The Parent Card is Updated Business rule will trigger a predefined action (update or/and move) whenever a parent card is updated.
A typical example would be to update all child cards of a single parent if they match certain filters.
1. How to create the rule?
Only users with the "Account Owner" or "Manage Business Rules" roles can create business rules.
To configure the business rule, please go to the Administration panel at the top right side of your screen -> open the Business rule tab -> select the "Parent Card is Updated" rule option.
Note: In case that there is a set of defined rules to your account -> use the Add new rule button at the upper right side of the panel.
2. How to set up and enable the rule?
The "Parent Card is Updated" configuration panel has the following fields and properties (img.1):
(1) Name - give a name of the rule to distinguish it.
(2) Description - provide a description of the rule behavior in the system.
Note: when a business rule is created, it will get a rule ID and will be made available in the Business rule panel under name and description.
PRO tip: You can specify the board name in the rule name in order to easily distinguish rules configured for each of your boards.
(3) Share with: this option allows you to share the rule with other users in the system so that they can edit/disable/enable the rule.
Every business rule has three main control settings: When; And; Then.
It is a sort of "point-and-click" programming language with which you can automate any process. The way it works is based on the programming conditional statement "if this then that".
To save/enable a rule click on the green checkmark at the top right corner of the configuration panel.
Img. 1
(4) WHEN: "Parent Card is Updated" is the event that will trigger an action.
(5) AND - define the filters and select the conditions under which the actions should be triggered.
- The "Board is” filter is а mandatory field for this rule.
Select a board from the dropdown list and from the minimap board select the column/cell (for example: In progress) where the parent card is to be moved.
Note: You can use "or" to add extra boards and optimize the scope of the rule. Use the minus sign to remove a board. - Use "Add new property" to configure the automation further. Select a regular or custom field from the panel (for example, 'tag is' and choose a tag).
(6) THEN
- If you want to move the child card, click choose where to move. Define the board and specify the column/lane (for example: In progress) where the system will move the child card. You can select a cell or an entire column by clicking on the column's name from the board minimap.
- You can update the child card with a predefined action when an update in a parent triggers it.
- You can copy card fields from the parent card onto the child card by setting up which fields should be copied when triggered by an update
As a result, whenever a parent card is updated -> the child card will be automatically moved or updated, depending on your configuration, or, alternatively, information can be copied to the parent card.
Please, read more about parent/child links and how to create them.
3. Using the 'Parent Card is Updated' rule to copy card fields into the parent card
This rule can be used to copy fields between cards. There is a configuration in the Then section that can be set up so that you can copy the values of the selected fields from the parent into the child.
*Note for custom fields: in some cases, the copy operation between two cards on different boards might fail. This can happen if:
- a custom field is not enabled on the target board
- a custom field has an empty value on the trigger card but has an enforced value on the target card
- the custom field on the target card already has a value and it is immutable
- a custom field that has different min/max values on the two boards
- a custom field that has values, which must be unique
- a custom field value that is not one of the allowed values on the target card
Important: for any of the above cases, the whole copy operation would fail which would also cause any other regular card fields, configured in the rule, to not be copied.
4. Practical examples for using the 'Parent Card is Updated' rule
An example of this rule being used is whenever a custom field on a parent/initiative card is updated (here, the Custom field is called Estimated hours), its child cards should also be updated and moved to a specified location. In the example rule below, the rule states that if the value of the updated custom field 'Estimated Hours' on the parent card is larger than 40, the child cards should be moved to the 'For Approval' column and an 'Attention' sticker should be applied on them.
Note: by default, initiatives are automatically moved based on their linked child cards' movement, but not the other way around.