Attach a Task to a Checklist

You can attach a standalone task to a checklist that is already running, so a one-off piece of work sits with the process it belongs to. The task appears under Attached Tasks at the bottom of the checklist and takes that checklist's name in the Tasks grid, without anything being added to the template.

Before You Start

• You must be an Administrator, or a Member with both the Task.Creator and Task.Attacher permissions. Task.Creator raises the task; Task.Attacher is what lets you attach it.
• The checklist's template must have Tasks Can Be Attached switched on. It is on by default for every template.
• To change that setting you must be an Administrator, or a Member with the Template.Creator permission.

note

Without Task.Attacher the attach controls are not shown at all, rather than shown and then refused. Tasks already attached are unaffected: they stay on their checklists, everybody who can see the checklist still works them as normal, and whoever raised one can still edit it. What they cannot do is move it or detach it. See User Permissions.

Allow Attached Tasks on a Template

Skip this if the setting is already on — the tick beside it tells you.

1. Open the template in the Template Designer.
2. Click Settings in the top right.
3. Click Tasks Can Be Attached. A tick appears beside it.
4. Click Save Changes.

Saving creates a new version of the template, so checklists already running carry on with the setting they were created from. To turn attached tasks on for a checklist that is already open, update it to the latest version when you save. See Template Versioning.

Create and Attach a Task From the Checklist

This is the quickest route when you are already looking at the checklist.

1. Open the checklist.
2. Scroll to Attached Tasks at the bottom of the task list.
3. Click the + button beside the heading. The Create and Attach Task dialog opens.
4. Fill in the task. Only Task Name is required. See Create a Standalone Task for what each field does.
5. Click Create Task.

The dialog holds no template or checklist choice on this route, because the task attaches to the checklist you opened it from.

Attach a Task That Already Exists

A task raised on its own can be attached later, moved to another checklist, or detached again, from the editor in the Tasks grid's side panel. See Change What the Task Is Attached To.

Attach a Task From the Create New Menu

Use this when you are raising the task first and know which checklist it belongs to.

1. Click the + button in the navigation bar and choose Task.
2. Fill in the task.
3. Switch Attach Task to an Existing Checklist on. The Template list loads.
4. Choose the Template, then choose the Checklist from the list that appears.
5. Click Create Task.

The Template list holds only templates you can see that have Tasks Can Be Attached switched on. The Checklist list holds every checklist running from that template, complete or not, but not archived ones.

What Happens Next

The task appears under Attached Tasks at the bottom of the checklist, numbered separately from the checklist's own tasks and marked with a paperclip. Anybody with the checklist open sees it arrive without reloading.

An attached task counts as one of the checklist's tasks from that moment. It is added to the progress bar and to the completed count, the checklist is not complete until the task is, and it is included in the checklist's printed view, in its share link and in the task figures on Reports. Attaching and detaching are both recorded on the checklist's activity feed.

In the Tasks grid the task's Checklist and Template columns fill in, and it is listed for people who have that template selected in their Templates filter rather than only under Show Standalone Tasks.

In Analytics the task moves with it. It is reported under the checklist's template rather than in the Standalone Tasks row, it is scoped by the checklist's dates rather than by its own creation date, and the Tasks detail grid names the checklist followed by (attached).

What does not change is what the task is. It is still a standalone task, edited from its own editor, and the template it now shows is not the template it came from — attaching a task never edits the template or the other checklists running from it.

What does change is who can see it. An unattached standalone task is visible to everybody on the team, because it has no template to be permissioned by. Once attached, the task follows its checklist: it is listed only for the people that checklist's permissions admit, and it disappears from the Tasks grid of anybody they do not. See What the Grid Shows You.

Attaching a task also puts an Edit / Delete Task button on it on the checklist page, for its creator and for Administrators. The same editor is reached from the Tasks grid's side panel whether the task is attached or not. See Edit and Delete a Standalone Task.

warning

Turning Tasks Can Be Attached off again hides the whole Attached Tasks section on checklists using that version of the template, tasks included. The tasks are not deleted and stay in the Tasks grid, but nobody can reach them from the checklist until the setting is switched back on.

If It Does Not Work

What you see	Why	What to do
No Attached Tasks section on the checklist	The template version this checklist runs on has Tasks Can Be Attached switched off	Switch it on and update the open checklist to the latest version. See Save a Template.
No templates enabled. Please check the 'Tasks Can Be Attached' setting in your template(s).	No template you can see has the setting on	Switch it on from the template's Settings menu, or ask an Administrator to.
The Checklist list is empty	The template has no checklists that are not archived	Choose another template, or create a checklist first.
The + button beside Attached Tasks is missing	You do not hold Task.Attacher	Ask an Administrator to grant it. See User Permissions.
No Attach Task to an Existing Checklist switch in the task dialog	The same permission is missing	As above. The rest of the dialog still works — you can change the task, just not what it is attached to.
You do not have permission to attach a task to a checklist.	Task.Attacher was taken away while the dialog was open	Reload the page. Nothing was saved, and the task was not created.
A colleague can no longer see a task you attached	An attached task follows its checklist, and their checklist permissions do not admit them to it	Widen the permission on the template, or detach the task to put it back in front of the whole team.
The task has left the Standalone Tasks row in Analytics	An attached task is reported under its checklist's template	Nothing to do. Look for it under that template, or in the Tasks detail grid, where it reads (attached).
The checklist stopped counting as complete	The task you attached is outstanding, and an attached task counts towards completion	Complete the task, mark it not applicable, or detach it.
An attached task is greyed out for everybody but its assignees	It is assigned exclusively, as every standalone task is when it is created	Click the reassign icon and untick Only Assignees Can Complete This Task. See Tasks You Cannot Work On.

Related Pages

• Create a Standalone Task — the dialog both routes open, field by field.
• Edit and Delete a Standalone Task — the button attaching a task gives you.
• Managing Checklists — what archiving or deleting the checklist does to its attached tasks.
• Template Versioning — why a setting change does not reach checklists already running.
• Analytics Breakdowns — where an attached task is counted, and what stays in the Standalone Tasks row.