Deleting the original Issue/Request

[VicAl]

Hello Super Smart WF Community, I know I've seen posts about this recently, but I wasn't sure if they addressed everything we're concerned about. So we're considering automatically converting all Issues/Requests to Tasks for all our Scrum Teams. We know this isn't necessary now with the new release, but the new release still has a separate tab for Tasks vs Issues under the Backlog. Our teams have requested to look in one list for all their work (Task Backlog is the logical choice I can think of). So the thought is to convert all Issues to Tasks and delete the Issue so there's only one object. The issue we're trying to solve is, what will we lose from the Original issue. We know we can copy the custom form over to the Task and get the Primary Contact name. However, what about the Documents? And is there anything else we may lose? Is anyone already doing this? If so, any recommendations? Thanks in advance. Vic Alejandro Denver Water

[Doug_Den_Hoed__AtAppStore]

Hi Vic, Issue to Task with auto Issue delete is just like the "https://community.workfront.com/discussions/community-home/digestviewer/viewthread?MessageKey=b8dc43d1-bfde-4186-a5b6-8763263733bf&CommunityKey=aaafaff0-5e4e-4e38-8903-f1f990935567&tab=digestviewer#bmb8dc43d1-bfde-4186-a5b6-8763263733bf%23bm10">Issue to Project with auto Issue delete thread Jill and I discussed recently, and as the latter did for her, it sounds to me like this move will simplify your world. Docs should come along for the ride, including versions and Proofs. It's probably worth a few tests to build confidence (and instructions), but except in cases where the arms length approach is important, I always recommend this "graduation" approach (for its simplicity). In fact, a couple of weeks ago at an introductory meeting with a new client who was lamenting the clutter and confusion that their 000's/yr original requests caused them - their "biggest pain point", they called it — I explained the auto delete setting. 15 minutes later, we'd set auto delete on (for "going forward") and kicked off a monster delete of every issue that had a resolving object on it that (timed out, but) finished later that day. They were thrilled. (Wierd...my iPhone stopped letting me type. To continue; please confirm you saw this part) One tricky bit that doesn’t survive the conversion is the Issues original queue information. If you need to preserve that, I’d suggest “trapping” it in custom data using the IF(ISBLANK({DE:MyOrigQueueInfo}),[go get what you need from queue topic(s)],{DE:MyOrigQueueInfo}) I wish you well with it! Regards, Doug Doug Den Hoed - AtAppStore Got Skills? Lend a hand! https://community.workfront.com/participate/unanswered-threads

[VicAl]

OMG I SWEAR I just tested that yesterday and the Document did NOT come over. But I just tested it again and it does in fact come over. Must have "picked a bad week to stop sniffing glue." Thanks Doug! OK double secret bonus question (and I'm really reaching here): Is there a way to match the form that comes over dynamically to its equal form on the Task side? For example, if we create an Issue Form with a matching Task form (and we may have several different types of forms), is there a way to have it know to how to match them without hard coding it. So if we have Issue Forms 1,2,3,4,5 and Task Forms A,B,C,D,E is there a way we can tell it to know which ones to match without mapping them individually? Vic Alejandro, PMP, CSM | IT | Sr. IT Project Manager Denver Water | t: (303-628-7262) | c: (303-319-6473) "http://www.denverwater.org/"> http://www.denverwater.org INTEGRITY | VISION | PASSION | EXCELLENCE | RESPECT

[Doug_Den_Hoed__AtAppStore]

That's a toughie, Vic. If you trust your people (maybe don't put it quite that way), you can name 1=A, 2=B, etc and rely on process. But if you miss (1=B...oops), that data on 1 but not B is gone. Period. Alternatively you might consider: create Z, with sections for A, B, C, D, E and always convert 1,2, 3, 4, 5 Issues to Z; crude but effective, since no data will be lost. You could even stop here. add a procedure to then (safely) review the Tasks in a report and switch to "just" A, B, C, D, or E, dropping the unneeded sections. You could usr the API or UberCalc to automate this. instead of the previous step, you could add form logic to Z that hides all but the sections among A,B, C, D, or E. Some setup and maintenance effort, but perhaps the safest path with the most long term options. Does your workflow suggest which of these (if any) is the best fit? Regards, Doug Doug Den Hoed - AtAppStore Got Skills? Lend a hand! https://community.workfront.com/participate/unanswered-threads

