Creating To Do Lists In WordPress

When you are running a fast-paced business or managing other people, time is always in short supply.

There are just so many things to do and remember. You have clients to meet, projects to complete, priorities to attend to, fires to extinguish, deliveries to make, commitments to keep and so on. The “doing” never seems to end.

Now … on top of all this, add the extra workload of promoting and growing your business online and keeping your website or blog updated with new content and things can start feeling unmanageable and out of control.

Whether you are running a business, website, blog, or managing a project, you need to be able to organize and prioritize your daily activities, track your progress, and, if necessary, assign tasks to members of your team effectively.

A proven method that can help you save time, create a sense of order and manageability, and allow you to take control is to use “to-do” lists.

Benefits Of Using A To Do List

A “to do” list helps you measure your progress as you work to achieve your goals. Your to-do list can be quite detailed and specific, or just serve as a reminder of what needs to be done today, tomorrow, this week, this month, etc.

Here are just some of the many benefits of using to-do lists:

Keep Things Organized

A to-do list helps you create order, stay organized and reach goals faster.

Save Time

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you save time and manage your workload more effectively. You can develop a better perspective on what’s truly urgent vs what isn’t, and what tasks need to be completed first.

Log Your Work

To-do lists let you maintain documented logs of what has been done. You can use this as evidence of work done to employers or clients, or simply as a way of helping you measure your own productivity and efficiency.

Accountability

With no accountability there’s no commitment to getting things completed, and no motivation to act with a sense of purpose. Lack of accountability can also allow excuses to creep in and take over your work day.

Feeling Of Accomplishment

Crossing items off your to do list not only helps you feel more productive, motivated and in-control, it also lets you relax more, as you can objectively see (or show) that work is indeed getting done and that milestones are being reached.

As you can see, there are many benefits to using to-do lists, both in business and in your personal life. Creating a to do list, prioritizing tasks and working in a focused way improves productivity and efficiency in your business.

What about adding a to-do list to your WordPress website or blog?

In this tutorial you are going to learn how to easily create to-do lists in WordPress to improve business efficiency and productivity using a great little WordPress plugin called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To-Do List

Download The Plugin

http://wordpress.org/plugins/cleverness-to-do-list/

Plugin Description

This plugin provides users with a to do list feature.

Plugin Features

Note: the plugin features described below are discussed in more detail in the tutorial section.

You can configure the plugin to have private to-do lists for individual users, to have all users share the same to do list, or to have a master list with individual item completions.

The shared to-do list has a variety of settings available. You can delegate to do items to specific users (this includes a setting to email a new to-do item to the user) and optionally to have assigned items only viewable by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users based on user roles. There are also settings available to show deadline and progress fields. Category support is also included as front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the admin backend to help you manage your list and your to-do lists are also displayed on the dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is available as well as short code to display the to do list items on your site. There are two shortcodes for front-end administration of your list. Category management is accessible via the back-end admin section.

If you plan to set up a multi-author site you can use the plugin to create custom to-do lists for your post planners if you also install the developer’s premium plugin, Post Planner.

How To Install The Plugin

Log into your WordPress administration section and in the menu select Plugins > Add New …

In the Install Plugins section, type in “cleverness” into the search field and hit Enter …

Locate the Cleverness To-Do List item in the Search Results section and click Install Now …

Click Activate Plugin …

Note: You can also activate this plugin in the Plugins area …

Once the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

Note: The settings section can also be accessed by choosing To-Do List > Settings from your dashboard menu …

This brings you to the plugin ‘Settings’ screen …

The section below shows you how to configure the plugin …

How To Configure The Plugin

The plugin’s ‘Settings’ area is divided into four sections:

• To-Do List Settings – In this area you can specify the main plugin settings.
• Advanced Settings – This tab is where you customize to-do lists, assign tasks to other users and perform database maintenance tasks.
• User Permissions – The options in this area let you configure user permissions and capabilities for Group and Master List types.
• Import/Export – In this area you can import and export to-do plugin and list data settings.

Let’s now configure each of these tabs.

To-Do List Settings

To-Do List Categories

Select ‘Enabled’ to organize lists into categories, otherwise leave this option set to ‘Disabled’.

Note: If you enable this option, a ‘Categories’ item will be added to the To-Do List plugin menu …

This lets you add categories that can help organize your to-do lists (see ‘Plugin Usage’ section further below for more details) …

You can create ‘public’ and ‘private’ categories for your lists.

Categories marked ‘private’ are not visible when using the sidebar widgets or short codes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

List View allows you to choose how your lists will be viewed. There are 3 types of list views you can select:

• Individual – Choose this option if you want each user to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Use this option if you want all users to share one to-do list.
• Master – This option allows you to have one master list for all users, where users have their own individual completion of items. If you choose the ‘Master’ list view, make sure to set the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (this is covered further below).

