Do they all have this feature?
I think the answer is noâŚbut just in case anyone knows if itâs possible or has a tip:
Iâd like to set up a rule where when I assign the parent task a due date, it auto assigns a specific subtask (âApprovalâ) the same due date. Is this possible?
Welcome, @kerri9,
You can do this if youâre willing to create that approval subtask at that moment, like this:
Thanks,
Larry
Thanks Larry! I really appreciate it.
I actually was able to get it to work as a generic subtask (not the approval route) but I ran into a snag - I wonder if you might have a tip. See screenshot of how I have it currently set up. It works well when you first create the parent task and assign the person/due date â all automations work correctly. But, if you change the parent task due date after you have already set it, then it will create two new subtasks - one for the R1 subtask again, and one for the Approval subtask again - this time with the newly changed date. It then keeps the two original subtasks generated for R1 and Approval, so it essentially duplicates those two subtasks, for a total of 4. I think this will continue to happen each time you change the due date. Any ideas on how I can block that from happening or set it up differently to avoid that from happening? Perhaps itâs what you suggested already. Thanks so much - feeling very stuck!!
Asana rules are really set up to be triggered and operate on the same task, so itâs quite limited what you can do with parent task trigger and child task action; pretty much just the creation of a new task. Might it work just complete the old subtasks once done, and then if the parent task due date is changed again, let it add the new subtasks and those will be distinguished from the others because they will be incomplete?
Or if you only want it to happen once the first time, you can prevent that (I can explain more, but you need a custom field as a âflagâ to test before running the rule, and then set after the first run), and perhaps add a comment with an @mention so you get notified to manually reset the date and mark incomplete the existing subtasks yourself (semi-automatic).
Or maybe the excellent Flowsana.net (@Phil_Seeman) has a feature for this?
Thanks, @lpb.
Hi @kerri9,
Yes, with the rules in our Flowsana integration, you can have them take action(s) on subtasks of a triggering task. So for example you could have a rule like this:
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How is this a feature request and not a bug report?
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Welcome, @Nathan_Domier,
We consider a bug to be a coded feature not operating as intended. The request here is considered to be an enhancement request but it was not (intended to be) implemented. Hope that helps clarify.
Thanks,
Larry
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Are there any plans for this to be implemented? I donât understand how this functionality doesnât exist. Itâs very simple functionality that is needed for any kind of project planning.
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Thank you both so much! Very helpful. Flowsana sounds great. Iâm not sure theyâre ready for a second paid integration just yet but this seems like it surely would help in many ways. Iâll reach out if/when the time comes. Thanks again!
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Hi there â My organization would also greatly benefit from being able to connect due dates of subtasks to the due date of their parent task, so if you change the parent task due date, the subtasks due dates will also change relative to what theyâre set to.
For example: Parent Task A has a due date of Friday, Subtask A has a due date set to be 1 day before the parent task due date, so thatâd be Thursday. If Parent Task Aâs due date is changed to the following Tuesday, then Subtask Aâs due date would automatically shift to Monday because thatâs one day before Parent Task Aâs due date.
Currently there is not a way to do this where subtask due dates automatically update if you change the parent task, so we have to manually change subtask due dates every time.
Is this a possibility that this functionality can get added in? I know there were new rules for dates recently released, but I donât think this was part of the release.
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7 years and this is still a thing. I wonder if weâll make it to 10!
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I donât understand how this very basic function (found in almost all of your competitors) is not in Asana, after 7 years and hundreds of replies/pleads from all your users.
To make things worse, Asana is using the âAdvanced Searchâ as the get-out-of-jail card for all the report options it is also missing.
So:
If you DONâT put in a date in your subtask, it wonât even show up in the searches/reports
If you DO put a date in your subtask, you will need to manually update EACH OF THEM when you main dates move
How is this even feasible?
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Seriously, this is such a basic project management ask and somehow still doesnât seem important enough to implement after 8 years?? So frustrating
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This functionality is absolutely needed!!!
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Eight years seems like a long time to not be able to have this functionality created.
I really hope this feature is a part of upcoming roadmaps!
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Just came here to say itâs 2025 and we still want this.
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Yep! Just read through this whole thread hoping there would be an update saying the feature is now available. Shocked and disappointed to find that is not the case.
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Itâs absolutely crazy to me that a top tier project management platform like Asana doesnât have this ability built in to ANY of their plans! Not even in Beta or any other solution. For the price, youâd think this would be an all in one kind of system, where you could customize anything you want.
Weâre a larger organization, on an Enterprise plan, and am seriously starting to question whether or not Asana is the right tool for us. ClickUp has all features anyone could possibly want in a system, customizable to your own liking, and is a third the cost. Looking more and more like we will be making the switch at the end of this year. Canât wait.
Welcome to the forum, @Andrew_Miller13! Not sure if this helps, but since youâre on an enterprise plan, you could use script actions to work around this (create a rule, trigger when due date or start date are changed, then update the child dates accordingly). Sorry youâre having issues and hopefully Asana will consider a native feature to address this soon.