We are looking for the ability that when a box is checked on a form, it will automatically trigger a set of tasks or subtasks to be created.
For Example: If they “check” that they need a Poster asset, it will automatically create a set of subtasks like:
Create first draft
Send for feedback
Revisions
Final Approval
Also if a form is filled out and submitted the ability to Save out as a PDF and also manipulate it after it has been submitted.
We are looking for these features so that 1. We can easily share it with people outside Asana to get their final approval - think of it as a Comm’s Plan (I know we can invite them to the project but most of our clients don’t have any actionable tasks or need to see what we are working on) 2. The people filling out the form get a copy of what they filled out. 3. Editable so we don’t have to change the information in two places if there is an update.
If there are any ways around this, please let me know as I am a new user and trying to implement my teams processes into Asana.
So long as these features aren’t directly supported in Asana Forms, here are some ways around this, as you requested:
www.zapier.com lets you do a lot of automation and could help. Also Flowsana (search this Forum for posts from @Phil_Seeman) may be able to help.
Form submission creates an Asana task with all the info. You can print any Asana task as a PDF. (Plug: You can print a nicer page or PDF using Asana2Go Disclaimer: I’m the creator)
See above: Just modify the task resulting from the original form creation; values are in the Description.
Thanks Larry for all the awesome information! Looking at your Asana2Go & Zapier, is the information it collects secure? As I work for a large company, I know I would have to get clearance from IT to use those.
@Cally_McIntyre, Thanks for the nice comments! I can’t speak to Zapier (you should look at their policies), but for Asana2Go, as a Chrome Extension it piggybacks on your Asana login so it doesn’t require separate permissions/authorization from you at all. The only server involved is the one that serves Chrome Extensions; none related to Asana2Go specifically. I don’t store any information, nor use it beyond the creation of the Asana2Go output page.
Being able to populate subtasks from a form is really important. Without this functionality forms are worthless to our company.
We were told forms would be a solution to locking task templates (task template could be copied and the user can edit the copy, but the task template would remain locked). Unfortunately forms has not been a solution for this as our task templates have subtasks and we can’t populate them from forms.
FYI you can accomplish exactly this with my Flowsana integration. It has an If-Then Rule action of “add subtasks from a template”. If you want the same set of subtasks added for every form submission in the project, you can trigger that rule action with “If a new task is added” which will fire whenever a new form is submitted. Or for added flexibility, you could even have a different set of subtasks be added depending on a form field that you map to a custom field.
The above solution handles this as well - the template task containing the subtasks can reside in any project you choose. So you could restrict access to that project to only those users who you want to be able to edit the subtask template(s).
Hi
I really like the idea of forms - I could use them to replace some projects but need them to attach a list of task or a subsequent form
eg a person raises a maintenance request (by a form) describing what’s wrong with the item, where it is and so on. When that submission becomes a task, it needs to have a number of subtasks attached - ie materials ordered, priorities, status and so on that other people can then action. Is there anyway of attaching the tasks to the submitted form automatically.
Thanks
It’s not currently possible in native Asana to automatically have a set of subtasks attached to a form submission. However, it is possible in my Flowsana integration - there is a rule action specifically built for this purpose. You can see more about it under “Add Subtasks from a Template” in this forum post.
You can use this “Create subtasks” rule action in conjunction with form submissions in several ways. In the simplest case, you can have the same set of subtasks created for every instance of a form’s submission by triggering the rule action on the condition of “When a new task is created”. You can also build a more flexible scenario where a different set of subtasks is added depending on a value the submitter selects in a form field; for example you could have different categories of maintenance requests, each of which generates a different set of subtasks to be created. You’d accomplish that by mapping the form field to a custom field, and then building a rule condition based on that custom field’s value.
Phil, sorry to resurrect an old topic – but about this:
“” you can have the same set of subtasks created for every instance of a form’s submission by triggering the rule action on the condition of “When a new task is created”. “”
What if I create a task in a different way in my project? I only want to add the subtasks when a task is created through the Form, not when someone just adds a task somewhere. Is this possible in Flowsana?
Thank you!
If you can set up the title of your form submissions such that they contain a unique string of text that users won’t ever type when they create non-form-related tasks in the project, then you can use Flowsana’s “task contains a matching word or phrase” rule condition to trigger a Flowsana rule based on it seeing that particular string of text and thus knowing that it must be coming from a form submission.
Hi @Phil_Seeman, I am also having this issue. When you say “Task Contains a matching word or phrase”, that gets complicated when we have our forms set to pull a location, engagement type and program dates into the Task Title. Is there a way that Flowsana can just identify the specific form that the automation needs to run on? if not, could you give me an example of a “matching word or phrase” that will be consistent enough due to various people fill out this form?
Actually if you can sit tight for a few days, I’m looking at adding a new Flowsana rule condition of “If a new form submission is received…”. Will post here if/when that happens, likely this coming weekend.
I’m baffled by the inconsistency of the Asana platform. Having the option of creating a form, but not being able to set the template for the form to use is just plain stupid. It makes the entire functionality useless.
I’ve tried looking at the rules (auto-create subtasks if in a certain section), but also that functionality is extremely limited. It’s like most features in Asana are finished halfway.
The day MS adds custom fields to Planner will be the day I’m leaving Asana.