Sort Order

‘Sort Order’ lets you specify how to order to-do list items.

If you choose ID, Alphabetical, or Category options, items will be sorted first by priority.

Show Added By

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you can display which of your members has added an item to the to-do list.

Note: This setting only applies if ‘List View’ is set to ‘Group’.

Show Date Completed

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), completion dates will display for your to-do tasks.

Show Deadline

If enabled (‘Yes’), you can specify deadlines for to-do items …

Show Progress

If enabled, you can specify task progress indicators for your to-do items …

Show Admin Bar Menu

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), the ‘To-Do List’ menu will display in your WordPress Dashboard Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

This option lets you add and edit items on your to-do list using the WordPress WYSIWYG Editor …

Use Auto Paragraphs

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), automatic paragraphs are used to display content in your to-do list items.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you plan to run a collaborative website or blog, you can integrate the Cleverness To-Do List plugin with a plugin called WordPress Post Planner, from the same developer that helps to make managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

Go here to learn more about this plugin: WordPress Post Planner – WordPress Plugin

After configuring your options, remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button to update your settings …

Advanced Settings

After configuring the general settings, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab to proceed …

This brings you to the plugin’s ‘Advanced Settings’ screen …

In this area you can customize your To Do lists, assign to-do items to other users and perform plugin database maintenance.

Let’s step through how to configure the plugin’s ‘Advanced Settings’ section …

To-Do List Advanced Settings > Customize The To-Do List

This section of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab lets you customize your To Do List …

You can configure the following options in this section:

Date Format

This section lets you specify how to display dates in your to-do lists (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

Note: To learn more about how to format dates in WordPress, refer to the relevant section of the WordPress Codex below:

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

This section lets you customize the labels for important, middle and low priority items …

Items given the highest priority are colour-coded in red in your lists and lowest priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option shows the items’ IDs on your list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) shows the date your To-Do Items table was added …

To-Do List Advanced Settings > Assign To-Do Items Settings

If you have chosen either ‘Group’ or ‘Master’ View for your to-do list, you can configure the options in this section and assign items to other users …

The following options can be configured in this section:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enable this option to assign to-do items to other users …

Note: This set this option to ‘Yes’ for the settings below it to work.

Show a User Only the To-Do Items Assigned to Them

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) displays to-do items only to users who have been specifically assigned those items. Leaving this option disabled (‘No’) displays items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Checking the boxes in this section (Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, Subscriber) displays the type of users that can be assigned to-do items. If you do not want to assign to-do items to a particular role, then leave its checkbox unticked.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

If you enable this option, WordPress will automatically send an email to users with their assigned to-do items …

Leave this option disabled if you don’t want to send out emails to users.

Note: If you disable this option, skip the remaining items in this section.

Add Category to Subject

If you have enabled categories in your plugin settings and select ‘Yes’ for this option, the to-do category will display on the subject of your emails …

Leave this option disabled (‘No’) if you don’t want to display categories in the subject of your emails.

If you don’t want categories added to the email subject, then leave this option disabled.

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

If enabled (‘Yes’), you can display the user who assigned the to-do item in the email. This option is useful if, for example, you have multiple project managers assigning to-do items to users …

From Field for Emails Sent to User

This field allows you to customize the “From” field when sending out email notices to users. Type your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

Add the email address that you would like to display as the “sent from” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Add a subject field for the email that will be distributed automatically to users when a new item has been assigned to your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

Enter the body of the email message that will be sent out automatically to users when a new item has been assigned to your to-do list.

To-Do List Advanced Settings > Database Cleanup

This area lets you perform database maintenance operations associated with plugin data directly from the plugin settings area itself …

This is useful if, for example, you see that old to-do items are still showing up on your site.

The tasks below can be performed in this section:

• Delete Tables – Remove custom database tables that you no longer use.
• Delete All To-Do Items – Delete all to-do items.

Actions that you perform on the database from this screen cannot be reversed. If you are sure that you want to proceed with any of the database operations available in this section, then we recommend backing up your WordPress database first.

If you don’t want to back up your data manually, then get assistance from a WordPress professional, or use a WordPress backup plugin. You can read about a WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to perform automated WordPress site backups here:

• Back Up, Clone & Protect Your WordPress Websites And Blogs With Backup Creator Plugin For WP

User Permissions

In this area you can configure user permissions and capabilities for Group and Master List types …

If you are using Individual List, the only item that is applicable in this section is the View To-Do List option …

If you are setting up user permissions and capabilities for Group and Master List types, select the highest level capabilities that you want users to perform for each option …

By default, general capabilities of each user role are set up as follows:

• Subscribers: Read
• Contributors: Edit Posts
• Authors: Publish Posts
• Editors: Edit Others Posts
• Administrators: Manage Options

Note: When working with the Master list type non-admin users should only be allowed to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list.

