Super excited to see some updates on the subtask rules. Being able to add them to different projects has really helped our team! One thing we do a lot of is using the due date of the parent task as the deliverable date and the subtasks go backward from the due date. Will subtasks be able to do that soon in the rule? Years ago you could do negative dates, but it seems to be gone in Asana now. This would be AMAZING! Workflow: Form submitted Parent task is set to due date that was selected on the form and connected to the due date on the task Subtasks then populate the dates for when those are due in relation to the parent task due date

There used to be a rule that was ‘When Due Date is Approaching ## days before, do [THIS]’, which was a way to get around the lack of +/-. Now Asana has added + number of days, they removed the old approaching rule, which means we’re back to not being able to add subtasks ## days BEFORE the Due Date. It’s mad this got through without this functionality and then months to add :frowning: as it’s probably the most important relative date addition.

When I use automation to create subtasks in Asana, it only allows setting a due date to a number of days after the parent task’s due date. It would be great if you could add the ability to set the subtask due date to a number of days before the parent task. [Screenshot 2024-06-24 at 2.05.44 PM]

@Marie @Vanessa_N Hey! Just wanted to check if you could pass this feedback to the team since I don’t see any responses on the thread from anyone from Asana. Thanks!

Hi @Esteban_Giannini, thanks for tagging us here! Although we don’t have an exact ETA to share yet, I can confirm that adding this functionality is in our short-term plans. We’re working on it, and it should be available soon :slight_smile:

@Vanessa_N Thank you! That is awesome news! Looking forward to it!

Hi fellow Asana users :waving_hand: Meanwhile, Asana comes with the functionality (I’m sure very soon), let me introduce a handy workaround that wasn’t known yet from the community (presumably). Hope you like it :blue_heart: [image] [Rule for subtask - days BEFORE parent task] a workaround Tips and Tricks Hi all wave You might have faced that issue : Well, good news is that Asana is working on it and we can hope for a future fix (source). The other good news is that, meanwhile the fix is implemented, there is workaround that was found by my brilliant colleague @Cyril-iDO blue_heart (Available from the plan Advanced) 1) avocadocheesehot_pepper The ingredients: A custom field Formula A rule with action “Create subtasks” The recent ability to use date fields as variables 2)…

Adding my vote here as well. The solution I’ve come up with that is sort of clunky is to have a Custom Field with a calculated date based on the Due Date - and then tell the subtasks to pull their due date from the calculated date custom field.

I work with multiple creative teams where it would be most useful to be able to set the due date of the parent task and have subtasks automatically created that lead up to the parent task’s due date. Right now that doesn’t appear possible within the rules builder. Am I missing how to do this or is this not available? Thanks!

Hi @Emily_Kokol-Rivera1, Before I answer more fully, I just want to make sure the problem statement is clear: is it accurate to say that your issue is that while you can create a rule where the subtask dates are set relative to the parent task, the subtasks dates can only be set to fall after the parent’s due date, and you want the subtask dates to fall before the parent task’s date?

Correct. I need the subtasks to lead up to the Due Date, not fall after.

Subtasks automating dated backward from due date

Asana Community Product Ideas Features Launched

Arthur_BEGOU 22 July 2024 14:19 38

Hi fellow Asana users

Meanwhile, Asana comes with the functionality (I’m sure very soon), let me introduce a handy workaround that wasn’t known yet from the community (presumably).

Hope you like it

Topic		Replies	Views
Subtask Inherit due date from parent task Product Ideas subtasks , dates	40	9474	16 December 2024
Connect the due dates of subtasks to the due date of their parent task Features Launched subtasks , tasks , launched	231	35149	8 October 2026
Subtask relative due dates based on parent task start/completion date Product Ideas tasks , templates , dates	32	5983	25 March 2026
How do I set Asana to automatically trigger due date creation upon completion of other tasks? Ask the Community dependencies , dates	88	40079	26 November 2019
Templates & due dates: having both "days before" and "days after" within the same project Features Launched templates , dates , launched	52	6481	29 April 2024

Subtasks automating dated backward from due date

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