Dependent Tasks, Locked Tasks, or Dependencies
narek
Some tasks are dependent on other tasks being completed. It would be great if they can be locked until the other task is completed.
I'm thinking it can be a simple add-on or dropdown menu where we can list which tasks this task is dependent on.
I think it would first start by being limited to tasks within that project and then you can expand it to tasks within other projects as well.
These could be called Blockers or Dependencies.
Log In
dheseo
HI team,
Has there been any progress on this? I find myself using other PM tools at the moment because of this crucial feature missing.
If you manage a team, you need to know when task A is done before task B can be started. Is there no update on this since 2022? Surely there has been enough time to look at making this a priority now?
Thank you! Everything else in the tool works great, but this one small feature renders it almost unusable if you are managing a team
mboyadjian
John at Taskade Narek Zograbian ryantaskade Is there any update on the progress of this request by any chance? I find myself needing this feature more frequently as of late, and it would greatly benefit our team collaborations if we could have a visual preview available. I like the locking aspect the most – potentially a lock/unlock toggle next to the task and greyed out text...and when the task before it is completed, the one after it unlocks, and the regular text color is displayed.
Narek Zograbian
Merged in a post:
➡️Gantt: Dependencies between Tasks
jack-s
Narek Zograbian
Another request via email: Predecessors with Relationships like SS, SF, FS, and FF.
georgia.king
Gantt view should allow a user to click something and drag it to something else to create a dependency, without opening the individual task and typing names of other tasks or picking from drop downs. One of the major deficiencies of other gantt tools is the amount of tedious data entry minutia when all I really want is to quickly draw a rough picture.
Any "locking" functionality should be able to be toggled on and off, because there are always exceptions to things and it would be really annoying if some tasks couldn't be manipulated because some other task wasn't officially completed yet.
Narek Zograbian
georgia.king: This is very helpful feedback. It's also in line with Taskade's goal of keeping things simple, yet effective.
Thank you! How do you imagine the locking functionality to work? Some tasks are required to be completed before others can be, whereas other tasks may be more flexible.
georgia.king
Narek Zograbian: When someone suggests "locking" I imagine that certain edits would not be allowed to be made to the task. I don't want to be constrained by anything. A dependency should keep two tasks attached to each other in the graphic representation of the gantt chart when I'm clicking and dragging stuff, but I should still be able to go in and manually edit everything on both tasks, and when I do, if something is going to affect another task, it coudl warn me but not stop me.
Example: Task A is from 12/5/2023 to 12/10/2023. Task B is dependent on Task A. Task B is from 12/11/2023 to 12/21/2023. Maybe I want to move Task A. I click the middle of the bar in the gantt chart and drag it along the horizontal track, pushing it forward or back in time. Task B would get pushed forward because of the dependency (but I don't know if it should get pulled backward... you'd have to check what the default behavior is of other gantt tools, or what the best practice is for certified project managers, or maybe just make a setting that people can choose how tightly they want schedules to "stick" to each other. Now, if I go in and edit Task B's start date to make it 12/15/2023, it shouldn't affect Task A. I could also edit Task B's start date by just moving the bar in the gantt too.
Narek Zograbian
georgia.king: Just to see if I understood correctly, if you create a dependency, and you adjust Task A, you'd want a prompt that says, would you like to shift all dependencies?
So for example:
- Task A is Due on 12/1/2023.
- Task B is Due on 12/10/2023. Task B is dependent on Task A.
- If I change Task A's date to 12/5/2023, you'd want an option to shift Task B to 12/14/2023. This option would be presented with a prompt asking if the user would like to shift the date.
Did I get that right?
georgia.king
Narek Zograbian: In the scenario you just described, I would not expect a warning, or maybe it would be a warning that I can check a box and say "don't warn me about this again". I would expect the warning if I wanted to change task B to something earlier. But not if I want to change task A or B to something later.
When pushing stuff later, items depending upon the thing being edited should also move out later. Always, and warnings are not necessary.
When pulling stuff earlier, items depending upon the thing being edited should not necessarily all pull in to sooner dates. That is where I'd want a warning/choice. Sometimes I want to pull everything in that's depending on the thing I'm pulling. Other times I just want to pull something in and leave a gap.
---
The other thought I have when I read your question is that you are using "due date" rather than two dates, one for starting and one for ending. Other gantt chart programs that allow dependencies sometimes have the advanced capability to decide whether a thing is dependent on the starting of another task or the ending of it. So I could have Task B not allowed to start until after Task A starts... even if Task A never finishes. Stuff like that is more advanced and complicated, but it's something you might want to think about and be aware of.
---
As always the bottom line of all my comments related to dependencies and to gantt charts is flexibility. Not being locked into stuff. Not being required to fill tons of fields just to get one simple little thing placed on the screen. I'm trying to create a visualization in the fastest way possible - it doesn't necessarily have to be perfectly tied to other entities in the system. Other programs, just to get a colored bar to show in a timeline, they make me create a task, but tasks have to live in a project so i have to create one of those, and projects live in a client so i have to create one of those. Then the task needs a start and end date and I don't want to type that I just want to draw it by clicking and dragging the colored bar. I think the gantt chart thing you guys posted in the other thread is on the right track, from what I can tell.
Narek Zograbian
georgia.king Thank you for the detailed breakdown! We probably have to review how we approach time for Tasks. We only support due dates, but it seems like we need a duration add-on to support some of these more complex use cases.
Keep the feedback coming!
latheef
This is extremely important, esp. for GANTT views. Please move this to priority John at Taskade Thanks!
elliscwc
latheef: Thanks for highlighting this urgency. Can you share more details with the team here? Alternatively, would you like to chat with our team and provide further examples, ideas, and feedback?
If so, please schedule a quick call at a time that suits you here: https://calendly.com/taskade/30min. Thanks.
r
ryantaskade
Merged in a post:
Rules / Workflow automate task assignment
shreya.lala
Assign and create a new task once a task is completed or a dependency link for one task to another.
narek
Do you happen to have any updates on this? I would love to see it at least moved to "Planned."
ryantaskade John at Taskade
r
ryantaskade
narek: Thanks Narek but we currently don't have an ETA for this feature.
elliscwc
narek: Any additional details would be helpful here.
- Lock Projects from others editing it is fairly simple.
- Lock Sections in a project is also doable.
- Dependent tasks requires more UI work, would be curious how you see this work in Taskade, especially across Workspaces (or disabled) and across other Teams within a Workspace.
CC ryantaskade
narek
elliscwc:
Dependent tasks should have the same UI as backlinks for projects.
It would appear like a task add-on and display the number of dependencies or blockers.
I'd also like to see if the task that we're dependent on to move forward is assigned to someone as well—that way I can contact them directly.
elliscwc
narek: Thanks again Narek, I know you had a great chat with Dionis Loire - noted on a lot of your feedback. Will do our best to prioritize these.
CC ryantaskade
r
ryantaskade
Merged in a post:
Link Tasks and/or Task Dependancies
bhawkins
Hello
It would be great if I could link one task to another and/or make one task dependant on another (preferably with blocking capabilities) so that before one task can be started, another one needs to be completed.
It would also be great if a link and/or a mention can be made from one task to another. Like a relationship between tasks. So in this case they are NOT dependant BUT are still related in some way and exist in different blocks or in some cases maybe even in different projects.
r
ryantaskade
Merged in a post:
Flowchart needs Dependencies
L
Lee Busch
Allow secondary connections between nodes in Flowchart (or really in any mode) to let us associate dependencies or relationships. The attached example is from TaskHeat.
Load More
→