Task Tracking
How enabling task tracking on advance modules automatically generates and updates tasks as collaborators respond
Task tracking connects advancing directly to the project management workflow. When enabled on a module, BackOps automatically generates tasks for every question and request block in that module — and those tasks update their status automatically as collaborators answer and reviewers review.
The result is a live, task-based view of the entire advancing process without anyone needing to create or update tasks manually.
What Gets Created
When task tracking is enabled on a module, BackOps creates:
- One task per question block in the module
- One task per request block in the module
- A subtask for each line item a collaborator adds to a request block — so as collaborators add individual requests (each golf cart, each labor call), each one gets its own subtask under the parent request task
This structure gives the production team a granular, real-time view of what's been answered, what's been requested, and what still needs attention — organized exactly the way the advance is organized.
How Status Transitions Work
Task tracking relies on a task status mapping configured once per event. The mapping connects four advance-specific states to existing task statuses in your project management setup.
The four states and what triggers each transition:
Not Started — the question has not been answered yet. The task is placed in the mapped Not Started status when the module becomes active.
Needs Review — the collaborator has submitted an answer. The task moves to Needs Review automatically as soon as a response is recorded, with no manual action required.
Done — a reviewer has marked the response as reviewed. The task moves to Done when that review action is taken.
Archived — the module is no longer being actively tracked. Tasks move to the Archived status when this happens. If task tracking is re-enabled on the module later, those tasks are brought back out of Archived and returned to the appropriate live status based on their current response state.
If a module is deleted rather than archived, its associated tasks are deleted as well.
Enabling Task Tracking
Task tracking is configured at the module level, not the advance level. You can enable it in two places:
In an advance template, where task tracking can be toggled on for a module as part of the template's default configuration. When that template is used to create an advance, the setting carries over.
On an individual advance module, where you can enable or disable task tracking independently of what the template specified. This lets you adjust tracking per collaborator without changing the template itself.
Setting Up the Task Status Mapping
Before task tracking can function, you need to configure the task status mapping for the event. This is a one-time setup that maps the four advance states (Not Started, Needs Review, Done, Archived) to task statuses you've already defined in your project management configuration.
Task tracking will not work until the task status mapping is configured. If you enable task tracking on a module without a mapping in place, the tasks will not reflect the correct statuses.
The mapping is configured once per event and applies to all task-tracked modules in that event.