It would be great to have the option to add tasks to the new project template, which are partially due before the project due date and others after (e.g., -28 days for one task and +5 days for another task).
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I agree, being able to give negative numbers would be awesome!
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Negative numbers are already possible, but it would be great if you could use both negative and positive numbers in a project. Instead of a due date or a start date for a project, it would be great to set an any date that all other tasks align with before and after.
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Negative numbers are not possible, see image below, if I write a number it turns into zero. I believe what you meant was the ability to choose between start date and end date based approach isnât it?
When you set up a project template you can decide if the tasks in the template shall be due before or after the project due date (see screenshot). So either â+ XX daysâ or â- XX daysâ - but it would be awesome to have both within one project
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Yes understood, that would mean asking the user to give both the start date of the new project, and the end date. But yes it could be useful sometimes.
We do not need a start and end date. Just one date in the middle that all tasks (before and after) align with would be super for us
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I agree this would be extremely helpful. Here is our teamâs use case for this need. We are an events company, so when we start a new project in Asana the âproject due dateâ would be the date of the event. It wouldnât be logical for us to set up our project template due dates using the âafter project start dateâ because each project (event) has a different runway of when the project starts to when the event is.
Therefore, it makes more sense for us to create our project template task due dates using the âproject due dateâ option. At the beginning of the project (event planning) the only solid date we would have would be the event date, therefore, it would make sense for us to use the event date as the project due date. But, because we have tasks that need to happen after the event date, like completing billing, we donât have a way to create a task due date that would be AFTER the project due date.
Thanks for flagging this @Aga_Heller1
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Glad to find this post already exists!
Similar use case to Jenny, Iâm using templates for development sprints. I could either setup the template based on the sprint start date or sprint end date. I also want to have review/followup tasks after the sprint ends, and before the sprint starts we need to prepare for the sprint, write tickets, do research, etc. The key milestones/dates within the project all hinge around the start/end dates of the sprint. It wouldnât make sense to use any other dates as the start or end of the project. Adding negative numbers seems like a simple enough UI update and hopefully a simple backend change. Thanks
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The templates are great with their timelines. However, it feels like there is an obvious use case that is missing.
In my work, we have planning that we need to do for each intake of graduates that join the company. The graduates all start on the same date, the project due date. But, we have activities that we need to carry out before and after start date:
- In the run up to the start date, we need to plan activities to make sure everything is in place for when the intake starts.
- Once the intake starts, we need make sure we are managing their starting activities as they progress.
I appreciate that this could be solved by having two projects, but that seems unnecessarily clunky.
If this schedule type were added, you would be able to switch between X Days Before and X Days After the target date you chose. In our case, this would be the date that the cohort started.
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This has been sort of raised in the following post in tips and tricks: Set due dates in templates base on target date - #3 by Sara_Skowronski
I have a similar problem! I want to be able to create a template for a meeting (as a task, not a project) and then have sub-tasks to send slides for legal review x days before the meeting, send notes to stakeholders x days after, etc.
Yes, please make this possible because at the moment Excel is more convenient than Asana.
Iâm trying to make a template for event planning and want all dates to work back from the eventâs start date, however Iâd also like to have a follow up phase for debrief etc.
I would also like to have a +days from the date of project creation, so I can list the small setup tasks needed.
- Setup +7 from Today
- Phase One - 50 days from deadline
- Phase Two - 20 days from deadline
- Phase Three -10 days from deadline
- Event - 0 Days from deadline
- Debrief + 10 days from deadline
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Has there ever been a solution for this issue?
We have the same challenge. We want to set up the templates, based on the due date of the event and not from âcreation of the taskâ on.
We need the exact same as described by RebeccaCS.
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As far as I know, there hasnât.
I made a work around by making a template in Excel where I could put the dates in, let it calucalte the dates and then uploading it into Asana as a .csv . Not pretty or elegant but it gets the job done.
This is frustrating that this has not been resolved yet. There should be an option that allows you to default to before or after, but you should be able to override it for each task.
You should also be able to override to have an exact date. Annual planning for each project needs to be done by X date after the start of the fiscal year, but the tasks will need to be done Y days before the project, reporting and billing need to happen z days after a project is closed. This should be chooseable in a way that you can say X month and day and the system would know that it would work for any year. Or an exact date including year. Bonus points if you can say the first Wednesday of the month type thing.
Other issues - only having days as an option. I donât want to have to do math to figure out how many days 5 months is, or 5 weeks.
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