Mikes Trello Tips - Parent-Child Card Linking

[#1]

Mikes Trello Tips - Parent-Child Card Linking

I try to be led by the kind of questions I see being asked on here and many of the questions recently seem to focus on the limitations of advanced checklists.  

I realised a while back that although checklists are amazing and advanced checklists have taken them 1 step forward. However, there are still some limitations that come with it...

The Good

• Advanced checklists will provide notifications:
  Notifications for Advanced Checklists are here 
• Advanced checklist items show up in calendar view
• They look great on the cardback and are really useful for a quick glance at what is going on.
• If you convert to a card, it copies the checklist item member and due date to the card

The Limitations

• You can't filter at Checklist item level
• Checklist items don't show in workspace views
• Checklist items don't show in timeline view
• While is not an automation trigger for when a member is added to a checklist
• There are not automation variables for {checklistitemdate} or {checklistitemmember}
• You can't use automation to set the card due date to the date on the checklist item

This week, I will show you a way that gain more capability from checklists by creating a parent/child relationship with cards...

Lets begin

Board Structure

First of all I want to touch on the concept of parent-child with some ideas of how it can be set up.  

As with everything Trello, there are many possibilities to achieve the same thing.  Here are some examples of different structures you could use:

Option 1 - Single Project List and Tasks workflow

In this option, you keep your projects in a list on the left then have your task workflow on the right, with an imaginary line between them:

You can use labels, due dates and stickers to set the status of the projects based on the status of the tasks

Option 2 - Dual Workflows

To expand on option 1, you split your board in 2 and have a project workflow and task workflow, the project workflow in this example is Done/Not Done but it could have many more stages depending on your process.

Option 3 - Merged workflow

As with tasks, a project/story/deliverable has the same states of not done, in progress and done.  You let them flow through the same workflow together. You could use labels and filters to display only projects or only tasks.

Option 4 - Dual Board

This option is particularly useful if the workflow context is too different between the parent and child that they need different boards.  This allows you to use different custom fields and labels and it also means that the board context is focus around the needs of the particular team.   

How to do it!!

I am going to keep it simple and use the structure from Example 1

1. Set up your Trello Board
   Create a Trello Board with the lists as show below:
   
   
   
2. Create a temporary card anywhere on the board to add a custom text field called "Project"
   
   
3. Set up the Automations
   1. Automation that adds an empty list called Tasks to a card added to list Projects
      
   2. Automation to convert a checklist item into a linked card and rename it with a prefix of the parent card name (this is for filtering)
      
      Note: the "does not start with https://trello.com/c" is to allow the next automation to work correctly without causing a loop
   3. Now, you may want to link the cards at a later stage, this is where the Project custom field comes in.  Automation to link the task to a project when the Project custom field is set
      
   4. When a child card is moved to done, you want to check that item off on the tasks checklist of the parent card
      
   5. When all the Tasks are complete, this automation will mark the project as complete
      
   6. Finally, you as the owner of the board may want to be able to remove tasks. These 2 automations allow you to remove the child card by archiving it or by removing it from the Tasks checklist of the parent
       
4. Start Creating your Parent/Child Cards
   1. Create some Project Cards
      
   2. Start Adding your tasks
      
   3. Need to link a new task to an existing project? Use the Project custom field you created to enter the project name...
      
   4. Need to delete a task? Here are both ways in action...
      
      
      
5. Lets test the tasks going through their workflow and updating the parent card...
   
   
   
6. Lets check out how easy it is to filter in this system
   
   
   

There you have it, a way to create a parent-child relationship that you can use to evolve your boards further

Now that there are links, you can expand it with dates, members, labels, custom fields, descriptions and comments

Here is a link to the board...
Parent - Child Demo 

[Frederik Vantroys]

Nice ! Tnx for the article

[ME]

Hi, I think this is exactly what i am looking for.

But I do not fully understand the setup process.

I have 2 boards and one board 1 ;when a card is added to a list I want to have a (copy/child) card created on board 2 (with the same info)

than when the card on board 2 is moved to a different list I want to parent card to move aswell on board 1.

