Project templates V2: what we gain, what we lose

[Bastien_Siebman]

Hi,

Templates V2 have been recently introduced but things are getting more serious: in late May/early June Asana will start force-migrating templates V1 to V2.

As consultants helping clients on a daily basis, it was important for us to understand what V2 actually brings, but more importantly what will be lost when the migration is forced upon us!

This post is about what we lost between project template V1 and V2. “Saved Views” and the “Hide” button did not exist at the time, so we did not lose them. Not being able to use them is more of a Asana, show me your BUTs 🍑

Everything that V2 offers that V1 did not have

1. Tasks assigned in project templates will no longer show in the assignee’s My Tasks.
2. Due dates are relative and are based on the project start or end dates, no need to define “fake-real” dates anymore.
3. Ability to define project memberships separately from the template edit access
4. All templates related to a team can be found on the team homepage
5. Ability to convert a task to a template using a project template.
6. Templates don’t clutter the sidenav because they are no longer a real project
7. Ability to add a project to portfolios automatically

Everything that we lose when moving to V2
The list was double-checked on April 2025.

1. No way to go back to V1
2. No apps/integrations available.
3. No ability to define color and icon for the projects
4. No ability to sort/order templates on the Team homepage
5. No ability to duplicate a template
6. No ability to multi-select tasks and apply bulk actions
7. No ability to choose sort, filter or group options
8. No ability to share a task between templates, or between a project and a template
9. No ability to define a dashboard
10. A task can’t be recurring
11. Full Overview tab is not be carried over into the new project. (only the notes are)
12. [api] No CRUD (create-read-update-delete) capability for PT 2.0, so no ability to do things like read the tasks in the template, get or set custom field settings or sections, etc.
13. [api] Workspace-level webhooks do not generate events for the creation or updating of PT 2.0.
14. No access (read, edit) from mobile app.
15. Cannot put comments on the template tasks (for the purpose of explaining the template)
16. Can’t expand task and see its subtasks from the editor
17. Dependent tasks do not show the hourglass icon
18. [api] No longer able to pick and choose fields to include/exclude when using a template
19. No icon indicator that a task has subtasks.
20. Cannot be placed itself into a portfolio
21. Can’t move a task into another task to create a subtask
22. No ability to duplicate a task
23. No ability to define task templates
24. No timeline view to help with creating the structure
25. No ability to create dependencies with tasks outside the template
26. No ability to find tasks in template through search (but you can now find the template itself)
27. No ability to create a project with no project start or due date
28. Completed tasks don’t get carried over into a template
29. No ability to add a subtask to the same project template together with parent task
30. No ability to choose member notification settings
31. No ability to notify template members when a new task is added
32. Tags are not preserved when the project is saved as a template
33. No ability to use a task template to create tasks within the template
34. Unable to see/find template tasks in Advanced Search results
35. Unable to use a real due date for a task

The second list has some serious topics: losing dashboard or recurring tasks will surely break some workflows… Anyone else hopes Asana would delay the migration?

Let me know if the list is inaccurate or incomplete! @ambforumleader

Thanks @Phil_Seeman for 12 and 13 on the API, @Masa_Hagiwara for 14, @Aaron_Paul for 15, @Ilyas_G for 29, @NicoleK for 34 and 35

Version Française

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Bastien, Asana Expert
iDO (Asana Partner: Services & Licenses)

[Phil_Seeman]

Great list, @Bastien_Siebman!

Here are two API/programming items for the “Everything that we lose when moving to V2” list:

1. No CRUD (create-read-update-delete) capability for PT 2.0, so no ability to do things like read the tasks in the template, get or set custom field settings or sections, etc.
2. Workspace-level webhooks do not generate events for the creation or updating of PT 2.0.

[Collin_McLaughlin]

It sounds like #1 in what V2 offers should be in the loss area. Tasks assigned won’t show in My Tasks?
This sounds like a basic function. How will the assignee know what to do?

[Bastien_Siebman]

You read that wrong: with V1 tasks assigned IN THE TEMPLATE showed up in My Tasks. That is no longer the case

[Masa_Hagiwara]

Wow, really holistic!
I’d like to add one more.

14. No access (read, edit) from mobile app.

[Aaron_Paul]

15. cannot put comments on the template tasks (for the purpose of explaining the template - no expectation that they copy/clone to the new project)

[Bastien_Siebman]

Thanks @Masa_Hagiwara and @Aaron_Paul , your points have been added!

[Kelly_KC_Jones]

Great list. As I’ve been testing the v2
Templates (and after reading this list), I’ve realized we’ve lost way more than we gained. Pretty concerned about our org being forced to make the change.

[anon32797146]

Another loss I’ve encountered is the ability to see the subtask dropdown in ‘Edit template’. It may seem small, but being required to click into the details of each task to view/edit the subtask is a big gap for my use-case. The extra seconds the extra click(s) require to edit subtasks in the template add up.

[Phil_Seeman]

Ah, here’s another one, @Bastien_Siebman:

• Dependent tasks do not show the hourglass icon.

[FreshyJon]

Previously with the project duplicate API you could specify which data to include when duplicating. One of those being the task collaborators.

With the new Project Template instantiateProject API, I don’t see a way to exclude the collaborators of the tasks in the template (other than not including any collaborators on any of the tasks within template itself).

Another example is whether or not to include the project (now template) description. By default, it now adds it with the API (which is fine with me). But previously we were able to exclude the notes from the body data.

[Phil_Seeman]

Good points, @FreshyJon!

[Bastien_Siebman]

Thanks everyone I updated the post

[Marie]

Hi @Bastien_Siebman and all!

We hear you and have plans to address most of these pain points with upcoming updates! Make sure to keep an eye on Product Updates in the coming weeks/months

[Katie_Kendle]

I am not seeing a way to copy a task from a project to an existing template; I would normally duplicate the task & move it into the template but I don’t see how to do that now.

[Phil_Seeman]

@Katie_Kendle,

You’re right, there’s no way to get an existing task into a PT 2.0 template, via drag-drop or multi-homing, etc.

[Bastien_Siebman]

@Marie

We hear you and have plans to address most of these pain points with upcoming updates

Great, but can you not force the migration at the end of the month?

[anon20549472]

@anon20549472

Am I reading this forced migration correctly - No ability for mobile app to
read or edit? I need this confirmed ASAP!

Who decides these types of changes?

[Bastien_Siebman]

The mobile app indeed won’t allow you to read or edit a template, while you’ll still be able to do so from the web version. Asana is working on fixing all those limitations, we don’t know which one will be fixed and when.

[Phil_Seeman]

Hi @anon20549472,

@anon20549472

Who decides these types of changes?

Per @Bastien_Siebman’s point:

@Bastien_Siebman

Asana is working on fixing all those limitations, we don’t know which one will be fixed and when.

We are pretty certain all of the shortcomings will be added in at some point, so I would suggest a re-wording of your question:

Who decides what subset of previous features is an acceptable amount to release a replacement?

I would argue, and I think most here would agree, that PT 2.0 was released with too-small a set of features and should have been delayed until more of them were built into the replacement.