I am creating a sequenced set of boards in which an item will be processed in one board, work its way through, and when done, an item will be created on the next board. At one point in the sequence, items will be created on two boards that need to work in parallel.
So lets assume we have A > B > C and D > E
An item is created in board A. When work in A is done an item is created in board B. When work in B is done, items are created in boards C and D simultaneously. When the item’s work in BOTH C and D are done an item should be created in board E.
I thought about using mirror columns in both boards to monitor each other’s status, and then use automations in both boards to create an item when both statuses are done, but the problem is that work in C or D can be completed at different times. Having a rule to create an item in board E in both C and D can result in duplicate items being created. Does it make sense to use mirrors in these boards and then set up a new item creation rule in only one of them, based on that board’s status and the mirror column?
Does this approach make sense or is there a better way to handle parallel work?
This definitely sounds like an interesting workflow!
For the earlier stages (where an item needs to be created in only one board when the status is complete), I would recommend using the following automation:
When it comes to boards C & D creating an item in board E when both items are completed, this would be best achieved by having the automation set up on one board and using mirror columns to reflect the status of one of the boards on to the other.
You might like to use this automation:
That said, automations will always require a trigger, which in this case will be the changing of one status column. You would need to set this to be either C or D.
If you set the automation to trigger on the status change of board D and this occurs before the status of board C has changed, this will not create the new item on board E.
I hope this helps! Remember to mark as solved if this answers your question
Hi Dani,
Thanks - the problem here is that mirror columns can’t be used in automation rules, which is REALLY throwing a wrench into the solution I’m trying to put together
Originally I was hoping to mirror the status from one board and use it in the automation, but that’s just not a possibility, currently.
Also, unfortunately, this solution won’t work, because C and D can finish at any point, independently. C might finish first, or D might.
It’s too bad because I wanted to also create a rule that says when status 1 = Done and status 2 = (some value) create an item on some other board. In this case, the values in status 2 would be used to determine which board I was going to create the item on. Status 2 is a mirror column, pulled in from another board, much higher up in the workflow.
I’m not sure I understand - sorry
Doesn’t this still use the mirror column as a trigger?
Here’s the bigger story. Lets say I’m using a status column to group items. (no, board groups will not work)
So we have Group A, Group B, and Group C
Now also assume there is a consecutive set of boards, where an item starts off, gets grouped, and then somewhere in the middle, items are split off to different boards based on their group. Group designation is set early and carries through for a while, and then at some point, a board will use it’s status column to create items on new boards when that board’s task is done.
So it will have it’s status and a mirror column which states the group it’s in. The automation rule you chose cannot see the group column because it’s a mirror column.
By using this recipe, you would have a “group status” column also built into the new board that will change statuses based on the changes of status in the mirror column:
You would then use this other group status to be used in the triggers for your other automations that don’t support the mirror column:
However, this workaround will only work if you are only mirroring from one board. Multi-board mirroring is not supported in any automations yet.
Here is a list of the recipes that support The Mirror Column (when mirroring a status column):
When a status changes to something notify someone
When status changes from something to something else, notify someone
When status changes to something, stop time tracking
When status changes to something start time tracking
When status changes to something, set due date to current date plus some days
When status changes to something, set due date to current date
When status changes to something, start time tracking. When it changes to something stop
When status changes to something, create an item in board
When status changes to something, change another status to something (Note: mirrored status supported as trigger. Supports mirror columns of subitems)
Does this make sense? Let me know if you have any other questions!
Hi Jenna,
Thanks. There are a couple of concerns I have, and most revolve around redundancy. So lets say I have a Project column, and I use this. Now I will have two columns containing the exact same information. Also, while the mirror column can set the value of the other column, the reverse seems to be untrue, allowing the two to get out of sync.
The bigger concern is that I will have to keep creating new mirror columns. So lets say I create Project in one board, and that column is mirrored to 5 other boards that comprise a linear workflow, I can’t have those 5 link back to the original board. That column is going to change once, and its value will be constant throughout the other boards. This automation requires that mirror column to change values.
With that said, I really REALLY appreciate the rule list you gave me! Thank you!
If we could just have this enable movement of items between groups (without adding another status column) via mirrored statuses my life would be complete.
Absolutely understand! You’re correct, this will create a bit of redundancy as this is meant to be a workaround for the mirror column not currently being supported in all of our automations.
If it helps, you can always either collapse or add view permissions the status column that is triggering the actual automation to help avoid confusion and make sure people are only using the correct column:
I know that ideally, the mirror column would just be supported in the original automation but you and @mark.anley can actually vote for this to be added on our Feedback page!
Just wanted to check in and see if you needed any further assistance here?
If your question has been resolved, please do mark the relevant answer as the solution - this really helps other users who might have the same question!
If not, we’d be happy to continue to assist here.
