Project Duration

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1

Hello all, I’m really new to Fibery and loving the power of it but also getting a little lost :slight_smile: so need help please.

I create potential Projects with an estimated duration so we can see our year ahead using a Timeline view.

When one of these projects goes ‘live’ I then add numerous tasks associated to the project with a more detailed breakdown of duration.

Is there a way to update the Project duration by getting the earliest start date and latest end date from these associated tasks, then have this as a link that automatically updates as tasks move?

Thank You, Michael.

2

Yes, with an automation rule (when the Project gains a Task, update the Project duration).

Again, with an automation rule (when the Task date is updated, update the parent Project’s date range)

3

Hi, thanks for answering so quick, I’ve been trying to set this up but can’t get it to work. I’ve tried;

When

  1. entity linked to project > tasks

Then
2. Update > duration

But nothing changes, even though in activity it suggests an update.

Your instructions seemed simple and clear so I’m missing something, is a formula required in part 2?

Thanks for any help, Michael.

4

Sorry I wasn’t more clear.
Yes, you need a formula.

Something like this:

DateRange([Step 1 Project].Tasks.Min(Dates.Start()),[Step 1 Project].Tasks.Max(Dates.End()))

and for the second automation, maybe something like this:

DateRange([Step 1 Task].Project.Tasks.Min(Dates.Start()),[Step 1 Task].Project.Tasks.Max(Dates.End()))

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5

Brilliant, thanks this works great!

In some cases the rules cannot apply, which I understand is expected behaviour so I would like to try and avoid the following happening. Now when I move a full project in timeline view, it is not synced with any tasks associated to it.

Should I now avoid moving projects in my timeline view, or can I rule be setup to move all associated tasks?

Thanks, Michael.

6

Imagine a Project that consists of Tasks with the following dates:
Task 1 - 01/03/2025→31/03/2025
Task 2 - 18/03/2025→30/04/2025
Task 3 - 10/04/2025→29/04/2025

The Project overall dates would be 01/03/2025→30/04/2025

What do you think should happen if a user changes the overall Project dates to 15/03/2025→25/04/2025 ?

In theory, you could write an automation that updates all the Tasks within a Project when the Project dates change, but I expect you will have trouble defining what logic should be used to determine the Task dates in a way that will behave reasonably.

Also, there will be a risk that you will get automation loops being triggered, i.e. adjusting the Project dates causes the Task dates to be changed, which triggers the automations which update the Project dates, and so on.

Have you looked at using dependencies on a timeline to allow you to shift Tasks (whilst retaining the automation that updates the parent Project)?

7

This is slightly different from what I would do, as the overall duration has also changed in your example so I can see how this would be problematic.

I use dependencies in our tasks timeline and this works great, I think going forward it is best to just use our project timeline as a report that can’t be edited, as the automations you set up for us have solved our immediate issue.

Cheers for all the help @Chr1sG its much appreciated.

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8

Yep, that makes sense.
It’s a bit naff, but you could maybe add a formula that gives a text warning if a Project has Tasks (from which it’s duration is derived). Then you can show this warning field on any relevant Project views (and choose Hide when empty).
It might help users to remember not to move these Projects.

1 Like
9

This has done the trick, I’ve used a colour to differentiate the projects with the warning.

As I develop my Fibery skills I can probably phase this out but for the time being it is perfect, thanks once again!

2 Likes
10

Nice one - better idea than my suggestion :nerd_face: