We use lists as templates, copying them into new lists whenever we need to action on them. For example, we have a list named #template-onboard-new-hire
, which we duplicate as #template-onboard-john-doe
.
But these tasks are still tasks, so they show up all over the place in our smart lists. If I say that Susan is assigned one of the tasks in a template list (meaning she’d be responsible for doing that task for John Doe when i duplicate the task), Susan sees that task assigned to her all the time. And if I search for high priority tasks, these fake tasks come up as well.
Also, task start dates are just copied as they are. Maybe instead we want that task to start 3 days after the list is duplicated?
It feels like “just use a normal list” for templates was a good place to start, but it’d be nice to have this formalized. Then…
- I could mark a list as being a template
- when I create a new list, “from a template” becomes an option and shows me my templates to choose from.
- Tasks inside a template are basically invisible (they don’t show up in any smart lists)
For the second issue around start dates, there’d have to be a way of giving relative times (“starts N days from now”), so that’d have to be a later feature.