Trello: Sub-Tasks to Cards & Corresponding Due Dates

Question

Hi there,
I am using Trello to manage my team and am finding there are functionality limitations. I am writing to see if there are fixes out there (different account type/Power Ups) that can fix this, but after hours of research I don't think there are. Please help!

I have multiple cards that have multiple initiatives underneath them, so I use the "Checklist" function to record these sub-tasks and their corresponding due dates. However, these sub-tasks are not seen in a list view on the board unless you click within the card itself, and futhermore, I can not assign due dates to these sub-tasks. Because of this, I can not use the automated notifications/features the "Butler" function does because these due dates are part of a check-list and not actually associated with a task in the back-end of the tool. I then have to manually reach out to everyone, which is very time consuming. PLEASE NOTE I understand there are other tools that I can use instead - but I am trying to make Trello work at this time.

After researching online, the only answer I can find is to create cards for each sub-task and then attach these trello cards as attachments to the "Parent" card. This will not work for me - my sub-taks are very granular and the Trello board would instantly be way too messy and hard to follow. UNLESS there was a "level 1" and "level 2" view like Smartsheet has for cards, but Trello doesn't have that to my knowledge.

Is there anything I am missing? Please see the snapshot for an example of how I am using checklists within cards for sub-tasks.

Iain Dooley · Answer

@Alysia Blatsioris You can just archive the cards and keep them in the same board. You would also be able to automate putting a due date in the title of a card when added which would require the least modification to the existing implementation I've presented in order to allow you to see the dates from the parent card

Alysia Blatsioris · Answer

Idea - if there is no way to associate dates/people to sub-tasks other than creating their own cards, maybe I set up logic to have these sub-cards go to some sort of a back-end board that isn't visible to everyone on the master board?

@Iain Dooley The issue I still see with that solution is that you wouldn't be able to see the dates/owners on sub-tasks in the "parent" card, looking at how the link looks from your videos. Unless there is logic that I could get that to also display in the checklist, not just the card name?

Alysia Blatsioris · Answer

@Iain Dooley Thank you for the response! Unfortunately this doesn't solve my use case because I do not want individual cards for each sub-task; that would muddy up my already messy Trello board! (Unless there was a way to filter only on "parent" cards?) Also, sometimes my sub-tasks are super quick/small (such as "send email") - in which case it wouldn't make sense that they have their own card.