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Repetitive Task List Instantiation - Editing Multiple Tasks From a Master List

bangddrum
bangddrum ✭✭
edited 12/09/19 in Archived 2017 Posts

A common experience we encounter is when we have long, identical lists of tasks (7 or more), indented under many parent titles, that need editing, as shown below:

Β 

PARENT ONE

  1. Β  Β  Task ONE
  2. Β  Β  Task TWO
  3. Β  Β  Task THREE. etc.

PARENT TWO

  1. Β  Β  Task ONE
  2. Β  Β  Task TWO
  3. Β  Β  Task THREE. etc.

Β 

We have many PARENTS with identical lists of tasks that are repetitive and it's a pain to go in and update each block of Tasks, one set at a time. It's tedious, time consuming, and prone to errors.Β 

My question is: Β Is there a way to create a MASTER list of tasks that would permit INSTANTIATION within the sheet so that if I wanted to adjust the list GLOBALLY, all I would have to do is update the MASTER, and all instances of the master would also be updated? Β That would be tremendous if you have that in the works, but if you don't is there another way I can manage these long lists of repetitive tasks without going in and editing every single line/block of tasks?

Β 

I hope I am explaining that clearly. Thank you!

Β 

Comments

  • J. Craig Williams
    J. Craig Williams ✭✭✭✭✭✭

    bang,

    Β 

    If I understand your post, you have a set of tasks that are identical throughout a project. You would like to update the text description of these based on a master list of those tasks.

    Β 

    In your example above, there is a set of tasks

    • Task ONE
    • Task TWO
    • Task THREE

    Β 

    that you would like to change to

    • Task UNO
    • Task DOS
    • Task TRES

    Β 

    and have the tasks update in the project sheet throughout.

    Β 

    If that is true, you might look at cell-linking

    https://help.smartsheet.com/articles/861579-cell-linking

    Β 

    or find and replace

    https://help.smartsheet.com/articles/2115655-find-replace

    Β 

    If you are also concerned about creating a new set of tasks, then copy-row might help

    https://help.smartsheet.com/articles/770589-copying-a-row-to-another-sheet

    Β 

    but the cell-links are not created automatically.

    Β 

    Hope that sparks some ideas.

    Β 

    Craig

    Β 

  • bangddrum
    bangddrum ✭✭
    edited 02/14/17

    Thanks for the response, Craig. Yeah, that's the scenario, except sometimes we need to add and subtract tasks. The copy-row-to-another-sheet looks like it drops the row to the bottom of the sheet rather than augment/update the task list.Β 

    This one bit of functionality in a future release would be incredibly helpful. We spend a lot of time just copy and pasting duplicate tasks in rows, only to have to painstakingly copy/paste new tasks or adjust order, etc. A master with instantiation would truly be a mega-timesaver.Β 

This discussion has been closed.