Tasks can be nested in awork by one level, so that it comes to a structure of subtasks with parent tasks. In both cases these are normal tasks, so that they can be hung among each other to form clearer structures.

The parents tasks can be easily collapsed to hide the subtasks. In the task details of a parent task you will also find a list of the subtasks.

The structure of subtasks and subtasks exists for project tasks as well as private tasks.

Parent tasks as well as subtasks do not differ much from each other and can be moved back and forth in the structure as you like. There are only a few restrictions and differences between the two:

Task lists in subtasks

A subtask always belongs to exactly one parent task. Therefore the lists of the subtask cannot be edited. The list assignment of the parent task is always being displayed for the subtask.

Subtasks in subtasks

Since awork has only one additional task level (subtasks), it is not possible to hang additional subtasks under subtasks.

You can create subtasks in different ways. Here is a short description of the different ways.

Subordinate existing tasks as subtasks via drag & drop

If your tasks already exist in a task list in the project, you can easily drag them below to another task to attach them as subtasks to the other task.

Create a new subtask directly in the list

If you click on the New Task button below an existing task, the input field for a new task will open. If you now click on the subtask icon or simply hit Tab on the keyboard, this task will be indented as a subtask under the previous task. You can quickly and easily create many subtasks.

Assign a parent task in the window for creating new tasks

In the window for creating new tasks, you can select a task under which the new task is to be placed via Add details. If you have already selected one or more lists for your new tasks, this list will be removed as soon as you select a parent task. This is simply due to the fact that the subtask automatically follows the lists of the upper tasks.

☝️Hint: You can also use the slash commands when creating a task to select a parent task from the selected project under which the new task will be placed.

Tasks can be easily changed in order as well as level using drag and drop.

A task that already has subtasks cannot be subordinated to another task. For this reason, all subtasks and the tree structure will be hidden while moving such a parent task.

If your task already has a checklist and you would rather have these entries as real tasks to assign users and deadlines, you can easily do that in the task details. Click on the more button on the right side of the checklist and select Convert to tasks.

A task, which has subtasks, shows in the detail and list view an additional field with the total tracked time as well as the progress related to the total set planned effort. The task itself as well as all subtasks are taken into account.

If a user does not have general permission to see the tasks of a project, but is assigned to a specific task, this task will appear under my tasks. If it is a task that also has subtasks, these are also visible. However, if it is a subtask, then only that subtask is visible and the associated parent task cannot be viewed (except for the name).

In the board view, only top-level tasks are displayed as cards. However, if a task has subtasks, it can be expanded to reveal the subtasks. Clicking on the name of the subtask will open the task details for that subtask.

In the sidebar of the tasks, parent tasks as well as subtasks are shown. All tasks can be scheduled in the timeline and can also be assigned dependencies. Subtasks display an icon and the name of the parent task in the timeline to make it easier to recognize.

This makes it easy to schedule subtasks for different users and different time periods.

☝️Hint: If the parent task is scheduled and scheduled tasks are hidden (the calendar icon above the task list in the sidebar), all subtasks in the sidebar are also hidden. To show them for scheduling, just click once on the calendar icon to show the already scheduled tasks.

If a parent task has a deadline, it will be displayed as a red marker in the popup for selecting a deadline for the subtasks. This is not binding, so a subtask can also have a deadline after its parent task, but it makes it easier to set subtask deadlines taking the parent task deadline into account.

When you create a task filter, both sub and parent tasks may match your filter criteria. If a parent task matches your filter, it will be displayed in the results. You can always expand these parent tasks and you will be able to see all subtasks, regardless of whether they also match the filter.

If a subtask matches your filter, but not the parent task, this subtask will be displayed on the top level in your results list. By the small subtask icon you can see that this is a subtask.