Feature Request: Work Backwards From A Date: Access parent item columns in sub item creation for Automation and Formulas

Feature requests
,
1
  • USE CASE: We use Monday.com as a travel agency that supports different types of travel. This requires us to set important dates before or after a certain date.
  • PAIN POINT: I can’t access parent item information from a sub item.
  • IMPACT: Lots of manual sub item creation, and manual “date math” to set the correct dates.
  • WORKAROUNDS: TRIES: Found the formula for working backwards from a date but it only works within the item itself.

Request in detail…
In my role I have to do a lot of “right to left” planning. A client books a trip and I have to set milestones, 30, 60, 90 days BEFORE the “start travel” or “due date.” So basically if we look at a beginning date and an end date, the beginning date can be anything. It’s the end date that I have to plan around. To be clear I don’t need to say, “start date + days,” I need to work backwards from the due date. So “due date - days.”

A client may book a trip today, but not travel until a year from now. So 30 days from today doesn’t matter. Again it’s the end date… or perhaps better called “travel date.”

I’m repeating myself in an attempt to ensure the idea is clear. Please let me know if this makes sense and add your vote! My husband, who is a software engineer is writing this out for me…

Now, whether it’s a formula or an automation I would like to be able to access parent item information in subitems.

Example Automation:

WHEN a NEW ITEM is CREATED with STATUS = “MYSTATUS”, CREATE a SUB ITEM with SUB ITEM DUE DATE = PARENT ITEM DUE DATE - X DAYS

OR in a more specific use case fashion…

WHEN a NEW TRAVEL BOOKING is CREATED with TRIP TYPE equal to “DISNEY” CREATE a SUB ITEM with STATUS ‘Dining Reservation’ with COMPLETE DATE equal to PARENT ITEM DUE DATE MINUS 60 DAYS

I have the formula below to take date 1 and set date 2 60 days before date 1 within an item, itself, but it has no access to the parent item information…

SUBTRACT_DAYS({Start Travel},60)

Example Formula for a Sub Item Formula Column:
SUBTRACT_DAYS(VALUE FROM PARENT ITEM COLUMN,60)

I realize this also implies the ability to create automations that allow you to place formulas in a column… which would be awesome.

This would allow me to create multiple important dates based on the parent item’s due date.

When an item is created, create a sub item with status “FINAL PAYMENT” and set formula column to ‘My Formula’ (30 days before formula)
When an item is created, create a sub item with status “BOOK DINING” and set formula column to ‘My Formula’ (60 days before formula)

Thank you for your consideration. Please upvote if you see this capability helping your projects whether in the exact same way or by using the broader capabilities offered by this product feature request.

2

hi @travelagentrg

I think I understand the use case. What if you could have an integration recipe that goes like this:

When this offset in the subitem changes, set this subitem date to the offset from this date in the parent item.

Where this number is a number column in the subitem. When that column changes (e.g. set to -14) the date in the subitem will be set 14 days prior to the date in the parent item. The trigger is the change of the number (offset) column. If needed it could be extended with a selection of days / workdays.

Let me know if you would be interested in such app.