Let’s review the settings for this section:

View To-Do List

This setting enables the chosen capability to view to-do items in the dashboard widget and on the To-Do List page under the ‘Tools’ section.

Complete To-Do Item Capability

This option permits the selected capability to mark to-do items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

This setting enables the selected capability to add new to-do items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

Here you can enable the chosen capability to modify existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This option permits the selected capability to delegate items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

Here you can enable the chosen capability to view all tasks even if “Show Each User Only Their Assigned Tasks” is set to ‘Yes’.

Delete To-Do Item Capability

This setting enables the selected capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This setting enables the chosen capability to purge all the completed to-do items.

Add Categories Capability

This permits the chosen capability to add new categories.

Import/Export

Being able to import and export to-do list data can be very useful. For example, you may decide to transfer data from an existing list to another website, or export your data for backup or archiving purposes.

To access this function, click on the ‘Import/Export’ tab in your plugin settings section …

Here you can import and export your data and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

To export and download your to-do list data settings click on the ‘Download Export File’ …

This will open up a window allowing you to view or save the data in a plain text file (e.g. Notepad) to an internal or external hard drive …

In addition to exporting list data from the ‘Import/Export’ tab, you can also export data by going to your main menu and selecting Tools > Export …

You can include to-do list data in an export file (in XML format), either by checking ‘All content’ (includes everything – posts, pages, etc…), or selecting ‘To-Do’ from the ‘Choose what to export’ section and clicking the ‘Download Export File’ button to save your file to your hard drive…

Importing To-Do List Data

Importing a previously saved to-do list data file is easy. Just click on the ‘Browse’ button next to the ‘Choose File to Import’ field …

Select the file and click ‘Open’ …

Once the data file has been uploaded to your settings area, click on ‘Import Settings’ …

Your file data will be imported.

Now that you have configured all of the plugin settings, you are ready to start create and edit to-do lists.

Plugin Usage

To create a new to-do list, log into your WordPress admin, then go to the menu and click on To-Do List > To-Do List …

This brings you to the ‘To-Do List’ screen …

Adding A New Item To Your To-Do List

There are several ways to add new items to your to-do list.

For example, you can add new to-do items to your list from your WP admin bar …

You can also add new to-do items using the ‘To-Do List’ dashboard section by clicking on the ‘Add To-Do item’ link …

You can also click on the ‘Add New Item’ link in the ‘To-Do Items’ section (note: only use this option if your To Do list already contains many items, as the link is only going to send you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section further down the screen) …

The above methods will bring you to the ‘Add New To-Do Item’ area.

Depending on the way you have configured the plugin settings, some options may not display when adding new items to your to-do list.

Configure the options you have enabled for your to-do items, enter appropriate values and information into the relevant fields and click on the ‘Submit To-Do Item’ button to add the new item to your list …

Note: If you are using a list type that lets you assign items to users, select a user from the drop-down list and assign them the item …

You can also assign items to multiple users (click on ‘x’ to delete a user) …

Once the new item has been added, the item will be listed as an entry in the ‘To-Do List’ table …

Repeat the above process to continue adding new items to your to-do list …

Edit And Delete To Do Items

To edit or delete an item, click on the ‘Edit’ or ‘Delete’ buttons associated with items under the ‘Action’ column …

Depending on your plugin configuration settings (discussed in the previous section), users assigned to completing tasks may also receive an email notification in their inboxes …

Once you have created your to do list, users can view the list inside their own user dashboard …

When the user assigned with an item completes the task and ticks the item checkbox …

… the item disappears from the “To-Do” list …

And gets listed the ‘Completed Items’ table located in the main screen of the ‘To-Do List’ plugin …

Additional Information

The Cleverness plugin offers additional functions that let you display a to-do list on your WordPress site using widgets, and display a list on any page or post using shortcodes.

Using The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Widget

To add a to-do list to your site using widgets, go to the ‘Widgets’ section (Appearance > Widgets) and drag the ‘To-Do List’ widget to the location in your sidebar menu where you want the list to display …

Configure the widget settings and click on the ‘Save’ button to update your settings …

The to-do list will now display on your site where you have inserted the ‘to-do-list’ widget (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

To learn more about how to use widgets in WordPress, see the tutorial below:

• How To Use s

Using Plugin Short Codes

The plugin also lets you display lists on your site using short codes.

To access the plugin’s short code documentation, select To-Do List > To-Do List from your admin menu …

Click on the ‘Help’ tab on the corner of your screen …

Click on the ‘Shortcodes’ tab to access the Shortcode Documentation …

This documentation section explains various ways to configure and use short codes to display lists on your content.

Once you know what information you would like to add to your site, create or edit a new or existing page or post and either type or paste the shortcode into the content section …

After publishing your page or post, you should see the list displayed exactly where you have inserted the shortcode …

For more information about this plugin, go here:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you know how to create and add a to-do list in WordPress.

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