Forget about Sections - Group like a pro!

[Richard_Sather]

As an Asana Solutions Partner, I come across a lot of client spaces. One thing I notice quite often is the use of Sections for the status or stage of ongoing workflows. Basically, a project that is never completed, but has tasks added frequently, which go through each stage / status and eventually get completed, all the while new tasks are added. But to be fair, Asana’s UI promotes the creation and usage of Sections, usually resulting into something like the below example:

But then I usually find that they also have a ‘Status’ or ‘Stage’ single-select custom field with exactly (or more or less) the same options as the Sections of their ongoing workflow. And then, in order to sync all Sections with their Status field, they end up having to create a couple of elaborate rules to keep everything in sync, such as this one:

and this one:

Are you perhaps doing the same? Well, thanks to a great update, I’m happy to say there’s something better you can now do instead

You can avoid creating Sections and Rules by following the below steps instead:

1. Next time, instead of creating Sections, go to Customize>Fields and create a single-select field called Status (or whatever makes sense to call your Group of sections) with the options as per the titles of your Sections Make sure to also choose an appropriate colour for each option, like this:
   

   
   
   if this Status custom field is ‘generic’ enough to be used in other projects also, then make sure to add it to your field library (the 1st checkbox below the list of Options).

2. If you want to apply this method to an existing project, then you will have to manually map all the tasks within each section to the relevant single-select field options, as per below. You may find that the List view might be ideal for this part, since you can bulk select multiple tasks to apply a Status option to them, in one go.
   Make sure to switch off any Filters to make sure you see ALL the tasks within each section of the project, for example, including completed tasks. (thanks, @lpb for the note)
   

   

3. Then in your List or Board view, click on the Group button in the top right area, and change it from Sections to the Status field which we created in step 1.
   

   

4. Make sure to select Show empty groups so that all the Status field’s options are visible along the Board view:
   

   

5. Now, the Sections are replaced with coloured column titles as per our Status field’s options (and without those pesky icons everywhere). But we don’t need the Status label displayed on each task card, right? So let’s click on the Options button in the top right area…
   

   
   
   …and switch off the Status field…
   
   
   
   …so that it is no longer visible on the task cards, as per below. To retain this layout, click on the Save view button in the top right area:
   
   

That’s it! Now, once you drag tasks from one Status column to another, it will instantly update the Status field in the task details, without the need for any Rules or Sections! Plus, you get a much prettier-looking project with coloured column titles - so make sure to choose your colours wisely in step 1!

Extra tip: to change the order of your Groups (the board’s columns), simply edit the Status field and re-order the options by dragging them up/down by using the 6-dot grips on their left.

This method is ideal for starting new ongoing processes but if you want to apply this method to existing projects, it makes sense to also carry out some cleaning up, such as removing the deprecated Sections and Rules. However, before you proceed to do that, make sure to review ALL your rules (and charts in Dashboards) as they might be connected to your Sections, beyond the example I showed above! Make sure to edit such Rules so they now relate to your Status field instead, or delete the rules if they are no longer required. Once all your Rules are deleted (or paused) you can THEN proceed to delete all Sections, but again, make sure to switch off ALL filters (so you can see all tasks within each Section) and check your Rules will not be impacted as this can have dangerous consequences - trust me, I learned this the hard way

Wishing you all a productive New Year!

Richard Sather

Asana Solutions Partner | Systems Architect | Asana Forum Leader

www.richardsather.com

[lpb]

Fine tip, @Richard_Sather, and well-explained and illustrated.

The reason we see this so often is probably because this Group by organization is a somewhat newer feature, particularly in Board view, as I recall, so older projects remain in the less efficient and more complex implementation. (And some folks keep building that way, unaware of your post’s approach.)

When following your clean up steps, folks should take care to clear any filters so they apply the clean up to all tasks, not just some of them. I’ve forgotten more than once to clear the “Incomplete” filter, which I typically use, and then have to repeat clean up steps for those tasks that were previously hidden.

Thanks,

Larry

[Ka_Nishiyama]

Hi, @Richard_Sather

This is a very nice article. I will be using it right away.

This is great because it doesn’t use the rule function, so you don’t have to worry about the upper limit on the number of rules or the number of times a rule can be executed.

[Yvonne_R_Muller]

My team has been using this for a little over 2 years now and there’s definitely a learning curve because Asana prioritizes sections as default but the “Sections” group option is SO MUCH more limiting than just creating custom fields that do the same thing!

With sections you can’t “filter” certain sections out, or be responsive and flexible to changes, something is “stuck” in their section. Since the change to allow grouping by custom fields (and even having a sub grouping) it makes our project views so much more clear and organized and FLEXIBLE than they were with just sections!

So glad someone else is recommending this too!

[Richard_Sather]

Hey @lpb , thanks for your support

Yes, spot on about disabling filters to be able to map all tasks to the new field - if you don’t mind, I will add your advice to the original post.

[Richard_Sather]

Hi @Ka_Nishiyama , thanks and glad you found this useful!

Yes, as you say, this method is great because it does not unnecessarily consume Rule actions, especially useful for customers on Starter and Advanced tiers which have monthly limitations.

(Enterprise customers have unlimited monthly Rule actions, but still, this method is less hassle and maintenance)

Good points, @Yvonne_R_Muller !
It sounds like you are definitely grouping like a pro

[lpb]

@Richard_Sather

if you don’t mind, I will add your advice to the original post

That sounds great to me; thanks!

[Laura_Ann_Strobel]

This was perfectly timed for me. I know it takes a lot of energy to write out instructions that are understandable and comprehensive. Thank you. You gave me the missing piece to the puzzle that I needed.

[Kaylie_Pattni]

Is there a way to hide statuses you don’t want on certain boards? I tried filtering on only certain statuses, but those status sections still show up, just empty. For some projects, I only want to show a small part of the workflow, but they’re all sharing one status field.

[Richard_Sather]

Hi @Kaylie_Pattni , having applied your filter (eg. do not show ‘Working on it’ status)…

…you also need to change the Group settings to Hide empty groups. That should do it!

You can’t do that with ‘real’ Sections!

[Johan_Verhoeven]

Hi Richard,

I implemented this solution, but for the project I want to use it i have two forms to add tasks to the project. For the form I have to assign a section the task is added to. Do I have to keep that section?? or is there a solution to add a form entry with a status?

[Richard_Sather]

Hi @Johan_Verhoeven , welcome to the forum

Glad you managed to implement this method. Technically, by default, every project has a default section, called ‘Untitled section’. You cannot delete this, but it also will not really appear anyway. In your form’s Settings, just leave the default set to ‘First project section’.

Instead, for your form, you will require a rule to make sure that, any task added via the form, is set to the first stage or a specific status from your field. Your rule would look like this:

You may leave the Check if (condition) blank and instead set it directly from the When (trigger) by changing the option to Form submissions and selecting your form. You could actually set it to All tasks to make sure any task added to the project (either manually or from the form or task templates) are by default set to the first status/stage - that would capture every task added, not just from the form.

Your Do this (action) would be to set your first stage or specific status of your custom field. In my example above, it would be ‘Thinking about it’.

Hope that helps!

[Kaylie_Pattni]

Thanks for the reply! I did see that- I don’t necessarily want the sections to be hidden if they’re empty. I just want a certain part of the workflow to be visible on a project- so in your example, say that “Thinking about it” had no tasks in it, it would get hidden. However, I’d want that to show up on my board so I have an overview of the whole workflow.

[Richard_Sather]

Hi @Kaylie_Pattni , sorry perhaps I’m not quite following want it is you want to achieve.

You can just filter out the statuses that you don’t want to see and instead do not hide empty groups if you want to see them all.

You could also perhaps set this up in a different saved tab view, so at least there is one List/Board view that has all your statuses.

[Max_Binder]

Thanks for sharing!

But then I usually find that they also have a ‘Status’ or ‘Stage’ single-select custom field with exactly (or more or less) the same options as the Sections of their ongoing workflow. And then, in order to sync all Sections with their Status field, they end up having to create a couple of elaborate rules to keep everything in sync

I’m curious, why do folks do this? If the Section titles are “status” types anyway, then the Projects dropdown in the tasks already has a place to update it, and move Sections. For example:

Is it just that people prefer a field called “status”?

[Richard_Sather]

Hi @Max_Binder , good question!

I find that it usually has to do with visibility and the fact that a ‘colourful’ custom field is more prominent than the section dropdown you note within the task details pane. And arguably on long lists where the section name is quickly lost as you scroll down and lose context.

Other reasons are simply that the UI encourages the creation of Sections so that is where folks will start but then realise they would prefer a custom field instead.