I have been playing around with the timeline feature lately, trying to figure out if there is a way that I can create a scheduled timeline for my projects.
My team has been able to create numerous templates for all of our project types and they have been great to follow a particular process (in which we update all the time as we notice things that could be updated/changed). BUT the number one issue we have run into is being able to project a specific end date for the project that is realistic and allows us to keep up with client expectations. We know the basic amount of time each step of the process should take, but manually entering due dates gets tedious as we continue to add more and more projects. I’d like to automate this as much as possible.
I found a thread about working backward by setting the due dates in the templates and then when it’s replicated, just selecting everything in the timeline to the correct/most current dates. This is a great workaround but still flawed in my opinion since it doesn’t account for weekends being adjusted and the sheer fact that dragging seems inefficient as well. BUT it’s an option…
MY MAIN ISSUE that I’m dealing with is not being able to add subtasks to the timeline OR creating timelines for each subtask. We like to group some of the processes into subtasks so they all stay together. For example, if we get a specific project that requires we follow the same process for multiple items, we’re unable to project a timeline for everything since we can’t make timelines for each main task’s subtasks… Not sure I’m making sense - can add screenshots if necessary!
If anyone has any workaround for adding subtasks for timelines that would be amazing! OR if this can be added as a feature.
Your problem here is that a subtask is not part of its parent task project. If you want to see the subtasks, you might need to add them to the project as well. But I fear things will get messy…
Adding to what @Bastien_Siebman mentioned, subtasks do not inherit the projects, tags, nor the assignee of their parent tasks, even though you might see the name of the parent’s project at the top of the subtask details pane. In order to see the subtasks in the timeline, you need to add them to the project and set a due date. Please find more information here.
You can also read more about subtasks in this article.
I hope this helps! Let me know if you have more questions
Yes, I agree - having to add all of the subtasks we utilize within a task of the project into the main project will get quite messy. I have heard of people using the integration with instagantt as a workaround. Have you heard of it?
@Dana_Dench Instagannt is an absolute godsend when it comes to looking at and organising subtasks in a timeline - definitely worth looking at - the only thing it doesn’t do is reorder your tasks in Asana.