We are running into an issue that I’m hoping you all can help with.
We have one rule that checks if a task is complete/incomplete and moves it to the correct section.
Later on, that task may get added to another project (project 2) or it gets created in project 2 and there is a rule that runs to add it to the first project if it’s assigned to a particular person.
If the first situation happens, the task that is in the correct section will get moved back to the untitled section. This is fine, but our first rule does not run again because I’m guessing the task is not treated as newly created so we have a bunch that sit in the untitled section and have to be moved manually.
Sounds straightforward but can you post a screenshot of the rule’s definition just to make sure we’re not missing anything in the details?
By “the first situation”, do you mean the task getting added to project 2, or something else?
Why does adding it to project 2 cause it to get moved back to the untitled section in project 1? Asana wouldn’t do that on its own; there must be additional rules in play here that are having an effect? Or else I’m misunderstanding the scenario (entirely possible).
Yes, you’re correct in your assumption about the ‘first situation’. There is another rule that runs in project 2 to add it to project 1 because in some cases they don’t live in project 1. The problem seems to only arise if the task already is in project 1 and then project 2 gets added to the task. Here is the rule from project 2 that adds it to project 1 and is causing the rule to move the task to the untitled section.
@lpb may have additional ideas here but here’s my take on it:
It seems what you really need is a way to keep the project 2 rule from running if the task is already in project 1. One way you could do that is to create a global custom field, let’s call it “In project 1”, which would be a single-select dropdown with only one value of “Yes” (or you could use a checkmark emoji or similar).
Create a rule in project 1: If task is added to this project, set “In project 1” to “Yes”.
Then add a condition to the project 2 rule: “In project 1 isn’t ‘Yes’”
Does that make sense? If you’re thinking this feels a bit kludgy, I agree - you’re having to use a custom field as an “extra” way to track whether a task is in a particular project or not. But unless I’m missing something (caveat: I didn’t actually try it), it should work.
@Phil_Seeman’s solution would certainly handle things, but I’m wondering what your underlying need really is. Can you say what you want to accomplish in the main, rather than the very detailed question that’s the topic of your post?
Because I’m seeing you have two sections, Completed and Uncompleted, and if your underlying goal is make sure every task is properly placed in one of those, there might be an easier way.
Thanks Larry, we’re currently reviewing Phil’s solution.
The rules for project 1 to make sure that every task is properly placed seems to be working fine. I think the underlying issue is that if a properly placed task gets a new project added (specifically project 2), project 2 is running a rule that ‘adds’ it back to project 1 which then ruins the proper placement since it moves back to untitled and project 1’s original rule doesn’t run again to properly place it. I’m trying to find a way to stop project 2’s rule if the task already exists in project 1.
