Hello,
You’ve hit on a common challenge with your platform, especially when trying to maintain complex relationships like dependencies across duplicated boards or items without relying on third-party apps. Let’s break down why this is happening and what the platform’s built-in capabilities offer.
Understanding the Problem with Dependencies and Duplication
The core issue is that when you duplicate a board or items to a new board, the platform creates entirely new items. While it can copy values from many column types, dependency links are inherently tied to the specific item IDs on the original board. When you duplicate, these new items have new IDs, so the old dependency links become invalid.
The platform’s documentation confirms this implicitly. When discussing “Managed Templates,” which are designed for standardization and updates, they state that “Dependency Column: column settings are not supported” for syncing. This highlights that dependency links (the actual relationships between items) are not automatically maintained when you create new boards from a template in the same way that column structures or even some column values are.
The article you found likely refers to Connect Boards columns and Mirror columns, which are designed to link items between existing boards or mirror data from a connected item. These are different from dependency columns, which define sequential task relationships within or across projects.
Why Automations for Copying Text to Dependency Don’t Work
You’ve tried to automate copying a text field to a dependency field. This typically fails because:
- Dependency Column Data Type: The Dependency column doesn’t store plain text. It stores a specific internal reference to other items (their IDs). Even if you manage to copy the name of a dependent task into a text column, you can’t simply paste that text into a Dependency column and expect the platform to understand the link.
- Dynamic Item IDs: When you duplicate, the item IDs change. So, even if you could grab the ID from the original board, it wouldn’t be valid on the new board.
Platform’s Built-in Solutions (and their limitations for your use case):
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Duplicating an Entire Board (with Structure & Items):
- When you duplicate a board using “Structure & items,” existing dependencies within that duplicated board generally should carry over, as the new items are created with their internal relationships preserved.
- Limitation: This is for duplicating the entire board and its dependencies. If you’re creating a new project from a template and then moving items from the template to a new board, you’ll still face the issue of lost links because you’re essentially creating new items in a different context.
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Saving a Board as a Template:
- The platform states: “If you had items connected in the Dependency Column on the original templated board, they will remain intact on any boards created from the template.” This is crucial!
- This is likely your best native solution. Instead of duplicating a section/items and moving them, you should:
- Create your “template” board with all the dependency relationships set up. Ensure the dependency and timeline columns are correctly configured.
- Save this entire board as a template. (Board menu > More actions > Save as a template).
- When starting a new project, create a new board directly from this saved template. This method is designed to preserve those internal dependency links because the platform is creating the new board from the template, preserving the relationships within the new board’s context.
How to Implement the Template Solution:
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Set up your “master” template board:
- Create a board.
- Add your
Dependency column and Timeline (or Date) columns.
- Set up all the tasks/items for your typical project workflow.
- Establish all the desired dependency relationships between these tasks using the Dependency column.
- Ensure your Timeline/Date columns are also set up correctly for the dependencies to function.
- Review the dependencies to confirm they work as expected on this master board.
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Save the board as a template:
- Click the three-dot menu at the top right of your board.
- Go to “More actions” and select “Save as a template.”
- Give it a clear name (e.g., “Standard Project Workflow Template”).
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Create new projects from the template:
- When you start a new project, instead of creating a blank board, go to the “+” button in your workspace.
- Select “Template center.”
- Find your saved template and click “Use template.”
- Choose the workspace where you want to create the new project board.
Important Considerations:
- Item IDs: When you create a board from a template, the platform creates a new set of items with new, unique IDs. However, because it’s creating them from the template, it understands and re-establishes the dependencies between those new items on the new board. This is different from copying items from one existing board to another.
- Cross-Board Dependencies (Advanced, often requires workarounds or specific features): If your dependencies span multiple boards (e.g., Task A on Board 1 depends on Task B on Board 2), this becomes much more complex and often requires
Connect Boards and Mirror columns, or the “Cross-Project Dependencies” feature (available on higher-tier plans) cat language translator which can visualize dependencies across multiple project boards. The direct dependency column usually works best within a single board. The community discussions indicate that true cross-board dependency automation without third-party apps can be challenging.
In summary, your best bet for maintaining dependencies without third-party apps is to build your entire project workflow, including all dependencies, into a board, and then consistently create new project boards by leveraging that board as a saved template. This is how the platform is designed to handle templated workflows with built-in features like dependencies.