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The Challenge

This question came from the Stump the Panel forum:

“How do I create a link between Issues and Tasks? I want to be able to create an issue and then subsequently create one or more tasks for that issue. I then would like to be able to view an issue and see the tasks associated with it. I would also like not to be able to close an issue unless all its tasks are complete.” –rradan

First, I want to explain we can accomplish this many ways, but I will demonstrate my way. My way may not work for everyone but it will work for people using MOSS (standard or higher) with little or no use of proprietary tools (like SPD). So, let’s get started.

Part 1: Breaking It Down

Linking Lists

First, we need to “create a link between Issues and Tasks.” Using core SharePoint functionality, we need to create a Lookup Site Column based on Issues. To make the Lookup Site Column, we need to have something to look up. And since we like to follow best practice, we’ll make our own, child versions of Issue and Task.

Create Content Type: Company Issue

At the site collection level, go to Site Actions > Site Settings > Modify All Site Settings. Under the Galleries heading, click “Site content types.” Click Create. Enter the information below and click OK.

Name	Company* Issue
Description	Use to document an issue.
Parent Content Type	List Content Types/Issue
New Group	Company* List Content Types

*replace Company with your organization’s name.

Configure Tracking List: Issues

At the Site Collection level, go to Site Actions > View All Site Content. Click Create. Under Tracking, click Issue Tracking. Name the list “Issues” and click Create. On the List’s default view, open the Settings menu and choose List Settings. Under General Settings, click Advanced Settings.

Set “Allow management of content types?” to Yes, and then click OK. Under Content Types, click Issue then click “Delete this content type.” Click “Add from existing site content types” and choose Company List Content Types > Company Issue, and then click OK.

Navigate back to your Issues list’s default view and add test data (at least two issues where the second one references the first as a Related Issue). Now we have issues that our Tasks can roll up to.

Create Content Type: Company Task

At the site collection level, go to Site Actions > Site Settings > Modify All Site Settings. Under the Galleries heading, click “Site content types.” Click Create. Enter the information below and click OK.

Name	Company* Task
Description	Use to document a task.
Parent Content Type	List Content Types/Task
New Group	Company* List Content Types

*replace Company with your organization’s name.

Click “Add from new site column.” Enter the information below and click OK.

Column Name	LookupIssue*
Type	Lookup
New Group	Lookup Columns
Description	Link item to a Company Issue from the Issues list.
Get information from	Issues
In this column	Title

* When you first name a column, do not use spaces. Once created, you can edit the name to make it more readable

Optional: If you want to make the lookup column required, click the column’s name and change the “This column is:” option to Required, and then click OK. To add the space in your column name, click on the column’s name again and click “Edit site column in new window,” make the change to the name, and then click OK and close the new window. You can also change the order of the columns here which changes how the Data Form Web Part (new, edit, and display pages) displays them by clicking “Column order.”

Configure Tracking List: Tasks

At the Site Collection level, go to Site Actions > View All Site Content. Click Create (or if your template already has a Tasks list, click the list’s name). Under Tracking, click Tasks. Name the list “Tasks” and click Create. On the List’s default view, open the Settings menu and choose List Settings. Under General Settings, click Advanced Settings.

Set “Allow management of content types?” to Yes, and then click OK. Under Content Types, click Task then click “Delete this content type” (if you are using an existing Tasks list, you cannot delete yet). Click “Add from existing site content types” and choose Company List Content Types > Company Task, and then click OK. If you have tasks in an existing list, you can either delete them or change their content type to the new one you just added. To change the content type, edit the item and you will notice a new field at the top of the form, called “Content Type.” After you remove all instances of the original content type, you can remove it from your list’s settings.

Stay tuned for the next installment when we work on “view an issue and see the tasks associated with it.”

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