How To Create To-Do Lists In WordPress

If you are running a hectic business or managing a team, there is never enough time to get things done.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have clients to meet, tasks to complete, priorities to attend to, fires to extinguish, calls and appointments to make, schedules to keep and so on. The “doing” never stops.

Now … add the extra dimension of trying to promote and grow your business online and maintaining your website updated with fresh content and everything can start becoming unmanageable and out of control.

Whether you are running a business, website, blog, or managing a project, it’s important to be able to organize and manage your day.

One simple proven tool that can help you save time, reduce stress, and allow you to gain some control is to use a “to do” list.

The Benefits Of Using A To-Do List

A “to-do” list helps you track your progress when trying to complete projects. Your to do list can be minutely detailed or specific, or act as a reminder of the things that need to be done over a given period of time.

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

Free Your Brain

Writing to-do lists means that you won’t have to memorize things or store additional information inside your mind. Once tasks are recorded on a to do list, your brain is free to process information and you can focus on other important things.

Be More Strategic

By creating and organizing a to do list, you can view the bigger picture and come up with a strategic plan to get everything done effectively.

Quickly Reschedule And Reorganize

Having a to do list helps you better cope with situations. If you suddenly find that a meeting gets cancelled or extra time has been made available when some part of the project gets completed sooner than expected, you can quickly reschedule and keep moving forward with little to minimal disruption.

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 lets excuses creep in and impact your productivity.

Sense Of Accomplishment

Ticking items off to do lists gives you a feeling of accomplishment and allows you to stress less, as you can objectively see (or show) that the work is 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 to-do lists, prioritizing tasks and working towards completing the items on your list improves productivity and efficiency in your business.

What about using a to-do list on your WordPress website?

In this detailed tutorial you are going to learn how to easily add a to-do list to a WordPress site to improve business efficiency and productivity using a customizable, multi-featured to-do list plugin called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To-Do List

Download The Plugin

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

Description

This WordPress plugin lets you easily add a customizable to do list to WordPress.

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Features

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

You can configure Cleverness To-Do List to assign private to-do lists for each user, to have all users share your 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 assign to do items to specific users (this includes emailing new to-do items to assigned users) and optionally to have assigned items be viewable by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users. There are also settings to enable the display of deadline and progress fields. Category support is included as well as front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the backend to manage your list and the to do lists can also appear 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 the list. Category management is accessible through the back-end admin section.

If you plan to run a multi-author site you can use this 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 Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

From your WordPress dashboard area, choose Plugins > Add New …

In the Install Plugins section, type in “cleverness” into the search field and click the Enter button on your keyboard …

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

Click “Activate Plugin” …

Note: You can also activate the plugin in the Plugins section …

When the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

Note: The plugin’s ‘Settings’ area can also be accessed by selecting To-Do List > Settings from your admin menu …

This brings you to the ‘Settings’ area …

Let’s go through the plugin setup process …

Configuring The Plugin

The “To-Do List” plugin ‘Settings’ area is divided into four tabs:

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

Let’s configure each of these tabs.

To-Do List Settings

Categories

Choose ‘Enabled’ to organize your to-do list into categories, otherwise leave this option set to ‘Disabled’.

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

This allows you to add categories to your to-do lists (see ‘Plugin Usage’ section further below for more details) …

You can set up ‘public’ and ‘private’ categories for your to-do lists.

Private categories will not be visible using widgets or shortcodes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

List View lets you choose how to-do lists are viewed. You can choose from three list views:

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

Sort Order

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

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

Show Added By

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you display which of your users has added an item to the to-do list.

Note: This setting only works when ‘List View’ is set to ‘Group’.

Show Date Completed

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

Show Deadline

Enabling this option lets you specify deadlines for your to-do tasks …

Show Progress

Enabling this option lets you specify task progress indicators for your to-do items …

Show Admin Bar Menu

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you display the ‘To-Do List’ menu in your WP Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

If enabled (‘Yes’), you will be able to add and edit items on your to-do list using the WordPress WYSIWYG Editor …

Use Auto Paragraphs

Enable this option to display content in to-do lists using paragraphs.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you are running a collaborative site or blog, you can integrate the Cleverness To Do List plugin with a plugin called WordPress Post Planner, developed by the same plugin author to help make the task of managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

Visit this site to learn more about using this plugin: WordPress Post Planner – WordPress Plugin

When you have configured your plugin options in this section, remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button …

Advanced Settings

After you have configured the settings in the To-Do List Settings tab, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab …

This brings up the plugin’s ‘Advanced Settings’ section …

This section lets you customize your To Do lists, assign to-do items to other users and carry out database maintenance.

