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Allow Task Completion Only by User Assigned

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Level 5
We've found that users are able to update the status of tasks, to which they are not assigned, to Complete. Is it possible to limit the ability to Complete a task only to the person/people assigned to the task? Example: Task 1 Coding Task Assigned to User A Task 2 Code Review Assigned to User B User A marked Task 2 as Complete Notes The user has a Work license, Worker access level The user is assigned to other tasks on the project The user has Contribute level access to the project (in order to update information in custom forms) We're fairly early in our implementation, so this could be the expected behavior - but it would be nice if I'm just overlooking something. Cathy Kenny Tire Rack
10 Replies

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Level 10
Hi Cathy, The approval would work. But it might be easier to use the settings. You can absolutely set it up to not allow others to Complete tasks. Under Edit Project > Access you can set the access levels dynamically when a Task/Issue is Assigned. Other people should not have Manage or Contribute access unless you give it to them here or at a higher level (i.e. under Project Actions > Sharing). So perhaps check these two sets of settings to ensure everyone on the project (or team or company) doesn't have full access to your project. Let me know if you need more information.

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Level 5
Thanks for the response, Vic. Using my example from above: Example: Task 1 Coding Task Assigned to User A Task 2 Code Review Assigned to User B User A marked Task 2 as Complete User A does in fact have Contribute access to the project: "Also grant them Contribute Access to the project" is checked. This was done purposely because the person needs to edit information in a custom form that is attached to the project. Is there another way that I can grant the ability to edit the form, without Contribute access to the project? Cathy Kenny Tire Rack

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Level 10
Hi Cathy, I don't have a chance to test this at the moment, but you might try under the Advanced Settings to uncheck everything except the Edit Custom Form.

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Level 10
OK so I had a chance to look at this in more detail and unchecking the other items doesn't work. Apparently if you give someone Contribute access to the Project it automatically gives them access to change the status on all tasks. Unless you specifically go into each Task to remove their inherited permissions on the task. You can't even bulk edit the Sharing because the bulk only really allows you to add Sharing, it doesn't seem to affect the Inherited permissions. So here's my list of lousy solutions ☹ : Go into each task and remove the inherited permissions except for the Assignee ☹ . Consider removing the need to have them update the project form (update that data somewhere else). Perhaps move that form to an Issue in the project (you can use the Request Type or something to let it stand out from the regular issues). Then you can control that access separately. Submit an Idea Exchange Sorry. Maybe someone else has a better solution.

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Level 1
Hi Cathy, One solution would be to keep task 1, task 2 and project settings as they are but add an approval process on the 'code review' task (see Miranda's comment). This ensures all code reviews are completed and approved by the person responsible/accountable for that task. If User A accidentally completes task 2, your Technical Director will catch the error as it will ask them for approval. Best regards, Christian Barnes Dentsu Aegis Network

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Level 5
Thanks for all the time you've spent on this, Vic. You've given me some options to pursue. Cathy Kenny Tire Rack

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Level 5
Thank you for the suggestion, Miranda. We were using the completion of the task to signify approval, but adding an approval to the task might work. Cathy Kenny Tire Rack

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Level 3
This is an issue that we've run into as well and because of it we've looked into reporting on who actually marked the task complete. This has proven much harder to do than we thought. If there isn't already something on the idea exchange I think it would be worth while to create a post. We'd definitely up vote it! :) Amber Dallapiazza The Home Depot

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Level 2
Hi Cathy, One way we have been able to have a Task only edited by one or two people is to go to the task sharing for the specific task: Task Actions > Sharing, and removing the inherited permissions so that only the people we want to edit the task completion can. Unfortunately, it needs to be done on each Task that you want to restrict access to. I went over this extensively with the WF support team as the documentation on contributing to a task and user licence taks access contradicts each other particularly when it comes to updating the Status of a task (complete, in progress....) I hope that helps, Annikki Annikki Desmarais Cantactix Solutions Inc.