

  • then syncing the due date

I did get the task to populate, named correctly, BUT for the life of me, I cannot get the due date to populate.

Would really appreciate any insight on whether this is a limitation of Rules, or if I’m just missing the right setup.

Thanks in advance!

2

Hi there,

It’s Great you’re using zapier for this, and yes this isn’t possible natively, but it is for zapier.

If you need help to correct set this up in zapier, just hit me up!

3

Welcome, @Allie_Breeding,

You can do this by adding the rule you showed to your GTM Calendar project. And make a slight tweak–remove the “Add to additional project” part. Also, multi-home the “GTM Launch Date” task in the template in the GTM Calendar project–that will run the rule whereas it will not run rules in the created project for tasks added from the template. See ⚡ Pre-multi-home tasks in project templates, specifically the second section there, which shows this process.

I’m not sure about your Project name variable. If that’s a shared custom field with the project name value, then if you add it to GTM Calendar, I think it would work (but I didn’t test this).

Thanks,

Larry

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4

Hi @lpb ,

I think he meant triggering the the automation on portfolio where a 3rd party automation like zapier is needed for external support, specifically using the new project API endpoint.

But yeah, with zapier it can be done.

5

FYI this could also be done via one of our FlowAgents.

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6

@Bryan_Martillan,

I was responding to @Allie_Breeding’s question:

Thanks,

Larry

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