Rule to sync "moved to section/column Done" and "marked complete"

English Forum Tips and Tricks Forum Leaders tips
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1

It’s nice when you can automatically prevent things from getting out of sync.

A common need in many projects is to keep in sync these two essentially redundant (but still helpful) indications of task completion:

  • Move task to a “Done” section/column, and
  • Mark task complete

An improvement to the rule builder currently rolling out (as of 10/14/24) now permits this. (You may recall this was once possible in an earlier rule builder iteration, too.)

Now a single rule can accomplish what has only been possible in two separate rules:

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In case it’s a little obscure to decode, here’s what the rule does in English:

  • If either a) Task moved to Done, or b) Task marked complete, then
  • Take the corollary action: If (a) then mark the task complete, or if (b) then move the task to Done

Note: There’s no need for an “If” box in the rule; you only need a “When” and “Do this.”

Do you have other use cases for syncing where this streamlined rule may apply as well?

Thanks,

Larry

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2

Will older rules that already do this need to be updated to the new approach?

3

No, @JeffreyR, no update required. This is just a new option available to you.

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4

We have sections in projects that we have labeled by month, so we can move tasks to each section for easier planning. Is there a way to set a rule to automatically populate a section if the date of a task in that project is assigned a certain month? Right now, it does not seem so because it is only recognizing the month as text and not an actual month (Feb 2025 and not 02/2025) for instance. It would really help us out if there was a way for a section to automatically know that Feb is 02, etc.

Thanks!

Stacie

5

Welcome, @Stacie_King,

You could write 12 rules with triggers like this for each month:

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You could also explore letting Asana do this for you automatically with Group by Due date:

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where you don’t need any rules at all, and no sections, and let Asana create them for you. But I’m not sure exactly what groups it creates; certainly it’s monthly for some ahead, but not sure if it chooses longer batches depending, but maybe that would work for you anyway.

Thanks,

Larry

6

I have done something like this in the past, maybe I was using the older rule builder? But it is a good tip for folks and good to know it is back.

It would be a nice feature in enhancement if the Asana rule builder could somehow also auto suggest/create the “anti” rule in these (or other situations) So, using your example above imagine asana asking if you wanted to also create the antecedent* event:

  • If either a) Task moved FROM Done, or b) Task marked INCOMPLETE, then
  • Take the corollary action: If (a) then mark the task INCOMPLETE, or if (b) then move the task to IN PROGRESS

Have not looked in Feature Requests to see if there is an open item or discussion on such a thing.

Mike

'* Not completely sure I am using that term correctly :wink:

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