Auto-linking a converted checklist item back to it's source card?

Question

EDIT: I'm feeling a little daft as I now understand that what I was doing in my initial workflow was not the right way to work the checklists - having located, found and integrated the correct automated functions I've got things running like a charm. Trello is fabulous, but boy can it be a pain in the bum to setup! :)

I'm looking to find a way to link a checklist item back to the card that was carrying the original checklist, once it's been converted to a new card from that point of origin?

Mainly, so that I can keep track of repeatable tasks and trace them back to the headline card.

The ability to automatically link the two cards (as attachments) via a trigger whenever you "convert a checklist item to a card"* would be super handy.

*[Edit: This was my mistake - rather than converting the card completely (which removes it from the checklist), I've now changed it so that the TRIGGER is adding a DUE DATE to the checklist item! - which actually makes a lot more sense - #facepalm]

I often find myself having to perform this linking function by hand, which can be quite tedious.

As part of my workflow, I've setup a board button that creates a new list and populates it with the relevant  predefined templates with associated checklists with one or two of those checklist items needing to be (eventually) extracted from the checklist to be tracked (and detailed) more comprehensively, with labels, location, descriptions, start and due dates etc

Eg. "Make Arrangements for Site Visit" or "Site Visit Notes" etc...

I like to keep my lists within this specific board as clutter free as possibly, and because there ends up being numerous cards on the board, in different lists, all with the same title, it's critical I can link them back to their original job source card as a means to identify them.

[Edit: I've now figured I can change the checklist item to a "linked item" which automatically adds a new card to the list (with a linked attachment back to the source card) - plus I've set various rules that renames to card using the built in variables to include the job and list name within the title, (which helps when it comes to the card title's appearing in my linked google calendar agenda) - all of which took a while to solve, but now it's setup it's fabulous!]

There might be some option in the cascade portion of the automated features - it's something. I've been avoiding as it looks rather daunting and if I'm totally. Honest, I don't really understand it  so maybe there's something within there I've overlooked.

*[Edit: It was in the Cascade portion of the automated features and despite it being daunting I ended up figuring it out through trial and error and lots of cups of tea! :) ]

Hopefully someone can help me.

TIA

PJRanson · Answer

thanks Tymek, but that doesn't really help I don't think as that requires steps that I have to do operationally, click here, click there, copy this, paste that... when what I want to achieve is triggered outcome automatically based on a set criteria.

So drilling a bit deeper into this I've discovered a potential solution using the automated function "convert item to a linked card"

But I can't seem to find an appropriate trigger that works for my current workflow setup...

i.e. I'm arbitrarily choosing a checklist item and choosing to  "convert to card"

This IS the trigger, but that option doesn't appear to be provided in the list of automated triggers. The closest I've found is...

"when an item (is removed from) (a checklist) (by me)"

Which in my mind, if I'm converting a checklist item to a card, then I'm essentially removing it from that checklist and ergo this should be the trigger I need? But, it didn't seem to work.

That in mind I've gone back to first principles and re-evaluated my workflow in order to work with the automated parameters presented as options and I've managed to create a workaround that creates the new card in the list (rather than converting the checklist item to card, I'm simply applying due date as the trigger, which then creates a card that attaches it to the source card and a linked item within the checklist - which is actually a better solution to be fair. I expect there are more elegant solutions, but for now this works.

Trello is truly amazing - I've been using it for years and every now and then dive deeper into it's functionality - It's astonishing what can be achieved and I still only think I'm scratching the surface.

Tymek Zapała · Answer

Hello @PJRanson, There is a native way in Trello to view from which card's checklist item your card was converted from. Click "Comments" button on your converted card to open "Comments and activity" section, then "Show details". From here you will see item named " converted this card from a checklist item on ". You can use the card link to navigate back to your original card. Does it solve your problem?