How to edit a Custom Field that is showing "This field is used in a template and cannot be edited" but it was removed from all Project Templates but is still wont allow me to edit it?

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Hi, I’m trying to edit a value of a field in my projects, but it wont allow me, because it says its being used in a template. “This field is used in a template and cannot be edited.”
When i first got that I message, I removed the field from all project templates that were listed as having it & still wont allow me to edit it, it keeps saying that is on a template, but when i look into the projects/templates that is added to, i see that its no loner listed as being part of a project template.
& I can’t delete it or remove it from the active projects because them I’d have to re make the rules in ALL of them pointing to the new field one by one. Too many projects & too many rules to edit, its not feasible.

Does anyone know how to fix this or has a workaround?

Thank you in advance

Veronica

field library - 1
field library - 11898×731 42.5 KB

field library - 2
field library - 21164×824 29.2 KB

field library - 3 field dashboard
field library - 3 field dashboard1189×3000 157 KB

field library - 4 - edit field
field library - 4 - edit field1247×863 44.4 KB

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Hi @Veronica_Laurora1 , welcome to the forum :wave:

Unfortunately this is expected behaviour of such ‘Asana-created fields’.

My advice, to all the clients I consult, is to stay far away from them - always create your own custom fields from scratch so you don’t run into this issue.

I’m afraid there isn’t a workaround other than remapping all values to a newly create field. This remapping process could be done manually (using advanced searches and applying fields in bulk) or via an API script that a developer such as @Bastien_Siebman could probably create for you, unless he already has a tool for this.

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This is quicker than you usually think :slight_smile:

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Thank you @Richard_Sather , could you point me in the direction of a tutorial on using advanced searches and applying fields in bulk? Is there a way to also edit the rules in bulk?

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@Veronica_Laurora1 , I think @Bastien_Siebman has a useful Youtube video on such field mapping that he could share…?

Bulk editing rules can be done using the Bundles feature, exclusive to the Enterprise tiers.

Happy to offer you a consultation if you require further assistance with your Asana!

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Hi @Veronica_Laurora1 ,

This help article might be useful for utilising search: Find work fast with search

For changing fields in bulk I’d advise to use multi-select:

  1. Go to settings > display > :white_check_mark: Show row numbers
  2. Select the first task
  3. Select task nr. 50 whilst holding down [shift]
  4. Change the custom field

Then repeat for max 50 tasks at a time.

If you go over 50 then changing the fields takes way longer.

:information_source: This is where to place your mouse when selecting tasks:
image

@Richard_Sather is right about the bundles. This requires an Enterprise licence. You’d need to:

  • Add the new rules to a bundle
  • Remove the old rules from each project and add the bundle

This is a manual process the first time, but if you ever need to change rules on multiple projects Bundles is the way to go.

(I’d go as far as to advise against adding rules to templates if you don’t use bundles, it just causes too much inflexibility)

This article might help if you are getting started with bundles:

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Indeed but also requires way less time spent on your end. Sometimes it is better to select 500 if you can wait for 10 minutes to get the result :slight_smile:

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I mostly avoid this because of the context switching (and a desire to see instant results).

But you are absolutely right that with a bigger dataset it makes sense to just select the whole lot and go do something else.

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