Automate Status changes on subitems based on parent item due date

Platform discussions Special workflows & use cases
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Hi! Looking to automate a status change between items and subitems, based on the parent item due date or status.

Some background:

We use subitems on our board as a sequence of tasks for our team, since there are a lot of moving parts. When a subitem status changes to “Done”, the dependency of that subitem would change to “To do”, which notifies the next person in the sequence that their steps are ready to be completed.

The issue is that the 1st task has to be manually changed to “To do” to start the sequence since I cannot set a dependency between an item and a subitem.

I have looked into a few apps, but they change ALL subitem tasks and not just the 1st one.

We are using a work around right now, that “x amount of days” before a due date beings, and if a dropdown is labeled “due date” then in will change the task to “To do” which starts the sequence - but adding this label is very manual and would confuse the team when we want them to be comfortable manipulating the items. Also, our item due dates are constantly shifting, which still means there is a lot of room for error/confusion since you would also need to manually change the subitem’s 1st tasks due date to reflect the item’s every time it changes.

Any solutions or workarounds?

2

Hello @KayBo ,

To Automatically Start the First Subitem Task: When a parent item (main task) status changes or the due date approaches, the first subitem’s status will automatically change to “To do,” initiating the sequence.

  • Sequential Status Change Based on Subitem Dependencies: As each subitem status changes to “Done,” the next subitem in the sequence automatically changes to “To do.”

  • Create a new automation: But first create new custom column that will help to initiate the process

    • Trigger: When the status of “Task Sequence Start” changes to “Start”.
    • Action: Set the status of the first subitem to “To do”.

This will automatically set the first subitem’s status to “To do” whenever the parent item is ready to begin the sequence.

1 Like
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This worked!! Thank you so much :slight_smile: