This Business rule will automatically move a child card to a specified column/lane when a parent card is moved to a predefined set of columns/swimlanes. A typical example would be to move a child card from “Backlog” to "Requested" when a parent is moved to “Requested.”
1. How to Create the Rule?
Only users with the "Account Owner" or "Manage Business Rules" roles can create business rules.
To configure this business rule, go to the Administration panel at the top right side of your screen → open the Business rule tab → select the "Parent Card is Moved Rule" option.
Note: If there is already 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 Moved Rule" configuration panel has the following fields and properties:
(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 be made available in the Business rule panel under name and description.
PRO tip: You can specify the board name in the rule name 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.
*Open the image in a new tab to get a closer view.
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 Save button at the bottom right corner of the configuration panel.
(4) WHEN — "Parent Card is Moved" 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 mandatory and it prompts you to select the boards (from the dropdown) where the rule will apply.
- The "Position is/is not" filter is а mandatory field for this rule. From the board minimap, select the column/cell (for example: In progress) where the child card should be moved.
Note: You can use "or" to add extra boards and optimize the rule's scope. Use the delete 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: set it up).
(6) THEN — Select “Choose where to move” to open a board minimap. Define the board and specify the column/lane (for example: Requested) where the child card will be moved. You can select a cell or an entire column by clicking on the column's name from the board minimap. You can add a filter only for certain child cards to be moved by specifying a filter from “Add new property.”
Please, read more about parent/child links and how to create them for more information.
3. Practical Examples of Using the “Parent Card is Moved” Rule
This rule comes in handy for complex board layouts and multiple-step workflows where you would like to automate the movement of linked cards further.
Example: This rule can be used whenever a parent/initiative card is moved, its child cards to also be moved to a specified location or a set of locations (depending on each card's properties).
A specific use case for this rule can be planning future initiatives and breaking down the workload in the backlog column and when the initiative is ready to be started (and moved to “Requested”), all the child cards associated with it to also be moved to the requested area. The rule can be configured to only scan for child cards of type 'Feature' and only apply to them (in case there are different types of cards linked to the same initiative).
Note: By default, initiatives are automatically moved based on their linked child cards' movement, but not the other way around.