[VicAl]

Thanks Doug. Yes they all suggest I have a lot of work to do �� . But yes it's given me some ideas. And confirmed there's not an easier way that I've walked past (which is helpful in itself). Thank you so much for your help. Vic Alejandro, PMP, CSM | IT | Sr. IT Project Manager Denver Water | t: (303-628-7262) | c: (303-319-6473) "http://www.denverwater.org/"> http://www.denverwater.org INTEGRITY | VISION | PASSION | EXCELLENCE | RESPECT

[Doug_Den_Hoed__AtAppStore]

My pleasure, Vic - sometimes Hard Work seems like Just Work when it's the Only Option. That said…to build Z, if you have lots of parameters (e.g. more than 15 mins worth to paint manually), I'd also invite you to try our "http://store.atappstore.com/product/populate-category-generator/">Update Category Generator and "http://store.atappstore.com/product/populate-category">Update Category solutions, to: copy category A and save it as Z (as a placeholder) "generate" the definition of A, B, C, D, and E into Excel Format using Update Category Generator copy and paste them together (appending B under A, then C under B, etc.), replace he first column (the form name) with Z throughout, and save the file as Z.xlsx recreate Z (in seconds) with the complete A, B, C, D, E definitions using Update Category (optional) edit Z in Workfront and insert parameter sections for A, B, C, D, E Regards, Doug Doug Den Hoed - AtAppStore Got Skills? Lend a hand! https://community.workfront.com/participate/unanswered-threads

[SamanthaWi1]

Good morning, We have been using WF for 3 years and have always converted issues to projects using templates for the tasks. On occasion we choose to convert an issue into a task onto an existing project. So here are the things we consider before you flip your WF to "not Keeping" the original issue when converted: 1-if you use custom forms they must be designated in the conversion, this is usually found at the bottom of the screen when converting. I have accidentally not included a custom form on a project with a template and boy was that hard to go back to the person that originally entered the issue and tell them you dropped the ball and they have to remember all the things they originally asked for. (when i was learning this i would do a screen shot of the issue just in case i messed up). To combat this i ended up going to each template and adding the custom form as a default. If you use the same template for several custom forms, either add them all and delete during the next step after converting to be sure you get all the information OR just slow down and make sure you get the custom form on there.) 2- Documents will convert over. However, when you choose not to keep the original issue the document will not stay on the original request que. This works perfect for me. I have so many separate que's for our internal partners to request jobs that we can't remember to look at all of them 20 thousand times a day to check if anyone has added the issue. So we have chosen to work from our Request Tab on the same tab screen where others request jobs. We do have routing rules that help us to only look at "our own" jobs to be converted. I recently went back on the request que's to search for something and realized we had OLD documents from 2014. At the time of the conversion i must have checked the box to "keep the original issue" this is the only way they stay. I am sure this is when i converted them to tasks instead of projects. Knowing what i know now. Anyway, i was concerned that if i deleted them from the Que they would delete from the original project. Not so. These were just copies, So out they went. BE CAREFUL when converting to a task. Samantha Williams GameStop Corp.

[VicAl]

Thank you Samantha! Vic Alejandro, PMP, CSM | IT Program Manager Denver Water | t: (303-628-7262) | c: (303-319-6473) "http://www.denverwater.org/"> http://www.denverwater.org INTEGRITY | VISION | PASSION | EXCELLENCE | RESPECT

[TCarey]

Hi! I thought I'd tag onto this convo to see if any of you have run into this issue since turning off the "keep original issue and tie to task" option. I just turned that off a few months ago and I love that no one is providing update on the original issue anymore. so much less confusion! but, I'm now trying to create my quarterly report and realized that my data is not being captured the same anymore -- particularly the report for 'workfront requests' where I let everyone know how many reqs we received this past quarter. I was using the "issue> entry date" but it's not pulling any of the reqs after I turned off that option (late April). Thoughts? Ideas? I'm going to keep searching the community in case I stumble across something... Tara Carey Neustar, Inc.

