In the last weeks I have setup a series of automation with Zapier which are going to save me hours of work every week. From assigning email reply automatically from Gmail to triggering automations in Mailchimp… loving it.
Now, it would be just amazing to be able to leverage the same potentials by integrating other services into asana. The only limitation I have is that I use a lot of “template tasks”. I simply duplicate them every time I need, and they contain a substantial number of information and subtasks.
So far I haven’t found any way to copy a task via Zapier. Any integration expert can let me know if there is a way in which I can do it?
@Carlo This is a cool idea! Let’s try to find a solution. I’ve been toying around with Zapier, IFTTT, and Tray.io. However, I’ve hit a wall when setting up the trigger for the Asana action - I think I’ll need more information. What workflow are you trying to put together with this Asana task copy and why? What are the beginning action and end result you’re looking for? Also, do you have a particular trigger in mind such as Google form?
In the specific, I have one template that contains all the information I need to have from a CRM perspective. I have leads’ details and subtasks.
With Zapier I link this (at the moment) to Calendly; every time someone books a call with us, I would like their details to be automatically stored in Asana, with the task for the call already prepared and assigned.
The same can be done with forms or emails, and my goal is to capture leads’ details in Asana automatically from other sources.
Without the possibility to copy a template task, I would lose the flexibility of maintaining the structure as I have so far, plus it would move the logic of tasks creation outside Asana and inside Zapier, which is not accessible to all my team.
I understand. I spoke to my support team and you have a few options. It turns out that we aren’t able to speak to the ins and outs of integrations, as they are built by outside companies.
The first option I recommend is reaching out to Zapier directly. Another option is to connect with Tray.io, who may be able to help you customize this workflow. I’d be happy to connect you directly with the folks at Tray.io. Lastly, you may be able to set up the automation you’re looking for using the Asana API.
Thanks for your feedback. Being a Zapier user, it would be challenging to have a second provider to achieve different results, but I will dig into tray.io
In the meantime I will check with the guys at Zapier to see if a tighter integration is in the pipeline.
Unfortunately I don’t have enough time to dig myself in the API!
@Carlo The next steps you mention sound good! And with the API I believe you’d have to create the code that duplicates a task. @Matt_Bramlage may have something to add.
Yep, @Carlo, there isn’t an API equivalent to the in-app “copy task” functionality - instead, you’d have to copy over each of the fields that are interesting to you to a new task. It’s a bummer that it’s not an out-of-the-box thing, but we’re a bit constrained on what exactly we can put in the API in a straightforward way and this just happens to be one of those actions that get messy quickly
Hi @Carlo, what you want to happen is possible with Zapier. For example:
Someone books call with Calendly (or uses a form on your website)
Zapier creates task in Asana in CRM project with customer’s information in the task details
Zapier creates subtasks for things like “Follow up phone call” the same day, and “Check in via email” in 3 days, etc.
I actually cover this exact use case in detail in The Asana Training Masterclass in the Zapier lesson. The Zap setup is too detailed to cover in a forum post like this, but I walk through the whole process via video.
Thanks for your reply. My issue with having Zapier manage the creation of the subtasks is that you move the logical structure outside asana. I have access to Zapier, but many of the people I work with don’t, so it limits the flexibility of allowing people to make the process better in a single place.
Also, I use complex templates which contain the “how to” guide, so that new joiners have the guide in every single task. Doing that in Zapier would be an overkill.
I already have the Calendly/Asana integration through Zapier, but it is limited to a simple task for those reasons.
I totally agree, @Carlo, there are some cool use cases that are limited by this with the launch of Asana Templates, we’re definitely examining ways to implement API support; I hope we’ll build something that will end up scratching your itch here.
I think I have a similar request with Zapier that I would like to see: copying a template project. Right now, new leads from our Nutshell CRM create a blank project. I go in and copy the tasks out of a template project. It would be unreal to be able to copy this template project and rename it to our lead name. +++ would be to automatically assign the tasks. Shoot for the stars right!
I see what you’re saying, @Carlo. Yeah, it does stink to have to move the setup to Zapier instead of Asana where it’s easier to modify. @AvalonJoe’s suggestion of giving Zapier access to template projects would work awesome for some cases, but I still think it won’t be as powerful as setting it up through Zapier because then you can customize every task (or subtask) with information from other sources (Calendly, Gmail, etc.).
Perhaps create a list of tweaks to the Zapier workflow so you can go in once in a while and implement them all at once.
I think that this is a VERY obvious use case given the recommendation in several places including your training that besides using template projects, that we use template tasks. If that is the case and we are using integration to drive the start of our workflow processes, then we really need to be able to create these template tasks (as Carlo says) in Asana. Then we could simply replace our create task Action in the zap with a copy task action using the Template as the source. Copying a task is a fairly fundamental activity in Asana that probably should be available through the API as well.
