I’m trying to figure out if there’s a way in Asana to have subtasks in a template automatically populate due dates relative to the parent task’s due date. For example, if I create a new task from the template and set the parent task’s due date, I’d love for the subtasks to automatically adjust based on that like:
Subtask 1: Due 2 months before the parent task’s due date Subtask 2:Due 1 month before the parent task’s due date Subtask 3:Due 3 weeks before the parent task’s due date
Right now, I’m manually adjusting these every time, which is doable but time-consuming. I know dependencies exist, but they don’t quite achieve what I’m looking for since I want the subtasks to be anchored to the parent task’s due date, not just sequentially linked to each other but also be dynamic depending on the parent task’s due date.
Is this currently possible in Asana? Or would this be a feature request? If anyone has a workaround, I’d love to hear how you’re handling this!
You can’t do this with task templates, but you can do this with rules, and usually a rule like this can do most of what a task template can do, though not always all:
Hm - it might even be more convenient for me to do it manually since I’d need to run the rule for each subtask I make. Is there a way to request this feature? I’m seeing this has been requested a number of times.
In case it wasn’t clear, you could specify all of your subtasks at once, all with different relative dates to the parent, and get them all created at once.
You can look in English Forum > Product Feedback for a related request and vote with the Vote button at the top or add your own topic there (and vote).
I would love to be able to have my subtasks under a task template relative to the date that I set for that task template. For instance, we have a meeting task template. When we create a meeting task using the template, the date of the meeting is the due date of the task template. I would like to be able to set the subtasks to be due 4 days before the date the meeting is scheduled, and two days after the meeting is scheduled, and the friday after the meeting is scheduled, etc.
I understand there’s a rule workaround, but I still feel this (being able to add relative due dates to a template when the parent task’s due date is set) would be better suited if in the template itself. Adding in my vote!
It seems there is no way create a task template that has a set of subtasks with due dates based on a set number of days before the parent task’s DUE DATE. It seems Asana only allows one to set this flow based on the parent task CREATION DATE, which isn’t particularly useful. For example, we have a task template for Video Production with 20 or so subtasks and each subtask has a due date relative to the due date one would set for the overall video production task. These cannot be set with dependencies, as some are truly linear dependencies, there are parallel track of tasks, etc. I just want a simply way of anchoring subtask due dates based on parent task due date - there doesn’t seem to even be a way to set an automation rule to handle this.
I understand there may be more options for anchoring dates based on Project End date, if each video were a project not a task, but with a huge production schedule, it seems untenable to my team to have over 50 video projects running…so they chose to create each video as a task.
Any help is appreciated.
I also would love to see this functionality added to task templates. The limitations of subtasks is why I used tasks and dependencies versus subtasks. That’s a lot of crazy work otherwise, trying to calculate and enter all those due dates in the subtasks.
I don’t know what your project structure looks like, but I would likely explore having a section for each Video Production with the use of dependencies to drive the work forward.
Sorry that is probably not very helpful! Definitely advocating this addition to task templates!
In one of many similar use cases, we use a project as a Master Calendar to house tasks as “Events”. Many of these tasks have templates with all the work and communication items needed for execution. It would save a lot of time to have subtasks able to be set to relative to the due date, just like dependencies and timeline works. This is possible in another work management platform and I don’t understand why this isn’t a feature in Asana.
I’d love to see Asana add the ability to set subtask due dates relative to the parent task’s due date, rather than only relative to when the task is created.
Current limitation
Right now, Task Templates only allow due dates like “X days after task is created.” This works for tasks that are created shortly before they’re completed, but it breaks down for teams that plan well in advance.
Example
I manage communications for recurring events throughout the year. I often create projects and tasks for events one to two years in advance so our team can be proactive.
For example, I might create a parent task:
Women’s Retreat
Due: October 15, 2027
I’d love to build a reusable Task Template where the subtasks are automatically scheduled like this:
Launch planning meeting — 90 days before parent due date
Registration opens — 60 days before
Design graphics — 45 days before
Newsletter promotion — 30 days before
Last call email — 3 days before
Follow-up communication — 2 days after
Instead, because due dates are based on when the task is created, every subtask ends up due almost immediately after I create the task. I then have to manually update every due date, which defeats the purpose of using a template.
Wish I could +100 this. Is there any way to automate converting a task template into a rule? My templates are lengthy and complex, and I don’t want to do this manually.