Looking at this guide im already stuck on step 2. where do I add this trigger?

is there a video tutorial?

[ME]

Hi Mike,

If I delete the parent card I want all substask card to be archived aswell.

[ME]

Hi Mike, 

When I create a card in "to do" and add the project name in the custom field.

it is not adding to the parent card and for some reason a extra card is made with a link??

[ME]

@Dreamsuite Mike I really need you help on this one!

[Dreamsuite Mike]

Hi @QC QC

Sorry for the delay in replying. I'll answer in sequence:

Hi, I think this is exactly what i am looking for.

But I do not fully understand the setup process.

I have 2 boards and one board 1 ;when a card is added to a list I want to have a (copy/child) card created on board 2 (with the same info)

than when the card on board 2 is moved to a different list I want to parent card to move aswell on board 1.

Looking at this guide im already stuck on step 2. where do I add this trigger?

is there a video tutorial?

For this example, you don't require parent child but a 1-1 relations ship.  

Automation for this on Board 1 is:

when a card is added to "list A", copy the card to list A on Board 2 and link the cards together

then for mirroring list moves:

when a card is moved to list {listname}, find the first card linked in attachments and move to {triggercardlistname}

[Dreamsuite Mike]

Hi Mike,

If I delete the parent card I want all substask card to be archived aswell.

when a card is archived, for each card linked in checklist "Tasks", archive the card

[Dreamsuite Mike]

Hi Mike, 

When I create a card in "to do" and add the project name in the custom field.

it is not adding to the parent card and for some reason a extra card is made with a link??

This one, I think you can use:

when custom field "Projects is set in a car not in list "Project, look up a card titled {customfieldvalue} and add the attachment {foundcardlink}, rename the card to "{foundcardname}: {triggercardname}, find the first card linked in attachments and add the item {triggercardlink} to checklist "Tasks"

[ME]

Thanks for the reply Mike!

where can I find,

"and add the attachment {foundcardlink}"

 I do not see this option in cascade?

[Dreamsuite Mike]

add the attachment is found in Card Changes

[ME]

@Dreamsuite Mike , ah so it is 2 separate actions and not one?

How would that look in actions?

the way you wrote it looked like it could be confined in one rule.

[MF_BOT]

This is very helpful @Dreamsuite Mike . I was curious is there a way to include the attachment on the parent card to all of the linked cards?

[Dreamsuite Mike]

@MF_BOT   You could add the cards as attachments to the parent card by using either of the following actions:

link cards together

or

find the card {triggercardlink} and add attachment {copycardlink}

[MF_BOT]

@Dreamsuite Mike 

I'm trying to figure out how to convert items in a checklist to a copy of the original card so they include the Custom Field information and any attachments. I've been able to convert them, but that excludes the custom field information and attachments. Do you have any suggestions?

when a card is added to list "Campaigns", convert all the items in checklist "Campaign Deliverables" into linked cards in list "Campaigns" copying labels and members, find a card with link "{triggercardlink}", for each card linked from an item in checklist "Campaign Deliverables", rename the card to "{triggercardname} - {cardname}", set the card's description to "{triggercarddescription}", add the "Preflight" checklist from card "Checklists" to the card, and set due date in 1 working days

[Haruka Kojima]

hey @Dreamsuite Mike , I want to; when I change the parent card's date, the child card's due date moves by the same amount. I have tried below automations, however I cannot get the child cards' due dates to move. Any way I can resolve this issue? Thanks!

"when a due date is moved in a card in list "Projects", for each card linked in the attachments, move the due date by the same amount of time"

　→ when I change the parent card's due date, the parent card's due date changes

"when a due date is moved in a card in list "Projects", for each checklist item, move the due date by the same amount of time"

　→ when I change the parent card's due date, the parent card's due date changes

[Neil Klueber]

Hi Mike,

This is great automation - it's exactly what I've been looking for to generate weekly sprints from project cards.  Can you provide screenshots showing how to get the full trigger in step 3.2 - "when an item not starting with..." ?