Now introducing Variables in Rules

[Jim_McLaughlin]

Terrific. A link to that page from the email creation screen within Rules would be most helpful. I’ll never remember all those tags, but they are, indeed, useful. Thanks.

[Ashleigh_Rivera]

Did this launch yet? I have the correct precursor settings in place and I still don’t see variables for assignee.

[Marie]

Hello @Ashleigh_Rivera,

We began an A/B test just a couple of days ago - if you do not see these options, you likely haven’t been enrolled in the A/B test.

The A/B test will run for the next few weeks, and providing we’re not running into any issues, we will roll this update out to all users. I’ll post an update here once that’s the case.

[KimberleyChallis]

Yes please! I’d love, love, love to be able to create a subtask that was something like “Publish translation of @Task Name”. Would make things so much clearer in the My Tasks page that I spend most of my time working from.

[Rebecca_h]

I’d really like to have the ability to dynamically name subtasks created with rules. In my use case, we write articles that get sent to the editing team. We use rules to create subtasks that get added to their projects. It would be helpful to rename the subtask the same title as the task as “Upload: (the article name)” but right now, we can only create “Upload: Article” as a static title, which gets confusing when there are so many articles to be uploaded.

[Maciej_Chodorowski]

Hello Marie,
When do you plan to roll this update out? We have just started a trial of Business to test the variables in rules feature as described in the features list but cant see the functionality nor test it for our use cases.

[Marie]

Hello @Maciej_Chodorowski

@Hannah_Lee

Hi Asana Community!

My name is Hannah and I’m a Product Marketer here at Asana. I’m so excited to share a new feature - variables in rules

We know it can be quite a challenge to connect all the phases and components of multiple different projects and initiatives, especially with a constant slew of updates. Rules and automations are essential in ensuring workflows and processes flow faster - saving time and improving accuracy so that you can focus on driving and measuring impact!

The new variables in rules will help drive more clarity, context and personalization across teams. You can dynamically pull in or reference values such as the name of the task, name of the task creator, and the name of the assignee (and more!) when adding a comment.

To briefly illustrate, automatically populate the comment text field with a friendly little reminder of the upcoming key dates, a status update, or additional context for the team.

Check out the guide article here for more info.

With Asana, teams are able to save time and sharpen focus. We’re so incredibly excited to see how you use the new variables in rules to automate and supercharge your workflows.

Please share your tips, tricks, and stories (or screenshots) below!

This update has been fully rolled out and is available to all eligible customers.

@Marie

Hi folks,

I’ve some exciting updates to share. Later today, we will begin rolling out more options for integrating variables into Rules Curious to learn more? Continue reading below!

Tasks assignee

Tasks generated from an (org-only) form, can get automatically assigned automatically to their creator (= form submitter). Please note that for this variable to work, you will need the “add form submitter as a collaborator” option turned on.

Variables available:

• Task creator: User who created the task
• Assignee: User assigned to the trigger task
• Rule triggerer: User who triggers this rule

Subtasks due dates

Today, you can automatically create a set of subtasks with rules. With this update, you will be able to set a relative due date for these subtasks based on the due date of the triggering task. Please note that only the first layer of subtasks will be supported

Variables available:

• Trigger time: The time this rule is triggered
• Start date: The start date of the trigger task
• Due-date: The due date of the trigger task
• Creation time: When the trigger task was created

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Please note that we’re gradually rolling out this update, if you’re not seeing it today, it will become available to you in the next few days.

This is currently in A/B test - so only available to 50% of customers. We’re hoping to roll it out to all users toward the end of April, so not long to go

[Desmond_Harvey1]

Is it possible to add variable assignee to “Add subtasks” and/or “Create task?” I need to automatically assign subtasks to the person who submits a form based on their submission criteria.

[SamW]

Is there any chance we’ll be able to plug a Field into a Variable?

For example let’s say I have a field of 20 designers. It’d be nice to only have 1 Rule that uses a Variable- Field Designer to populate the message. (In my particular case, it doesn’t work for us to use the Assignee)

[Marie]

This is something we’re looking into @SamW, stay tuned!

[Erin_Walker]

Any chance we’ll see these variables available in integrations like Slack? I.e. send a slack message to the task creator?

[Michelle_Tiet]

I started set up 1 rule with a personalized comment trigger on late due dates, but I’m receiving more than 3 notifications in one day and it’s flooding my feed so I am not able to see my other notifications.

[Brock_Taylor]

@Marie, can these variables also be set up to send customized messages to MS Teams and Slack? A generic message to a channel in Teams isn’t very helpful. I see that the task name (and direct Asana link to task) is included in the Team Channel but curious about any other customization.

Thanks!

[Marie]

Not at the moment @Brock_Taylor, but that’s great feedback and something I hope we consider in the future. I’ll keep you posted once I have an update!

[Marie]

@Marie

I hope we consider in the future

Scratch this, our team is already looking into this I’ll share more updates once I have a timeline and more details!

[HarryJJackson]

Agree with the above, it would be really useful to have these variables accessible in the slack messages. Any update on how this is progressing? Thanks!

[Pamela_Cabello_Lope1]

Is this also available in the rules, where a message is sent to Teams?

[Brock_Taylor]

Yes, you can send a message to Teams or Slack, it just doesn’t variability in the title but you can add a custom (fixed) message that get sent to a Teams channel (see my fixed message I added in screenshot below). The alert does at least pull in the Task Name for better context. You need to add the Apps “Microsoft Teams” to Asana for any specific board. This then allows the rules to add Teams based actions under “External Actions”. In Teams, you need to ensure you have the Asana App installed and have the appropriate channel ready to add to the action. Note, as this is sent to a Teams channel, it is hidden from the usual Chat tab which is a pain to not see these alerts unless you go to the Teams Asana channel. You can use the Activity tab to see Chat and Teams channel alerts though together.

[Emily_Roman]

Hi everyone, I’m excited to announce we just launched the option to reference custom fields as variables in comments added via Rules. This update is now available to all Business and Enterprise customers!