It would be great to have the option to add tasks to the new project template, which are partially due before the project due date and others after (e.g., -28 days for one task and +5 days for another task).
I agree, being able to give negative numbers would be awesome!
2 Likes
Negative numbers are already possible, but it would be great if you could use both negative and positive numbers in a project. Instead of a due date or a start date for a project, it would be great to set an any date that all other tasks align with before and after.
3 Likes
Negative numbers are not possible, see image below, if I write a number it turns into zero. I believe what you meant was the ability to choose between start date and end date based approach isnât it?
When you set up a project template you can decide if the tasks in the template shall be due before or after the project due date (see screenshot). So either â+ XX daysâ or â- XX daysâ - but it would be awesome to have both within one project
1 Like
Yes understood, that would mean asking the user to give both the start date of the new project, and the end date. But yes it could be useful sometimes.
We do not need a start and end date. Just one date in the middle that all tasks (before and after) align with would be super for us
7 Likes
Hi Asana Forum
Would it be possible that when creating a template, and selecting the due dates to kick in to have both the âdays beforeâ and âdays afterâ feature within the same template? We are often in the situation, where we work towards an event, with a lot of tasks leading up to that event (where it makes sense to use the âbefore functionâ). However, after the first event, we evaluate and work on planning the next 10 events that belong within the same project. In this case, we manually have to add all the task due dates as these should be set to âafterâ and we can only select one of the two features within the same project.
Thank you,
Kind regards
Louise
17 Likes
I have to imagine that this isnât something that will be coming down the pipeline anytime soon. Working with clients this is one of their chief complaints in the different tools they are transitioning to Asana from. From a convenience standpoint I understand why this would be nice, some projects have an anchor date and tasks before that date/after that date depend on it.
I usually coach to create 2 separate templates for these instances and if they are really needed to be in one project combine them after they have populated. Another option is to know how many days after the event date the final date in the project is (ie. the last task in this project is due 15 days after the event) and make sure that information is in the project overview when the template is created so that when others copy the template it is used correctly each time.
I hope this helps a bit!
2 Likes
This would be incredibly helpful for me as well. Two specific use cases at my company:
Example 1:
We are a record label that releases music. Every release has a project that comes from a template. The project due date and main milestone is the public release date. Prior to that release date, we have tasks like contracting, budgeting, and distribution. After the release date, we have marketing, press, and reviews.
There are tasks that span both the pre and post-release date steps as well, and there are dependencies connecting all of this, so they cannot be two separate projects. Right now what we have to do is leave all of the post-release date tasks without a date, and manually set them after project creation.
Example 2:
We have an events division, with the main due date and milestone being the event date. Planning, marketing, etc lead up to the event date. After the event date there is post-event tear down, wrap reports, post-event video editing, financial settlements, etc. Again there are connected dependencies here so having two projects doesnât work.
In both of these cases, it would be helpful to have dates relative to a milestone, or even more simple, just allow the current PT2.0 templates to have negative reference dates to the project due date. Right now it allows for X amount of days before the due date. Why not allow for X amount of days after the due date as well? By simply allowing the reference date to be a negative number it would solve this.
8 Likes
Thank you @Ben_Brown_Bentley and @Christine_Bolton for adding your experiences here as well.
Ben, we are similar to your example 2, manually adding all due dates after the first event which is quite time-consuming. A primary part of my job is running workshops and we often run pilot versions of these before rolling them out to an organization. Both the pilot workshops and the following roll-out would not make sense to separate into different projects as tasks are dependent on each other and the pre-pilot context is needed when rolling out the workshops.
Kind regards
Louise
5 Likes
I agree this would be extremely helpful. Here is our teamâs use case for this need. We are an events company, so when we start a new project in Asana the âproject due dateâ would be the date of the event. It wouldnât be logical for us to set up our project template due dates using the âafter project start dateâ because each project (event) has a different runway of when the project starts to when the event is.