[Doug_Den_Hoed__AtAppStore]

Hi Tara, Since the Issues you had been using to drive your stats are now (by convention) converted to Tasks, I suggest you create a similar report looking for new Tasks (i.e. the converted Issues), grouped by Entry Date (assuming that the Issues are converted to Tasks in relatively short order) to get the same stats. Regards, Doug Doug Den Hoed - AtAppStore Got Skills? Lend a hand! https://community.workfront.com/participate/unanswered-threads

[TCarey]

Hi Doug -- thanks for your reply! I tried your suggestion, and wasn't able to get the results I was looking for, so I reached out to WF Help to see if they had ideas. After a few convos back and forth - it seems that there are no reporting options if you uncheck the 'keep original issue' box. "Once this option is unchecked and the resolving issue is not kept, the ability to report based on this natively is also gone. One option for a workaround would be to add a custom field to the projects converted this way via a custom form. For example, a required field named "Converted (or Resolves) Issue name" could be added every time an issue is converted to the new Project or Task. Then this field could be reported on telling you what issues were resolved and maintaining the settings that make it so the users cannot go back in and comment or upload to the original issue." So, I'm going to try to make that part of my process when I convert requests into tasks or projects. I've incorporated it into the project templates, so that part will be somewhat automated. I just need to remember to add the form for tasks. Here's a screenshot of what it looks like: Tara Carey Neustar, Inc.

[Doug_Den_Hoed__AtAppStore]

Very good, Tara -- keep me posted. Another thought (given my somewhat violent allergy to required fields) would be to use a "Original Issue" calculated parameter on both the Issue and the Task so that the Issue's original name (or, heck, its entire pedigree; e.g. on the Issue, the formula would be something like CONCAT(name,' | ',Entry Date,' | ',Entered By.Name,' ',etc.)) could then automatically transfer across to the Task (e.g. on the Task, it would be IF(ISBLANK(Original Issue),'n/a',Original Issue). Alternatively, you could use a similar approach for as many components about the Original Issue (e.g. Last Status, Status, etc.) as you wish. It would require a bit of testing (translation: I'm just spitballin'), but if you can get it going, it might be preferable to having folks retype data that already exists. Regards, Doug Doug Den Hoed - AtAppStore Got Skills? Lend a hand! https://community.workfront.com/participate/unanswered-threads

[TCarey]

Hey Doug! Since I'm the only one converting the issues to projects/tasks, I didn't mind filling in the blanks. And now that I'm nearing the end of my quarter, I tried to do a report based on this custom information and am totally exasperated to see this is not as easy as I originally thought. I sent a note to the help desk to see if they could help me, but since you were helpful in this discussion, I thought I'd continue the thread. Attached is a ppt that I put together to explain what I'm trying to do - complete with screenshots and filters. If you have a moment - can you help? thanks! Tara Carey Neustar, Inc.

[Doug_Den_Hoed__AtAppStore]

Hi Tara, I read your PowerPoint, and from your note, take it that you are (and don't mind) manually entering the three Task level parameters on the Converted or Resolves Issue name custom form: Converted from Workfront Request (e.g. Yes), Custom Form Name (e.g. Collateral), and Original Requestor Name (e.g. Susan Kennedy). The Task report you seek should retrieve such Tasks and group them in a bar chart üìä to indicate how many Tasks originated from a particular Custom Form Name. To restrict the Task report to only the data you seek, I suggest you filter for " Custom Form Name Is Not Blank", being careful to choose your custom data parameter ( Custom Form Name ) as opposed to the built in Custom Form > Name (e.g. Converted or Resolves Issue Name ). By doing so, you will ensure that only those Tasks whose Custom Form Name has been filled in (manually, by you) will be considered in the report. Having filtered in that fashion, I then suggest you group by " Custom Form Name ", again being careful to choose your custom data parameter ( Custom Form Name ) as opposed to the built in Custom Form > Name (e.g. Converted or Resolves Issue Name ). With those two key changes in place, I expect your can the configure your bar chart to represent the information you seek. Regards, Doug Doug Den Hoed - AtAppStore Got Skills? Lend a hand! https://community.workfront.com/participate/unanswered-threads