Associated Projects

  1. Home
  2. /
  3. Features
  4. /
  5. Projects
  6. /
  7. Associated Projects

Associated Projects

Associated Projects let you link related Projects together so a larger “parent” Project can track the progress of smaller “child” Project. This is useful when your company runs a high-level Company Project made up of several departmental Projects or when you want one place to view related work and combined progress.

This article explains what associated Projects are, how to open the Related Projects panel, how to add or remove a parent or child, and how to read the indentation that shows the relationship hierarchy.

What are Associated Projects?

  • Associated Projects is a simple one-to-many relationship: a Project can have one parent and a parent can have many child Projects.
  • A parent Project’s aggregate progress represents the combined completion of work in the parent Project and its direct child Projects (computed from the Tasks in those Projects).
  • The Related Projects panel displays the parent (if any) and a list of children. Indentation in the list shows how Projects are nested (parent → child → grandchild, etc.).

Important notes

  • Only users with permission to edit the Project can add or remove associations.
  • Projects must belong to the same company/tenant to be linked.
  • To prevent mistakes, the system prevents cycles (you cannot make a Project a parent of one of its own ancestors).

How to open the Related Projects panel

  1. Open the Project Details page for the Project you want to inspect.
  2. Click the Related Projects button near the top of the page (it toggles a panel without reloading the page).
  3. The panel will expand and show the Project’s parent (if set) and a list of children.

How to add a parent Project to the current Project

Use this when you want the current Project to be a child of an existing higher-level Project.

  1. Open the Project Details page for the child Project.
  2. Click Related Projects to open the panel.
  3. If the Project already has a parent, the parent will be shown at the top of the panel. If there is no parent, the parent area will read “—”.
  4. Use the parent control to set a parent:
    • Start typing the name or ID of the Project you want to assign as the parent (the field uses search/autocomplete).
    • Select the desired Project from the search results.
    • Confirm the selection (Add / Save).
  5. The system will validate the selection (permission and tenant checks, and cycle prevention). If validation succeeds the child’s parent is set and the parent appears in the panel.

To remove a parent

  • Click Remove Parent (or use the parent remove action). The current Project will no longer have a parent after confirmation.

How to add a child Project to the current Project

Use this when you want the current Project to act as the parent for an existing Project.

  1. Open the Project Details page for the Project you want to become the parent.
  2. Click Related Projects to open the panel.
  3. In the Children area, use the Project search/autocomplete to find the Project you want to add as a child.
  4. Select the child Project from the search results and click Add Child (or the equivalent action).
  5. The system will set the selected Project’s parent to the current parent’s id (after permission/tenant/cycle checks). The new child appears in the list.

To remove a child

  • Click the Remove button next to the child in the list and confirm. The child will be unlinked from the parent.

How indentations show hierarchy

  • The Related Projects list uses indentation to show parent → child relationships:
    • The parent Project is shown at the top (not indented).
    • Child Projects are listed under the parent and are indented one level.
    • If a child Project itself has child Projects (grandchildren), each level is indented further to reflect the nested relationship.
  • Indentation visually communicates ownership and nesting: more indentation = deeper level in the Project hierarchy.

What the indentation means for progress

  • The parent Project displays aggregate progress that reflects the work in the parent Project and its direct children (the panel also shows progress for each listed child).
  • If your organization later enables deeper aggregation, the UI will continue to show nesting via indentation so you can see the full structure at a glance.

Troubleshooting & tips

  • Can’t add or remove relations? Check your permissions: you must have update/edit rights on the Project to modify associations. Also confirm both Projects are in the same company/tenant.
  • Trying to add a Project that causes a cycle? The system will reject the operation with an error because cycles are not allowed. Re-evaluate the intended structure and choose a different parent or child.
  • Performance: If a parent has many children and Tasks, computing aggregate progress may take more time. The panel loads progressively and shows the latest calculated progress; contact your admin if you notice slow performance.
  • SubTasks: If your team uses subTasks, those are handled in a separate workflow. The parent-Project aggregate currently considers Tasks in Projects (and will be updated later if subTasks need to be included).

Related Posts: