Hi there. I’m new to using Asana. We use it in my department to track digital creative projects. I have a two part question. One of the ways I’m using Asana is to track deliverables for email assets. I’m trying to figure out if there’s a way to move tasks from one project to another. Each “project” is a set-up as a month (March 2017 Emails, April 2017 Emails); within each month, I have columns for each week (April Week 1, April Week 2, and so on), and each task is the email (the task due date is the day it will be deployed). I created tasks in the March email project that need to be moved to the April email project, but can’t figure out if there’s a way to do this.
The second part revolves around the subtasks. Each email “task” has a series of sub-tasks for each creative deliverable. I’ve been assigning each subtask and want to be able to see in calendar view the subtask and who it is assigned to. The task “due date” is the date the email will be deployed, so I want to be able to track the subtask due-dates in order to manage workflow. Is Asana capable of this?
Hey Nicole! A great thing about Asana is it has the project tethering (tasks can live in multiple projects), but also that moving a task from one project to another is very simple.
And then once added to the right project you can change which column or section it’s in as normal.
For your second question, you won’t be able to see subtasks on a project-specific calendar as far as I know (but you do see subtasks on team calendars…weird, I know). However you can work around this by adding the subtask to the project. It seems a little counter-intuitive to add a subtask to a project it’s already in, but this will ensure that you see it in the calendar view. Just go to the subtask’s view and hit TAB+P and type in the project name. It’ll now appear in the project view (you’ll have to add it to the particular section though).
It sounds like you want to do this for all the tasks, so I might suggest you changing how you set up your project/tasks. Have a section for each email, then a main task for each item (rather than the main task being the email + subtasks).
However if you want to just keep doing it how you’re doing it, I recommend using advanced search to mass-add the subtasks to your project. Advanced Search → tasks in XYZ project → subtasks only. Then select all of them (select first one in the list then shift-left click the last one) and type TAB+P → add to project.
Nice workaround suggestion with advanced search, @Caisha! That’s a great idea.
@Nicole_Importico thanks for joining us here in the Community! We’re happy to have you. It sounds like you’re effectively working in sprints right now. This is something our marketing, design, product and engineering teams do here at Asana. Caisha mentions a few other suggestions for setting up your work that you might explore.
Whatever the setup you choose, I think you’ll find custom fields to be very helpful. Custom fields allow you to keep labels on each task while organizing your work in new and sometimes more productive ways. For instance, you could create a custom field that acts as a label for each email asset and another custom field for project status. You can visit our high level blog post on custom fields and our detailed Guide article on how to setup custom fields for more information.
Send email task to My Task… Need to MOVE that task to a project so that it will live in the project only. Do not want it copied to another project and need it removed from My Task list.
I am looking to move a task from one project to another. I reviewed the guide post you suggested but I don’t see the + or pencil icon that the guide references in my version of Asana. Have the instructions for this changed?
When in doubt, in order to add a task to a project you can use the shortcut Tab+P. When you’re in a task and use shortcut Tab+P, a text area will appear that will allow you to input the project name. As you start typing, project names will drop down and you’'ll be able to select the project.
I’m probably miles behind everyone else but I just discovered that you can drag tasks directly into other projects in the sidebar.
I’ve just set up a new project template, to which we’re all going to switch over next month. Anticipating some static from people who’ve already set up projects in the existing template, I’ve been messing around with the easiest way to merge the two. I tried copying (Ctrl+C) but when I pasted, the tasks had lost all of their due dates, assignees, comments, etc. I tried having the tasks exist in both projects (Tab+P) but, for some reason, in the new template they all appeared in the wrong descending order. Finally, I just multi-selected all of the tasks and dragged them straight across to the new template in the sidebar. They all moved across with everything intact and in the right order.
This is going to make it a lot easier when I break it to everyone that we’re changing templates!
Is it possible to share the subtasks between projects? Each time I’ve tried to share a subtask with another project, the subtask will disappear from it’s original project and will appear on the new project. Thanks!
Hi @Karen_Reyes. Great question! What you’ll need to do is physically add the subtask to both projects using shortcut Tab+P. When you use this shortcut, you’ll be able to add the subtask to the project view in multiple projects, just as you would with a normal task. Let us know if you have other questions.
Thanks, @Alexis. For some reason, when I add the subtask into the subtask of another project project, it disappears. When using Tab+P to locate the specific subtask I would like this to be part of, it cannot find the subtask. In addition, if I use the specific name of the subtask I would like this to be a part of, Asana does not recognize the subtask and creates a new project. The only projects that appear are the names of the main projects I’m working. If I’m sharing a subtask between projects, if it is part of a subtask on its main project, will it only show up as a main task under the shared project? Please let me know if you have any questions. Thanks again!
Hi @Karen_Reyes hmm I bet we can get to the bottom of this. I’m having a bit of trouble following, so would you mind providing a few screenshots of what you’re experiencing?
Hi @Alexis, though I’ve added the content to both subtasks, the second I move it down into the subtask of the project Asana removes it from the previous project I’m trying to link it to. Please see below. Is there anyway to contact you directly regarding this? Thanks!
Hey @Karen_Reyes I read through your issue and I think it’s less about being able to add the subtask to multiple projects (which you can absolutely do and @Alexis explained it and I think you followed the directions).
However from what I can tell, you’re not just doing that. After you add a subtask to a project, you’re then moving the subtask to be a subtask of another task.
You cannot do that - it’s why the subtask is being removed from the original project, because a subtask can’t live in multiple tasks like that.
Thanks for responding and clarifying, @Caisha. That makes a lot of sense now as to why the subtasks cannot be shared between a subtask of another project.
You’re most welcome! Sorry for all the confusion =)
If you’re looking for a workaround I can help, it’ll probably be more about structuring the projects/tasks so there’s not more than one level of subtasks. Up to you, happy to help though.
