It would be nice if you could select which field was used by the special “sections” function. This would allow you to have the functionality of sections with any field, and not require excessive rules. This can mostly be done by grouping on a custom field
Renamed and edited to be more succinct to the path this issue lead
If I understood what you are after, this is currently doable in asana with a slight shift to your project set up.
Instead of using sections, introduce custom fields and have the custom field be the section you wish.
You can create a rule that once custom 1 is change to X, task custom 2 is made Y.
You can then save your project view to sort it by that custom field.
Would that not solve your issue?
Thank you for your response.
Would you please describe in more detail the rule you are suggesting?
I am already attempting to use a custom field as a section but having multiple drawbacks.
Thanks in Advance!
Hi Jason,
Of course.
Let’s take a simple set-up:
Project sections: Intake, In progress, Complete
You can create a custom field with the same 3 options. Call the custom field label for ease.
You can create a rule:
When a task is added to project, check if label = intake, move the task to section intake.
Or,
When a task is added to project, move task to section intake, and change label to intake.
The above rules help you run both. Ultimately, with time, you should no longer need sections, and you should be able to customise the view of the project with the custom field values if you wish.
Does this help a bit?
Here are couple of screen shots
Thank you. These are exactly the rules I am trying to avoid by suggesting this improvement. If I have 10 labels and I want to keep them in sync with the sections I need to make so many rules. You mention “In Time…” Does this mean an enhancement is coming?
@Jason_Fujinaka , @Rashad_Issa , with the introduction of the ‘Group by’ button you no longer need to create such rules. Simply Group by the custom field, instead of using ‘real’ sections. Then you will have the best of both worlds, without rule actions eating up your monthly allowance, unless you are on an Enterprise tier!
And you can also create multiple list or board views by right clicking on the ... button of their tabs and creating a copy which can have different filters, sorts, group by methods and visible fields. More on that here:
Sorry if I missed something. I was a bit confused by what @Jason_Fujinaka meant by ‘special sections’ function - I assumed this was the Group by button, right?
In this case, then drop the section altogether and only introduce the custom field itself.
Sorry it appears I did not fully understood your user case.
@Richard_Sather brings a valid point which I missed.
Does his suggestion help?
Rashad
Thanks Guys, I love that we can use custom fields in place of sections but I am still having a few issues that you might be able to help with.
My Tasks (perhaps it is different in a project, liked saved views)
Unable to have new tasks add to a top ‘Section’ when grouping by custom label. If sorted ascending or descending, new tasks without the custom field/section always fall to the bottom grouping called “No Value”. Workaround: Create “_Inbound” value for custom field, make a rule to update the value to “_Inbound” if null. Also, set group by to display Descending to get “_Inbound” to the top of the list. (WORKAROUND INVALID, SEE BELOW)
Unable to move GROUP BY groups manually, only ascending or descending available. Workaround: Name each group with a numbered prefix for the order you would like it to appear. (WORKAROUND INVALID, SEE BELOW)
Unable to create saved custom views in MY TASKS. Workaround: Adjust Group/Sort manually each time you would like to switch it. I primarily keep it sorted by DUE DATE Ascending but switch the custom field “Work Category” to grouped/ungrouped.
I am not able to figure out how to sort by custom field grouping. My category names are not sorting by name via the GROUP BY order (ascending/descending) or if I SORT by the custom field.
Also,
4. If grouping by custom field, it would be great to have the up/down arrow that allows us to move TASK to a different group/section (by automatically changing the value of the custom field.
Chiming in with some responses and another justification for using sections, at least in certain cases:
My own reason for liking sections sometimes:
Thanks Stephen. I had suspected that renaming the Group names would allow me to sort, so not a big deal. When I attempted the workaround, I was able to get the last entry to show on top so I thought I was good. What I didnt realize is that the sort seems to go in the order the field values were created, not based on the name.
Sorting does not sort by name ascending/descending, but by Field Option Creation Date.
Since I am not able to sort by name or rearrange manually, it is almost unusable. Here are screenshots to illustrate the point. Let me know if you want more views.
Created Options in this order, 3 from creation, 3 from editing:
Regular Sort Ascending:
Group By Sort Descending:
Hi @Jason_Fujinaka , don’t (ever) rename field options in order to resort them, especially if you have applied those values to tasks!
You should always re-sort your field’s options up/down by using the grips on the left of the options (the 6 dots that look like a dice).
Moving these options up/down to sort them as you want your Group by sorting to appear. Then ascending/descending will simply be the reverse of that order, as you listed them in your field options.
Hope that helps!
Thank you!! Field Options order affects the sort, which initially matches the order options are created. My workarounds can now be put in place. This leaves the following desired product updates:
“No Value” should have an option to stay at the top, regardless of the sort. This will be similar to the “Recently Assigned” option in My tasks. Workaround: Create rules to make sure nothing is allowed to stay “No Value”
Add a third option to Ascending/Descending called None. This would allow you to manually reorder the Groups by dragging the ‘section’ up and down (add 6 dots to left of section name and up/down arrows). This will also allow this potentially global field to be used and ordered per individual preferences. Workaround: Edit Custom field, Edit Options, Drag them in the order you want them. No workaround for personal preference.
Add saved custom views in My Tasks.
Add Section to appear like a custom field. This would allow you to know what section tasks are in as well as change sections when not grouping by section.
Hi @Jason_Fujinaka , don’t (ever) rename field options in order to resort them, especially if you have applied those values to tasks!
Thanks @Richard_Sather. Why should you not rename field options if they were applied to tasks? I am under the impression, it automatically renames it on every task and doesn’t break anything.
Hi @Jason_Fujinaka , it sounded like you were renaming field options to get them in the right order. So, in the scenario that you were to rename option A to B, then wherever you had mapped tasks to A they would then appear as B.
Therefore, that would definitely break things.
I see how that was interpreted. I was just renaming them by adding a number as a prefix, hoping to have it sort differently. Renaming them to change the sort by swapping labels would have definitely caused problems. Thanks!