Therefore, it makes more sense for us to create our project template task due dates using the âproject due dateâ option. At the beginning of the project (event planning) the only solid date we would have would be the event date, therefore, it would make sense for us to use the event date as the project due date. But, because we have tasks that need to happen after the event date, like completing billing, we donât have a way to create a task due date that would be AFTER the project due date.
Thanks for flagging this @Aga_Heller1
12 Likes
I am in crucial of this feature too and am shocked itâs not possible. My use case is that I want to create one template for a client web design project. There are tasks we need to complete before the project, based on the start date. Condensed Example:
Review client questionnaires: 60 days before start date
Assign project to team members: 45 days before
Finish Internal design: 20 days before start date
Start Date
Send client proof 1: 14 days after start date
Send client final proof: 30 days after start date
The start date is when Iâm officially starting client due dates while the stuff before is prepping ahead of time. I used to be able to do this by assigning dates in the template and it would adjust but the new functionality really doesnât work for this.
If the due date field could allow to select before or after start date for EACH task individually that would solve this.
Assuming this wonât happen, anyone have platforms that would do this easily for me without having to write code or do spreadsheet imports? This is a dealbreaker for me and Iâm looking to switch from Asana.
5 Likes
Would LOVE this. Also having the ability to base a subtask date off another. Iâm in real estate. Example would be a task to send listing agreement to broker for review after the listing agreement has been signed. There are a good 4-5 tasks that happen once the listing agreement is signed. We donât always know exactly when that agreement will be signed, but once it is, I could check that task, and the other tasks would be assigned to the correct person with the correct date automatically.
1 Like
I have a similar use case, where we create programming, and there are two major phases: Intake, Coordination, and Wrap up. I set up Intake as a project that is the container for multiple, budding projects. But there is some work that needs to happen before the ideas are ready to be coordinated. So Iâve made the penultimate section of the Intake project âConfirmed.â (The last section is âOn Hold.â)
Using Workflows, Iâve set up a trigger so that when a task (idea/budding project) is moved to that section, it automatically converts into a project of its own using a template which Iâve set up with more automated workflows that populate the project with more complex tasks with due dates and assignments.
I had to upgrade to Premium or whatever the most expensive version of Asana is to get the full breadth of workflow trigger/action features.
3 Likes
Another use case:
Weâre a Marketing department of a non-profit.
We send regular mail appeals to our donor base, and often set up our template due date as the drop date of our mail campaign (the day the mail house deposits the physical mail at the post office sorting centre, and releases it into the world).
There are follow up tasks that happen after the mail is dropped, like following up with the mail house for paperwork, collecting clean data files for the next mailing, etc.
It would be nice to template those dates as after due date, rather than manually inserting them once the project is populated****
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The templates are great with their timelines. However, it feels like there is an obvious use case that is missing.
In my work, we have planning that we need to do for each intake of graduates that join the company. The graduates all start on the same date, the project due date. But, we have activities that we need to carry out before and after start date:
- In the run up to the start date, we need to plan activities to make sure everything is in place for when the intake starts.
- Once the intake starts, we need make sure we are managing their starting activities as they progress.
I appreciate that this could be solved by having two projects, but that seems unnecessarily clunky.
If this schedule type were added, you would be able to switch between X Days Before and X Days After the target date you chose. In our case, this would be the date that the cohort started.
2 Likes
This has been sort of raised in the following post in tips and tricks: Set due dates in templates base on target date - #3 by Sara_Skowronski
Glad to find this post already exists!
Similar use case to Jenny, Iâm using templates for development sprints. I could either setup the template based on the sprint start date or sprint end date. I also want to have review/followup tasks after the sprint ends, and before the sprint starts we need to prepare for the sprint, write tickets, do research, etc. The key milestones/dates within the project all hinge around the start/end dates of the sprint. It wouldnât make sense to use any other dates as the start or end of the project. Adding negative numbers seems like a simple enough UI update and hopefully a simple backend change. Thanks
2 Likes
I have a similar problem! I want to be able to create a template for a meeting (as a task, not a project) and then have sub-tasks to send slides for legal review x days before the meeting, send notes to stakeholders x days after, etc.
1 Like