Is there a way to set a custom field so that when it is updated in one project it updates in all projects that field is used?

[Sean_Olson]

We use custom fields in some cases to relay certain information, for instance “account lead”. Unfortunately if we have “Account Lead” in multiple projects, we have to update it manually in all of the projects it is used when the account lead changes. Is there a way to have fields be linked or dynamic so that when updated in one project it updates in all projects? Thanks!

[lpb]

@Sean_Olson

Yes, you need to have one shared org-wide (global) custom field added to any project that needs it. You define that checking this box below when you create or edit a custom field:

Note that you will have a lot of cleanup to do given your current state to choose the most used version of this field, edit it and check the checkbox, add it to all projects one-by-one, then one-by-one copy the values to the new field, then remove the old fields. Sorting by the old custom field project by project and multi-select will help with this.

Larry

[Sean_Olson]

Hi Larry-

Thank you, we do have that box checked and the field has been added from the library in the various projects. The issue is not that the OPTIONS aren’t the same, it’s that if option 1 is selected in project A and project B, then I update project A to be option2, project B does not automatically update to option 2, it is still option 1 and requires manual update. Hope that makes sense!

Thanks again,

Sean

[lpb]

Maybe you can take this up with support@asana.com because I don’t think it’s operating in your case as intended.

Thanks,

Larry

[Richard_Sather]

Hi @Sean_Olson , apart from Larry’s useful suggestions, you may also check that it is actually the same field from your library in BOTH projects.

Working with clients, I have come across situations where they have a ‘Priority’ field from the custom field library in one project, but the other project has a ‘Priority’ field (with exactly the same options) BUT that field is local to that project, i.e. not the same ‘Priority’ field from the library.

Could that be the case?

[Sean_Olson]

Not the case. I think I’m not illustrating the issue clearly. We want the CHANGES to the field to update different tasks across different projects. I’m thinking the missing piece here is Asana has no way to know that one task is related to another unless multi-homed and we can’t do that because the tasks do need to be independently closed. So a change to a field option selection for Task A in Project A would also change the field option selection for Task B in project B. To bring it back to original example, if Matt (option) was account lead (field) on any tasks related to customer “Magnolia” in a multitude of projects and now Kendra (option) is the new account lead (field), I want to change “Matt → Kendra” once and have it updated across all tasks where Matt was selected and now Kendra should be selected.

[Christine_Bolton]

@Sean_Olson

I can’t think of a way that this can be done by automation, but I can think of a way that this can be done more efficiently. You can used the Advanced Search function in Asana. Add all of the necessary custom fields (Advanced Search > Add Filter > Add Custom Fields) and set the necessary parameters.

Once you click search you will see a list of all tasks meeting the criteria you selected, from here you can use Asana’s bulk-edit feature (you can select up to 50 tasks) and quickly make the edits this way. Note: Don’t forget to filter by incomplete tasks.

Hope this helps!
Christine