Item added or updated in Sharepoint List that meets criteria → Add a task to a Planner board
I had a snafu early on where I made an error when checking if a card with the title of the List item already existed on the board. Continue reading to learn about how I figured out the root cause of the problem and solved it.
1
Designing the Final Product
I wanted to make sure the Planner board would add value for the team, so I had a couple of design sessions to create the final look of each task. I first showed them all of the features of Planner like Prioritization, Labels, and Dates so they understood the options, then we designed what each task should look like when it gets generated. They opted for Labels to indicate the system and the urgent priority if it was a business-critical issue.
2
Errors from the start
The very first error I got was about the List I was pulling from that there were too many lookup items. When I first searched online for a solution, most people said the only solution is to consolidate columns, which wasn't an option for me. After some more persistent digging, I came across a post which explained that the solution is to create a new view with fewer columns. I created a new view with only the columns I needed and voilá, no more error!
3
Don't forget about arrays!
My first big mistake was how I checked to see if a task already existed on the board. I wanted to make sure that each time an item was updated, it wouldn't generate an extra card. My first attempt resulted in the flow checking each individual card in isolation, instead of all the cards on the board at once. Once I saw the pattern, that the tasks on the board were doubling every time the flow ran, I realized I needed an array.
4
Demo and feedback
The final step was to hold a demo with the team and get their feedback. They had some additional suggestions, like indicating the urgency with a label instead of the prioritization, for a better visual queue for tasks that need immediate attention. They also wanted the task to be automatically closed if the item was marked complete in the List, so I built them a separate flow for that as well.
