Bulk Edit Predecessors

[casearoo]

Hello, Is there away to bulk edit task Predecessors? Thank you -- Laurel

[DavidCo3]

Hi all,

I think I have the answer.....it will be because your predecessor is set to be ' enforced '. You can see this by the 'e' after the predecessor numbers in your screenshot. This can be selected when you create the predecessor via the Predecessors tab of the Task. The result is that you can't work on the task until its predecessor is complete. See attached screenshot of where it is set....

As far as I know, the only way to change the enforced setting is (unfortunately) to delete the predecessors and recreate them without the enforced setting. So, this probably won't save you much time, but at least you can go and fix it in your templates so that you avoid this issue reocurring in the future.

Hope that helps.

Regards, David

[casearoo]

Thank you David - you are 100% correct as to why bulk update wouldn’t work and I will be working with the template owner to get the “enforced” removed from the template tasks.

[Doug_Den_Hoed__AtAppStore]

Brilliant. Well spotted, David! Regards, Doug

[GregBe1]

I know that if you have an enforced predecessor on a task that you can't start it before the predecessor has been completed, however, I show in my video from my previous post that I CAN Bulk edit the tasks to "Complete" even if they ARE enforced. So why could I do it?

[DavidCo3]

That's a good question, Greg. By comparison, I cannot bulk edit the tasks to complete status if they have enforced predecessors to incomplete tasks. By the way, I don't know if it's just me but I can't get your video to play. :-/

[NateBa]

Update: Yeah... looks like most of this has already been resolved in conversation this morning. Thanks everyone for chiming in! Just an FYI for those who are waiting to hear back from Workfront on this. I just reached out to the project manager in charge of Predecessors and other related features. Here's what she said: I read all the comments in the Community site. From the video I assume that any of the tasks they're bulk editing have a predecessor that's not complete. They filter tasks so the task doesn't have successor tasks but they might still have a predecessor that's not complete. She found the ticket in helpdesk and let a support rep know she I thinks are the causes of the problem. Someone will be reaching out to Laurel to look at the data to be sure why this is happening. Hopefully we'll get an update and a solution soon! -Nate Bagley --- Workfront Community Manager - Work Smart, Work Happy Message me directly at: natebagley@workfront.com

[EricLu2]

I’ll be fascinated to learn why some of us can bulk edit / close tasks with predecessors (with and without enforcement) and you alone can’t. Keep us informed! Thanks, Eric

[DavidCo3]

Hi Eric, When you say "you alone can't" did you mean the opposite? As far as I understand, Greg is the only person who CAN bulk edit tasks which have pending enforced predecessors and that everyone else cannot do this. Nice and confusing, this thread.... :) Regards, David

[EricLu2]

Permit me to stir the pot just the smallest bit. I can bulk edit any task and change the status to anything, regardless of whether there are predecessors or not. I thought the problem that originated this thread was that someone could NOT bulk edit and change the status of tasks to closed, unless the task status was changed to closed in predecessor order. You started with the earliest tasks, closed them, then the next in line, and so on. I can do what that person cannot. Does that help? Eric

[DavidCo3]

Hi Eric, The critical thing which you didn't mention is whether you can do this if the predecessors are enforced and the predecessors are incomplete. :) This is where (I believe) Greg is the only one who can do this and everyone else (including the original poster of the thread) cannot. Perhaps you are in the same boat as Greg or perhaps not? Regards, David.

[GregBe1]

Eric, to be specific though, can you bulk edit tasks that have ENFORCED predecessors on them. If I have Tasks 1, 2, and 3, and Task 3 has an enforced predecessor of 2 and Task 2 has an enforced predecessor of 1 and neither 1 nor task 2 have started, I CAN still bulk edit all 3 to closed status. Apparently some others on this thread cannot. (Sorry for the dupe reply - David's reply wasn't on my screen when I replied).