Import to update existing tasks

Hello @anon4834222 welcome to the Asana Community Forum :wave:

Since Asana does not have a public roadmap I cannot tell if and when this will be implemented.

However what I can say is that Asana has always been and is constantly listening to their customers and implementing new features. Just have a look at all the features they launched in the last few months and also last year, which includes well-requested ones from the forum.

1 Like

Asana has always been and is constantly listening to their customers and implementing new features.

This thread about CSV uploads to update existing projects seems to be a long-ignored feature. It was started in June 2018.

4 Likes

From my perspective, I think this implementation would be tough with a “flip of a switch” as you are suggesting.

Each individual task has a specific link attached to it, so in theory, any uploaded CSV file would have to reflect that same link. There are other factors to this including connectivity to reporting, portfolios goals, etc.

So, yes it would be nice feature and I’m sure would be helpful for some people, but it is lot more complicated than a simple feature added

1 Like

Not sure where you got the idea that I consider this a “flip of a switch” feature. I’m a software engineering manager, I understand the complexities of software development. I’m trying to point out that this feature clearly has customers asking for it (see this 4-year old thread, and others).

As you said - each individual task has a specific link attached, therefore each individual task has a unique identifier which could be exported and then used as the joining key during the import process to make sure each row of the csv matches with a specific task in the project. Bulk uploads is a pretty standard feature on all sorts of saas products, there is plenty of prior art.

I understand there may be downstream effects on other parts of the product surface area, but those are normal obstacles in feature development for any software team that is adding new features onto existing code.

4 Likes

Totally understand where you’re coming from and the length of time since the original request. I too would like bulk uploads, but the way Asana’s platform is currently built, I don’t see this feature coming down the pipeline.

Then again, I don’t work for Asana and there is no public roadmap, so this is all my opinion as I 've worked through this forum.

For your sake and the 145 other people that voted for this, I hope it is in production!

@Mike_Tammaro, out of curiosity as a software developer myself, what is it about the underlying architecture that makes you think that this isn’t likely to get done anytime soon?

So, full disclosure I am not a software developer or anywhere close to it, but I understand the structure of Asana and am basing my opinion off of their recent product releases.

The focus right now as I see it is growing the “larger” products like goals, workflows, integrations etc. Tasks are the foundation of Asana, and it seems like they feel comfortable where they stand because if the foundation isn’t solid, the larger products won’t be either.

Again, this is based on my opinion and I do not have any insight into the future plans of Asana.

Hope this clears things up

Hi @Mike_Tammaro thanks for your update here.

I’m testing Asana as our company uses for projects and after one week I just stop by this thread.

The major issue I see here, as others are dropping their experiences is:
The product is assuming my task grouping and fields will stay the same during all my project, and bulk adjusts won’t be needed to regroup tasks or update wrong initial assumptions, etc.

So all my workflow planning will be initial on the project and need to be fixed.
Which is not helpful to iterations over it for efficiency.

For now, this will block my iterations over our workflow, I’m looking into grouping 400 tasks for a project in different fields for specific reporting (based on nested IF conditions filtering), which won’t be possible manually.

I suggest taking a look on other tasks database platforms, I’d gladly share some experiences, because I see bulk update as common feature, and I can say this is user value, simply by: freeing up any limits from the platform on inexistent features (advanced filtering with formulas, updating fields with dynamic conditions, 
 bulk rename part of tasks’ name for new conventions).

Including some platforms just block updating fields that are dynamic links, and unblock simple non interactive text/number/date fields.

Thanks.

Is there an update on this?

It would be useful to have a way of bulk changing field values by row. For example, I am using Asana to track tax return filing status. The due dates will depend on the jurisdiction and the tax type. If the statutory due date changes for one jurisdiction, it may import the due dates for some of the returns. There is currently no way to put those changes through in one go because they are not all changing into the same date. CSV import would only allow for creation of new tasks and not changing existing ones. There are many other scenarios where being able to update task details in bulk would be useful. Is there any plan of adding the functionality? Thanks!

Hello @anon6570002, welcome to the Asana Community Forum :wave:

I have merged your thread with an existing product feedback request that you can upvote :slight_smile:

Adding my vote and bumping 
 new user to Asana and can’t believe this functionality still doesn’t exist.

2 Likes

Hi this is an important function if Asana is being sold to large enterprises where they most likely have complicated projects/programs.
How has there been no progress on this feature for the past 5 years?!
Asana makes it point to highlight how customer feedback is considered and this is yet another core feature that is missing.
Can we have an update if this feature is ever going to be added and when? Thanks

6 Likes

Adding my vote. This seems like it would be an inherent feature with the product.

1 Like

Voted :+1:

1 Like

Voted

1 Like

Voted too, hey we really need this solution & update.

1 Like

Voted. Added a task to continue to vote. Thanks.

1 Like

This would definitely help in updating changes to the project tasks. Also, when the task number is high and there are multiple updates to track, importing these updated tasks from csv would become easiest way to track those changes in Asana project.

3 Likes

Is there any update on this? I’m surprised to see this is not a feature, it doesn’t make sense that we can’t update existing tasks in bulk , we have projects with +100 tasks

1 Like