Smartsheet keeps adding Start date when I add a row and not letting me change the date

Tony DiPaolo

Hello,

I am having trouble with a project. I am trying to add a Child Task in a section of my plan, and each time I add a row, Smartsheet adds the Start Date automatically (the earliest date of that section...the Start of the Parent) and it will not let me set my own Start date for the Child Task (even if it is within the Start and Finish of the Parent) unless I put in a predecessor. Does anyone know why that is?

Genevieve P.

Hi Tony,

Based on your screen capture it looks like you have a Predecessor set for the Parent row (row 45 has a predecessor of 41). This means that any children of that Parent task automatically inherit this same Predecessor unless they have their own Predecessor identified, as you have found.

If you take out the Predecessor for the Parent, then you'll be able to have custom start dates for the Child rows. Does that make sense?

Please see the second bullet point in the grey box under the header "Create a Dependency by Specifying a Predecessor" in our Help Center article, here.

Cheers!

Genevieve

Genevieve P.

Hi Tony,

Based on your screen capture it looks like you have a Predecessor set for the Parent row (row 45 has a predecessor of 41). This means that any children of that Parent task automatically inherit this same Predecessor unless they have their own Predecessor identified, as you have found.

If you take out the Predecessor for the Parent, then you'll be able to have custom start dates for the Child rows. Does that make sense?

Please see the second bullet point in the grey box under the header "Create a Dependency by Specifying a Predecessor" in our Help Center article, here.

Cheers!

Genevieve

Tony DiPaolo

Hello Genevieve,

Thank you very much (especially for not laughing). I stared at that plan for way too long, and never saw the predecessor on the parent task. But now, I will know what to check for the next time this happens. Thanks again.

Genevieve P.

No worries at all!

It's an easy detail to miss and it took me a bit of time to find it as well. 🙂