Reference numbers for tasks

@KarenV @jeremyw
OK I dug this up - here is what I did to generate unique IDs using Zapier.

  1. Create a Google Sheet, let’s call it Asana Numbering, with these 3 columns headings:

    image

  2. Create a Zap, let’s call it Create New Auto-Number Spreadsheet Row. The overview of steps is:


    Build Step 1 like this:



    Under “Customize Task”, you’ll select the project where you want the tasks to be uniquely numbered.

    Build Step 2 like this:

    What this Zap will do is create a new row in the sheet for every new task added to the selected project. So for example, after I entered 3 tasks, this is what the sheet looked like:

    image

  3. Create a second Zap, let’s call it Update Asana Task with Auto-Number. Its overview looks like this:



    Build Step 1 like this:




    Build Step 2 like this:



    Note especially the Name field above. I’m taking a pretty simple approach of just using the row number of the sheet as the unique number of the task, and I’m prepending it to the task name in square brackets. So in Asana, you end up with tasks like this:

    image

    You could get fancier, though, by using the “Unique Number” column which I included in the sheet but didn’t use in my simple example. You could build a formula into the sheet that populates that column with something formatted in a more complex way than just the row number; then instead of using “Row Number” in the “Name” field of the last Zap screen, you would select to insert that “Unique Number” column.

Let me know if you have any question about the above!

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