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Briefly describe (1-2 sentences) the bug you’re experiencing:
Subtasks assigned to others are being reassigned to the parent task assignee when marked complete, based on a rule the parent task owner set up. We’ve identified why it’s happening & have fixed it, but it’s odd behavior & I wanted to let you know.
Steps to reproduce:
Set up a rule in a user’s “My Tasks”: When task is completed, move to a new section. Set this rule to run on tasks & subtasks.
Create a parent task & assign to that user.
Create a subtask & assign it to a different user.
Mark the subtask as complete.
NOTE: We were able do troubleshoot this & I had the user change their rule to just run on tasks, which resolved the behavior.
Browser version:
This is occurring in the Asana desktop app (I’m not using the browser app).
What version of Asana are you using (Personal, Starter, Advanced, Enterprise, Enterprise+, Premium, Business or legacy Enterprise)?
Advanced
@Brian_Fewell - could you open that Subtask 1a and check the “All Activity” section at the bottom (where the comments are)? I’m curious if there’s a second rule running somewhere to re-assign (don’t know why it would only affect subtasks). There should be a lightning bolt next to the action that re-assigned the task; if you hover over the lightning, it should give you the name of the rule that performed the action.
I do see that it’s showing that I created the task and assigned it to Lydia. Then I marked it off & it looks like two rules ran, one assigning it to me & one moving it to the Finished section.
Subtask 1a:
I ran a couple of other tests, to make sure it was happening even if the other user marks the task off, & when the rule is in place (applying to tasks and subtasks), this same behavior occurs.
Here, when the rule is not in place, the task does not get reassigned.
Subtask 1c:
Then when I add the rule in, applying to tasks and subtasks:
Subtask 1d:
@Brian_Fewell - My best guess is that you are assigned to a parent task while other people (like LB in your example) are assigned to the subtasks, so the subtasks are “in” your My Tasks (inside of their parent), despite not being assigned to you. When the rule is set to run on tasks and subtasks inside of your My Tasks, it’s picking up those subtasks, even though they’re assigned to someone else, and then actioning on them.
I’m wondering if just keeping the setting to run on Tasks only will fix your problem completely (I know you already explored this), since I believe even subtasks that are assigned to you will be treated as “Tasks” in your My Tasks. (again, this is just my speculation)
I don’t work for Asana, so I unfortunately can’t help you further. Make sure you submit a ticket (if you haven’t already) using these steps so their dedicated team can assist (they’ll be able to access those links you provided). You can reference this thread in your ticket, since your links/screenshots are really helpful.
AHH Okay, I’m still figuring out how these forums work.
Agree, it seems that just having the setting flipped to just run on tasks will resolve the issue, but I think I’ll submit a ticket just so the support team is aware of the issue.
UPDATE: I opened a support ticket & got this response:
"This is currently an expected behavior and if you have a rule in your My tasks that would run also to the subtasks, then it will run regardless of the assignee.
Having said that, I can easily understand your point and how it could improve Asana. For this reason, I have gone ahead and noted your report for our Product Team. I think it will be important for making our product more robust in the future. I also believe that these kinds of reports might encourage our engineers to implement this option."
Running into this same issue. Rules within My Tasks that run on Tasks and Subtasks are essentially useless if you need to collaborate with anyone within your task or even just need approval on a subtask. Going to submit a ticket.
@Melanie_Smith_Clary - welcome to the community! Can you change your rule to just run on tasks? I understand the confusion (as expressed in the OP), but even a subtask that is assigned directly to you (i.e., that shows up in your My Tasks) will be treated as a task by these rules.
E.g., if I have a parent task assigned to me and a subtask, any rule in My Tasks specifically that runs for tasks only will run on both of these. I agree that this is confusing and may deserve its own product feedback thread (e.g., either remove that option from My Tasks or add some kind of descriptive language to clarify).
