I am trying to execute some logic that appears to not be available in automations or with any of the “apps” that I have attempted to install. Here’s what I am trying to do, any thoughts or suggestions will be greatly appreciated.
We have a parent Item X that gets a Start Date set at a certain point. There are 9 subitems that are created for 9 different tasks that all have unique due dates that are a certain number of days after the start date. So…
Parent Item: Start Date: Oct, 1
From there i have 9 date columns that are part of the parent item with dates set with a trigger for when the start date in the parent item is set. So Date1 = parent start date + 60 days, Date2 = parent start date +30, Date 3= parent start date +45 days, and so on.
I want to use these parent item dates and the due date for a subitem with a specific STATUS column. So that when the subitem is created with Date1 as it’s STATUS column, its due date will be the Date1 column from the parent.
I cannot for the life of me figure out how to make this work. What i need is an automation like: When subitem is created and subitem STATUS is something, set DATE in subitem to DATE COLUMN in parent item.
I have tried many ways of making this work, no dates in parent, push dates etc but I cannot figure it out! Help!
Hey there,
Sorry, I’m not fully sure I get the full context yet. Could you share a quick example or screenshot of how your parent item and subitems are set up?
That would really help us understand the logic you’re trying to automate and figure out the right automation for you.
You can automate subitem dates pretty easily by using automations or formulas, depending on your platform (like monday. com, Jira, or Airtable). The general logic is to tie the subitem’s date field to its status and the parent’s main date.
For example, if you’re in monday.com, you can use a custom automation such as:
“When subitem status changes to X, set subitem date to parent item’s date ± X days.”
You’d first need both a date column and a status column in your subitems, plus a parent item date column. The automation can then update each subitem’s date dynamically based on its status — e.g., if a subitem moves to “In Progress,” set its due date to the parent’s “Launch Date” minus 3 days.
If you want more flexibility, use formula columns to calculate dates relative to the parent item, or create an integration recipe that references parent fields directly.
In Jira or Airtable, the same concept applies: use automation rules or scripts to cascade changes down to subtasks. This keeps timelines aligned automatically whenever the parent item’s date or subitem status changes — super useful for complex project scheduling.
Well the new workflow tool solved the problem allowing me to set dates on subitems based on parent item dates. It’s actually way better than automations! Thanks for your attempt at helping me. Doing this without having to pay for an app is a huge benefit!
