Hi @Kiley!
So if you have an automation set to trigger at 6 months and a client books at 4 months, it WILL NOT set off that automation at all. This is one of my biggest pain points with the way current automations.
I have an idea post that I made that would solve this issue. You could comment and upvote to help get your voice heard!
Does your workflow or what you send change between the 4 and 6 month mark? Meaning, does your 6 month timeline include the same steps once it hits the 4 month mark or do you have a condensed/modified workflow for the 4 month? If it the same from the 4 months and on, then you could have one workflow that is triggered at the 4 month mark and then have a second automaton that is triggered at the 6 month but only covers what happens until the 4 month automation can take over. Frustrating but it's the closet workaround I have come up with right now.
Hope this helps!
Thank you, Ashley!
---so I would have to set up automations basically for each month….what a pain! I upvoted on your post--as this needs to be fixed. Wondering if at this point if I should just keep the basic automations. Do you think that basic Automations will still stick around---or will I eventually have to switch over? Thank you so much for all your help!
HI @Kiley (Fellow night owl lol)
It would depend on what your client experience is like. For instance, For my brand sessions, the 2 weeks before a session looks the same no matter what so I have an automaton for that that I call “the final countdown”. The ideal timeline for me is that a client books 6-8 weeks out and this is what I;ve done:
I have an email w/ planning questionnaire + scheduler that gets sent out at 5 weeks before project date. There is some conditional logic based on whether they have scheduled or completed the smart file, but this check point is its own standalone automation. Because of the caveat that they can book just under that 5 week mark and that automation won't trigger, I duplicated it to have a manual trigger for those instances, Its not a huge deal because the remaining automation steps are not specific to being timed before the project date.
From there I have an automation triggered by the scheduling of their planning call to override the experience available in the preferences tab.
and then my 2 week before project automation goes.
It's like having a bunch of micro workflows which I love and hate. Kind of seems more work and can clutter the back end, but it also leaves less room for error or a failed workflow. I think of the concept of dominoes… if one domino isn’t spaced right, it won't hit the next domino when it falls which defeats the purpose. I’d rather have smaller workflows that are more specific/conditional that will work than a longer workflow that gets complicated. Are the current abilities without flaws? no. But its good start.
As for your answer to basic automatons, my understanding is that they will continue to be supported like legacy files are with the addition of smart files. BUT, as in life, nothing is guaranteed and I would assume at some point they would have to be sunset for fluid functionality. I’m not saying they are, but I’ve seen other apps sunset older iterations of a feature with support/structure to migrate. Just something to keep in mind.
Another thing to note, Automations 2.0 was built from scratch and not on top of or a patch job of something else. It has to start somewhere and with the constant updates to UI and already existing features, I don’t see them leaving it as is, especially if we continue to give feedback. (please don’t make a liar out of me for saying that Honeybook lol) I’ve never seen an app/company let its users have such a platform or a voice when it comes to the direct of anything it offers. Everyone else says “ya get what ya get and ya don’t throw a fit” 