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

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

Here you can customize your To Do List …

The following settings can be configured in this section:

Date Format

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

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

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

In this area you can customize your labels for prioritizing highest, middle and low items …

Items prioritized as “important” are color-coded in red and lowest (low) priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

If enabled, the items’ IDs appear on your list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If enabled, the date your to-do list was added displays on your To-Do Items table …

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 to-do items to other users …

You can configure the following options in this area:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

If enabled (‘Yes’), you can assign tasks 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 tasks 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 Author displays the type of users that can be assigned items. Leave the checkbox unticked for any roles that you don’t want to assign to-do items.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

When this option is enabled, WordPress automatically sends users an email with their assigned to-do items …

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

Note: If this option is disabled, skip the other settings 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 show to-do categories in the subject of your emails.

Leave this option disabled if you don’t want categories added to the subject of your emails.

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

If this option is enabled, 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 lets you customize the “From” field when sending out email notifications. Add the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

Enter the email address that you want showing as the “sent from” email address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

In this field, enter a subject field for the email that will be distributed automatically to users when a new item has been added to your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

Type in 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

In this area you can carry out database maintenance tasks related to plugin data inside your plugin settings area itself without the need to log into your web server …

This is useful if, for example, you notice that old items are still listed on your site.

You can perform the following tasks:

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

Any database operations you perform from this screen cannot be undone. If you are sure that you want to carry out database maintenance in this section, then make sure to backup your database first.

If you don’t want to back up your site manually, then consider getting help from a WordPress professional, or use backup plugins. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to completely automate your WordPress file and database backups here:

• Backup, Duplicate And Keep Your WP Web Site Protected With Backup Creator Plugin For WordPress

User Permissions

Here you can configure user permissions and capabilities for Group and Master List types …

If you select the Individual List type, the only setting that applies in this section is the View To-Do List option …

If you plan to configure user permissions and capabilities for Group and Master List types, select the highest level capabilities that you would like users to have access to 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 using the Master list type non-administrators should only be permitted to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list.

Let’s now review the settings in this tab:

View To-Do List

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

Complete To-Do Item Capability

This allows the chosen capability to mark to-do items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

Here you can permit the chosen capability to add new to-do items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

Here you can permit the chosen capability to edit existing items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

Here you can permit the chosen capability to delegate to-do items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

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

Delete To-Do Item Capability

This option allows the chosen capability to delete individual to-do items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

Here you can allow the selected capability to purge all the completed items.

Add Categories Capability

This setting allows the selected capability to add new categories.

Import/Export

The ability to import and export to-do list data can be useful. For example, you may need to transfer data from one website to another, or export the list data for backup or archiving purposes.

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

Here you can export or import your list 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 opens up a new window allowing you to view or save the data in a plain text file (e.g. Notepad) to an internal or external hard drive …

As well as exporting to-do list data from the ‘Import/Export’ tab, you can also export data by going to your admin menu and choosing Tools > Export …

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

After uploading the data file, click on the ‘Import Settings’ button …

Your file will be imported.

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

Plugin Usage

To create a new to do list, go to your WordPress dashboard menu and click on To-Do List > To-Do List …

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

Adding New To-Do Items

There are a number of ways to add new to-do items to your list.

For example, you can add a new item to your to-do list from your WP dashboard toolbar …

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

You can 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 take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section at the bottom of the screen) …

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

Depending on how you have configured your plugin’s settings, you may or may not see certain options displayed when when you add new to-do items.

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

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

You can also make multiple users responsible for the same item (click on ‘x’ to remove users) …

Once After adding a new item, the item will be listed as an entry in the ‘To-Do List’ table …

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

Editing And Deleting Items

To edit or delete an item, click on the ‘Edit’ or ‘Delete’ buttons next to each item under the ‘Action’ column …

Depending on how you have configured the plugin (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 it from their WP user dashboard …

When users responsible for the item complete the task and click on the item check box …

… the item is deleted from the “To-Do” list …

And gets added to the ‘Completed Items’ section located in the ’To-Do List’ plugin page …

Additional Plugin Information

The Cleverness To-Do List plugin offers added functionality that lets you display a to-do list on your WordPress site using widgets, and display a list on content inside a page or post using shortcodes.

Plugin Widget

To add to-do lists 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 appear …

Configure the settings on the widget and click ’Save’ …

Your to-do list will now display on your site where the ‘to-do-list’ widget has been placed (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use WordPress Widget

Short Codes

The plugin also lets you display to-do lists and checklists to your site by placing shortcodes into your content.

To access the documentation on using short codes, 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’ menu to access the Shortcode Documentation screen …

This section explains various ways to configure and use shortcodes to display lists and checklists on your pages and posts.

Once you know what information you would like to display on your site, open up a new page or post and either type or paste the shortcode inside the content area …

After publishing your page or post, you will see the list displayed exactly where you have inserted the short code …

Go here for more details about this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you can create and add to-do lists in WordPress.

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