Use Case: Using Butler to create a network of linked cards based on a relative due date

[Camden McAfee]

My company does video launches every 3-4 weeks. I wanted to make a button that would trigger rules to create a whole series of cards with due dates, but the trouble is that these due dates weren't always the same time of the month, and they weren't necessary based on the date I was creating the card. They were only based on the video launch date itself. What I needed to find was a way where I could enter one final launch date and all the linked cards would update with their relative due dates (some due a week before launch, some due three days before, etc.)

Here's the best solution I've come up with so far.

First, I create the cards via a checklist. One Trello button can populate a checklist with all the cards I need for a video launch under the name "Video Launch Needs," and then this rule is triggered:

when an item is added to checklist "Video Launch Needs" in a card in list "Backlog", convert the item to a linked card in list "Backlog" using pattern "[{cardname}]({cardlink})" copying labels

This creates a whole network of linked cards. Then I can set a relative due date for each based on a custom date field called "Launch Date," like this: 

when a card with a name starting with "Social Media Teaser Post" is added to list "Backlog", add member @soandso to the card, set date custom field "Launch Date" to now, set due date on the date in custom field "Launch Date" minus 5 days

In the example above, I know that the due date for the "Social Media Teaser Post" will be five days before the video launches. But since that's a relative value, I can relate it to the custom date field "Launch Date," with a due date set for now. 

So here's where the magic comes in.

when a due date is moved in a card in list "Backlog" by me, for each card linked from an item in checklist "Video Launch Needs", move the due date by the same amount of time

Now, by moving the "parent" card due date to the video launch date, all other cards automatically update to their correct due dates.

Here are a few questions:

1. Could this process be simpler? 

2. Is there anyway to make the "move the due date by the same amount of time" command also affect checklist items? In my example, when I try to create a checklist on one of my linked cards, all of the due date items get set to minus five days (see second rule example), but when I update the due date on the "parent card," only the due date for the linked cards is updated, not any checklist items.

[milynnus]

@Camden McAfee 

The way I had designed a similar process for a client was to have a board where you can create a checklist with links to all the cards needed for the task/project. That becomes the main task card and you can have it carry the deadline in due date. This gets assigned to an individual who will initiate a start work which will now bring in all the subtask cards and linked them to the main task. What I have done for a separate ‘test use case’ was to do the retrospective due dates on each subtask cards. I did this with a call to an endpoint. 

Other than the one action to set due date on an item, I am not aware of other options. That was the primary reason to call an endpoint.

The very first discussion on the above design was with a person in Texas that does photo shoots for weddings.