Creating cards with connected (dependent?) due dates

Alea

I have an event that happens 3 times a year.  I want to create a card or template card for the event, with the due date being the event's date.  I'd like all my tasks (cards) to auto-set their due dates based on the event date.  There are tasks that should be due 8 weeks out, 4 weeks out, and down to 2 days out.  I don't want to manually change the due dates on all these cards every time the event comes up.  Is there an automatic way to do this? I've tried Gantt, task dependencies and butler rules, but haven't found anything that will allow a due date to be set a specific number of days before the due date on another card.

Devon Henderson

Hi Alea!

Yes, you can actually do this with Butler! It's not the easiest setup ever, though, and involves using Arithmetic in Date Variables, but we can make it happen for sure. And, you only have to set it up once

1. Make your event card. Set its due date. Create a checklist on that card with all of the tasks you'll want to be their own cards.
2. In Butler, you'll want your first rule to trigger when a card with the title of your event card is added to the board. This rule should convert checklist items into linked cards. So, it'll turn that checklist into actual cards for you, automating that step.
3. Then, you want a rule for each task that, when a card matching the task's name is added to the board, it needs to find that first event card and then use {triggerduedate-5d} as the format for your due date. Chang the 5d to however many days you need it either ahead (minus) or after (plus) the due date of the event card. The TRIGGER bit pulls the due date from that event card and does the arithmetic on that date.

You can read more on Arithmetic in Date Variables here: https://help.butlerfortrello.com/article/33-arithmetic-in-date-variables

Let me know if this isn't detailed enough - I'm happy to work through the rule and add screenshots for you! It's a complex setup but should do what you want it to do. This way, all you have to do is create that initial event card (from a template works fine!) and boom, it's off to the races.

Hope this helps!