Actions > Automate deadline shifts on tasks
Tallyfy’s deadline actions automatically shift task due dates forward or backward when a…
When an automation runs
An automation runs at most once per process
Section titled “An automation runs at most once per process”Once an automation has fired in a process, Tallyfy marks it as done for that process and never runs it again. Whatever it did stays done. If it set a deadline, that deadline sits where it was put, even when the thing it was calculated from changes later.
Launch the same template again and you get a fresh process with a clean slate, so every automation is eligible to run once more. The once-only rule is per process, not per template.
The three moments Tallyfy checks
Section titled “The three moments Tallyfy checks”Tallyfy doesn’t watch your process continuously. It checks automations at three moments, and only those three.
When the process launches. Tallyfy looks at every automation with at least one condition on a kick-off form field, because the kick-off answers are the only answers that exist yet.
When the kick-off form is completed after launch. Tallyfy runs the same check as at launch, for the automations that haven’t run yet.
When a task is completed or reopened. Tallyfy looks at the automations whose conditions involve that task or the form fields on it. This is why an automation reading a step’s form field doesn’t fire the moment somebody types in the field. It fires when the task carrying that field is completed.
There’s no “when this field changes” trigger
Section titled “There’s no “when this field changes” trigger”Tallyfy has no trigger that watches a form field and reacts when its value changes. Editing a date, a dropdown or a text answer never starts an automation by itself.
For example:
- You enter a start date of 5 September and complete the task.
- The automation fires and sets a dependent task’s deadline to 6 September.
- You reopen the task, change the start date to 15 September, and complete it again.
- Nothing happens. The dependent task is still due 6 September.
Step 4 is the once-only rule doing exactly what it’s built to do. The automation already ran in this process, so completing the task a second time doesn’t run it again.
What to do when a date moves mid-process
Section titled “What to do when a date moves mid-process”Pick whichever fits how often it happens.
- Change the deadlines by hand. Open each affected task and set the date you want. Tasks that count their deadline from the one you edited move with it, so a chain built in the template is still worth having.
- Get the date right before the task is completed. The automation reads the field at the moment the task completes, so as long as the value is correct by then, the deadline it sets is correct.
- Relaunch, if almost nothing has been done. A new process starts every automation fresh.
A deadline an automation sets doesn’t push the steps behind it
Section titled “A deadline an automation sets doesn’t push the steps behind it”A step whose deadline counts from another step normally follows it. Complete the anchor step, or edit its deadline by hand, and everything behind it is worked out again.
That doesn’t happen when an automation sets the anchor’s deadline. The automation moves the one task it targets and nothing else. Steps set to “2 days after that step” stay where they were.
Here is the difference, in one process with step C set to “2 days after step B”:
| What moved step B | What happened to step C |
|---|---|
| An automation set B to 2 October | C didn’t move |
| Somebody edited B by hand to 20 October | C moved to 22 October |
So if a chain of steps has to move together, move the step the chain hangs off by hand, or point every step in the chain at the same date field with its own automation. Don’t mix the two.
Other reasons an automation does nothing
Section titled “Other reasons an automation does nothing”Running isn’t the same as having an effect. An automation can fire and still change nothing.
- The target task is already completed. Deadline, visibility and assignment actions all skip a task that’s finished. There’s nothing to shift or hide.
- A condition reads a field that’s still empty. An empty field is a real value to Tallyfy and it gets compared like any other. A deadline action pointed at an empty date field does nothing, and the task keeps the deadline it already had. The automation still counts as run, so filling in the date later doesn’t set the deadline. Add an “is not empty” condition on the date field so the automation waits for a date.
- The organization is on a free plan and its trial has ended. Automations don’t run at all in that case. They’re still saved on the template and they start working again as soon as the organization is on a paid plan.
Order within one process
Section titled “Order within one process”Several automations can fire from the same task completion. One automation can also carry several actions. Where two of them touch the same step, the result depends on which one Tallyfy gets to last, and that isn’t something you should design around.
If a step’s deadline has to follow another step’s deadline, set that up in the step’s Timings row rather than with two automations that race each other.
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