Converting task to project - start date not picked up

[Rebecca_Hassett]

Hi everyone,

I’ve run into what seems like a limitation with project templates and relative dates when using Convert task to project, and I’m wondering if anyone has found a workaround.

The issue

I have a project template set up with relative dates (for example, tasks starting X days after project start).

When I:

1. Create a new project directly from the template → dates work correctly adding the ‘start date’ as the date the project was created

2. Convert an existing task into a project using that same template → the project/tasks inherit old dates and the project start date gets set in the past (in my case, June 2025) - so I have to adjust the gantt to the correct start date

Ideally, when converting a task into a project:

• I’d like the new project’s start date to default to the conversion date / today

• All relative task dates to calculate from that start date

Asana doesn’t know a start date when converting task to project, and doesn’t take the conversion date as the start of the project.

What I’ve already checked

• The template uses relative dates i..e ‘3 days after project start’ etc, not fixed dates

• Tasks are configured relative to project start date (all anchored with dependencies so can all be shifted, but ideally it would be good for it to start at the right date )

• Creating projects directly from the template works as expected

• The issue only happens during the “convert task to project using template” workflow, not when starting the project manually, as this allows you to input a start date when creating from the template

Questions

• Is this expected behaviour?

• Has anyone found a reliable workaround?

• Is there a way to force the project start date to reset to “today” during conversion?

Would love to know if others are experiencing the same thing.

[Irish_Makimura]

Hi @Rebecca_Hassett,

Thanks for this. I’ve tried converting a task into a project, and it prompted me to choose a start date.

On the other hand, I noticed that if the template’s relative due dates are empty, I am not prompted to set the Start date.
If your template’s relative due dates are set, then this could be a bug.

Please reach out for support to have this further investigated. Thank you.

[lpb]

If the task has no Due date (or Start date), I’m prompted for the Start date with a default of today’s date, as @Rebecca_Hassett desires.

If the task has a Start and Due date, I’m prompted for the Start date using the task’s Start date. Similarly, if it has a Due date and no Start date, it backs off to the implied Start date.

Maybe that might explain things?

@Rebecca_Hassett, If you’re not seeing that, then I agree, contact Support.

Thanks,

Larry

[Rebecca_Hassett]

thank you @lpb and @Irish_Makimura !

I am converting using a rule and i’ve just noticed that under the template, it does now say ‘The task start date will be used as the project start date’ - I was previously told this was a limitation so whether this is new that it specifies this since the rule was set up.

But thank you - problem solved - rather than updating the due date in the task, I just need to instruct users to update the start date in the task as their project start date - so I can certainly implement this.

Thank you so much for your help!