Rule to copy task to another project

Hi, I have created a rule that transfers tasks from one project to another which is great. I am trying to create another rule that will move that task from one section to another based on a change to a dropdown menu. When the dropdown is changed, Asana says that the rule was run, but the task remains in the initial section. Any ideas why it won’t move the task?

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It’s best not to cross-post. I replied to your other query on this.

Phil, this question is actually a bit different than my other post. The rule does properly add the task to another project. However, when the drop down is changed to another option, a new rule is meant to move that project to a different section in the other project. When the drop down selection is made, Asana says that the rule was run, but the task remains in the original section of the other project. Do you know why that would be?

Did you confirm that the rule that runs are only connected to the project its attached to, so I seems you will need to create a new rule in the second project to change the section.

Oh, my apologies @Ryan_Rhodes for mistaking your post as a duplicate!

In terms of this issue… I don’t know why offhand. I just tried to reproduce it but couldn’t. The only thing I can think of is: are you trying to have both rules fire at the same time? I.e. are you changing the dropdown value in Project 1 which fires the rule to add it to Project 2, and as soon as it gets added to Project 2, you have a rule there which is supposed to fire to move it to a different section but that rule is not working?

That’s the only case I could find where the rule in Project 2 won’t work. If that’s not your case, then I would probably contact Asana support.

Oh @Paul_Grobler makes a good point (he posted his answer while I was typing mine) - the rule to move the section in Project 2, is that rule in Project 1 or Project 2? Sections are project-specific so that rule will need to be in Project 2 - even if you have the same-named sections in Project 1, those are different and unrelated sections than any sections in Project 2.

@Phil_Seeman thanks for the idea. I went in and created the same rule from project 1 and added it to project 2. Now, when I change the status within project 1 from “in work” to “complete” for example, the task is moved in project 2 from the in work section to the complete section. Seems like a work around but it is accomplishing my goal. Thanks.

Excellent! I understand it feels odd like a workaround, but the important thing to understand is that a “section” is 100% project-specific, always, in all cases.

Whereas with custom fields you can put them in a workspace- or organization-wide library and have them apply across multiple projects, the same is not the case for sections. If you have multiple projects with the exact same set of sections as each other - even if those projects were created from a common template which had sections, or were duplicated from another project which had sections - while it might feel like the section “In Work” in one of those projects would be the same section as “In Work” in another project, it’s not - those two “In Work” sections are completely different and unrelated objects under the hood within Asana.

I think if you keep that concept in mind, it’ll help you in building rules, especially when dealing with tasks that are “multi-homed” in multiple projects.