Just released: lots of new Flowsana features, enhancements, fixes!
New workflow type: Hashtag Automation
Hashtag Automation allows you to enter and modify fields and elements of a task by using hashtags within the task’s Description field. Specifically, you can use hashtags to enter or modify the following information:
- The task’s due date
- The task’s assignee
- Tags
- Additional projects
Once you’ve enabled hashtag recognition for a project, you use this feature simply by typing a hashtag symbol (#) followed by the due date, assignee name, tag(s) and/or project name(s) that you want to apply to the task. In the case of tags and projects, you can specify multiple hashtags of that type. Hashtags can be placed anywhere within a task’s Description.
Hashtags are especially useful when forwarding emails to Asana. Because the Description field is where Asana places the email body when you forward an email, this means you can type your hashtags right into an email before you send it.
Here are some examples of hashtags:
#important #Joe Allen #next Mon
Attach the Important tag to the task, assign it to Joe Allen, and set its due date to next Monday.
#Strategic planning #Follow up #Admin
In addition to the project where the task is being recorded, also assign this task to the Strategic Planning project, and tag it with the Follow Up and Admin tags.
#Martha Smith #Fri 2 pm EDT
Assign the task to Martha Smith and set its due date to this coming Friday at 2:00 pm Eastern Daylight Time.
Creating new Dynamic Duration workflows: now much easier
We’ve completely revised the way you create Dynamic Duration workflows, making it much easier!
Previously, every time you wanted to create a new Dynamic Duration workflow from an existing workflow template, you had to first create the project in Asana from the template, go to Flowsana, use “Refresh projects list” to tell Flowsana about the new project, wait for a confirmation email that the refresh was done, then go back to Flowsana and add the new project as a workflow.
Here’s the new process: go to Flowsana, select the Dynamic Duration workflow option, select Create a new workflow project based on a selected workflow template, choose the appropriate template from a list of your Asana templates, and type in the name of the new workflow project you want to create.
That’s it! Flowsana will automatically create the project in Asana from your template and put it under workflow control, and send you an email when that’s all done. No more switching between Asana and Flowsana, going back to Flowsana multiple times, continually refreshing your projects list, waiting for multiple email confirmations, etc. You just go to Flowsana once, select the template to use, give it your new project name, and Flowsana does the rest automatically.
We think this change really enhances the usability of Dynamic Duration workflows.
You can now change dates in Dynamic Duration workflows
Previously, in Dynamic Duration workflows you were not allowed to change the start/due dates on tasks; if you wanted to adjust a task’s dates, you needed to do it by modifying the task’s Duration and/or Lag Time.
This limitation is now gone! You are now free to change task dates, including by adjusting a task on the Asana Timeline view. When you do, Flowsana will automatically modify the task’s Duration and/or Lag Time to match your change, and then will appropriately adjust all dependent tasks as it did before.
“Assign To” now assigns initial project tasks
The “Assign To” feature of Dynamic Duration workflows is designed to solve the Asana issue that occurs when you assign a task to someone in a template, and as a result it shows up in their My Tasks list immediately – even though it really shouldn’t since it’s only part of the template, not a real live project. With “Assign To”, Flowsana will assign the task only when the person is able to work on it.
Previously, this only applied to dependent tasks; Flowsana assigned a dependent task to the user in the “Assign To” field as soon as all of its dependencies were marked complete.
But what about the initial tasks in a project, that are not dependent on any other task? Those can be worked on as soon as you enter a project start date and thus initiate the project’s workflow. Those tasks should really be assigned as soon as you enter the project start date.
And now they are! We’ve rectified that missing piece of the puzzle. Now when you enter a project start date on a new Dynamic Duration workflow, Flowsana will immediately assign all tasks which have no dependencies and have a user name in their “Assign To” field.
Bug fixes: rules in multiple projects, and more
Previously, if you had a task that was assigned to multiple projects, and you had Flowsana rules in effect in more than one of those projects, only the rules for one of the task’s projects would be followed. This has been corrected – all rules will now be followed, even across multiple projects for a task.
We’ve also recently squashed some other minor product bugs, as we continue to improve Flowsana overall.
Coming soon: Team-based billing
Flowsana’s billing is currently based on the number of Asana users in organizations or workspaces containing workflow-enabled projects.
We recognize that in many cases, members of a particular team want to take advantage of Flowsana for their team-centered work. It’s not practical or affordable for them to pay for users in other teams who may never use Flowsana.
As a result, we’re changing the Flowsana billing policy to be team-based rather than organization-based. What this means is if you use teams, you’ll only be billed for Asana users within teams containing workflow-enabled projects.
This change will be rolling out within the next few weeks. You won’t need to do anything; your billing will be automatically adjusted if appropriate. We’ll send you an email notification once this change is implemented.
Want to try Flowsana again?
Did you try Flowsana at some point, decide it was not for you, but would like to give it another spin, especially with the improvements detailed here?
No problem! Just send an email to support@flowsana.net and we can get you set up with a new trial subscription.