Conditional Formatting to ONLY Child Row

Krista Cornew

Hi,

I have applied conditional formatting to my project sheet to change rows to a specific color based on their status. However, I want it to ONLY apply to the child rows. Is there a way make it so my parent rows do not change color?

Andrée Starå

Hi Krista,

Yes, there is.

You’ll need to add a so-called helper column. I usually call it Level.

Then you’ll add a formula like below and use the level number to base your conditional formatting rule on.

=IF(COUNT(CHILDREN(Task@row)) > 0; COUNT(ANCESTORS()) + 1)

Make sense?

Did that work?

I hope that helps!

Be safe and have a fantastic week!

Best,

Andrée Starå

Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

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Mikah Torres

Hi Andrée,

Your formula does not differentiate parent/primary tasks from children/sub tasks IF they do not have any children under them. Is there a way to format this so that it only affects children tasks, while also looping children-less parent tasks with the other parent tasks?

Children tasks will likely be added later in so we know it's a parent, but for now it appears as a child and leads to confusion.

THanks

David Joyeuse

Hi @Mikah Torres

Just use =COUNT(ANCESTORS()) + 1 then.

It'll give a level for every tasks. All you'll have to do then is condition formatting depending on the level you want to display.

Mikah Torres

Looking more into this, I think I've found a solution that works if you're looking to only add conditional formatting to child tasks.

=COUNT(ANCESTORS([Project Title]1))

This will provide a 0 for all parents (even with no children), and a 1 for all children tasks. You can then add a conditional formatting rule based on if this column has a 0 or 1 in it.

Andrée Starå

Hi @Mikah Torres

There are several ways to structure it, as you've noticed.

Glad you got it working!

Be safe and have a fantastic weekend!

Best,

Andrée Starå | Workflow Consultant / CEO @ WORK BOLD

✅Did my post(s) help or answer your question or solve your problem? Please help the Community by marking it as the accepted answer/helpful. It will make it easier for others to find a solution or help to answer!