Creating A To Do List In WordPress

There never seems to be enough time to get everything done, especially when you are running a growing business or managing other people.

There is just too much to do and remember. You have so many deadlines to meet, projects to complete, priorities to attend to, fires to put out, calls and appointments to make, schedules to keep and so on. The “doing” never seems to stop.

Now … on top of all this, add the extra dimension of promoting and growing your business online and maintaining your website updated with new content and everything suddenly begins to feel unmanageable and overwhelming.

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

A simple “tried and true” method that can help you save time, alleviate stressful workloads, and allow you to regain control is to use a “to do” list.

Benefits Of Using To Do Lists

A “to do” list can help you monitor your progress when trying to complete projects. Your to-do list can be detailed and very specific, or just serve as a reminder of what needs to be done today, tomorrow, next week, next month, etc.

Here are just a few of the many benefits of using to do lists:

Stay Organized

To-do lists help you create order, keep things organized and reach goals faster.

Strategize

By creating and organizing a to do list, you can break your workload into more doable tasks and create a strategic plan for getting tasks completed on time and on budget.

Keep Documented Work Logs

To-do lists allow you to maintain documented logs of what has been done. This can be used as evidence of work to clients or employers, or simply as a means of helping you monitor your own productivity and efficiency.

Ensures Accountability

With no accountability there’s no commitment to completion, and no motivation to take meaningful action. Lack of accountability can also allow excuses to creep in and take over your work day.

Working With Others

Using to-do lists and other project management tools is essential for getting other people involved on some of your larger or more complex projects.

As you can see, there are many benefits to using a to do list, both in business and in your personal life. Create a list, prioritize your list items and work systematically and your business efficiency and productivity will increase.

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

In this step-by-step tutorial we are going to show you how to add a to do list to a WordPress site to help your team get things done  faster and more efficiently using a customizable, multi-featured to do list plugin called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To-Do List

Download The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

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

Plugin Description

This plugin lets you easily add a to do list to your WordPress website or blog.

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Features

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

You can configure Cleverness To Do List with private to do lists for each user, to have all users share a to-do list, or to have a master list with individual item completions.

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

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

A sidebar widget is also available as shortcode to display the to-do list items on your site. There are 2 shortcodes for front-end administration of the list. Category management is accessed through the back-end.

If you plan to run a multi-author site you can use this to do lists plugin to create custom to-do lists for your post editors if you also own the developer’s premium plugin, Post Planner.

How To Install The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

Log into your WP admin section and select Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Click Activate Plugin …

Note: You can also activate the plugin from the Plugins area …

When you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

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

This takes you to the plugin ‘Settings’ screen …

The section below shows you how to go through the plugin setup process …

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Configuration

The Settings screen is divided into four tabs:

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

Let’s now configure each of these sections.

To-Do List Settings

Categories

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

Note: When you enable this option, a ‘Categories’ item gets added to the To-Do List 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 set up ‘public’ and ‘private’ categories for your lists.

Private categories 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 to-do lists will be viewed. You can choose 3 kinds of to do list views:

• Individual – Choose this option if you want each user to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Choose 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 using the ‘Master’ list view, make sure to set the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (see further below).

Sort Order

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

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

Show Added By

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you display which members on your site have added an item to your to-do list.

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

Show Date Completed

Enabling this option displays completion dates for your to-do items.

Show Deadline

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you can specify deadlines for to-do tasks …

Show Progress

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) 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 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

Enable this option (‘Yes’) 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 author to help make the process of managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

Visit this site to learn more this handy plugin: WordPress Post Planner

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

Advanced Settings

After you have configured the general settings, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab to proceed …

This brings up the ‘Advanced Settings’ section …

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

Let’s step 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 options can be configured in this section:

Date Format

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

Note: To learn more about formatting dates in WordPress, visit the date section of the WordPress Codex below:

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

This section lets you customize your labels for important, normal and lowest priority items …

Items given the highest (important) priority are shown in red and lowest (low) priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

If this option is enabled, item IDs display on your list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option will display 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 to-do items to other users …

You can configure the following settings in this area:

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 displays to-do items only to users who have been specifically assigned those items. Leave this option disabled to display items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this section (Administrator to display the type of users that can be assigned todo items. If you do not want to assign to-do items to a specific role, then leave its checkbox unticked.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

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

If you don’t want emails sent out to users, then leave this option disabled (‘No’).

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

Add Category to Subject

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

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

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

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 is a useful option if your site has various 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 notifications. Enter your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like in this field …

From Email

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

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Type in a subject field for the email that will be automatically sent to users when new items have been assigned to your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

Add 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 section of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab you can perform database maintenance operations related to plugin data inside your plugin settings area without the need to log into your server …

This is useful if, for example, you notice that items you have already deleted are still showing up on your site.

You can perform the tasks below in this section:

• Delete Tables – Delete any custom database tables that are no longer being used.
• Delete All To-Do Items – Delete all of your to-do items.

Any database operations performed from this screen cannot be undone. If you are comfortable to carry out database maintenance in this section, then we recommend backing up your database first.

If you don’t want to do manual backups, then consider getting professional WordPress help, or use backup plugins. You can read about a great WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to completely automate your file and database backups here:

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

User Permissions

This section lets you configure user permissions and capabilities for Group or Master List types …

If you have selected Individual List, the only configurable item that is applicable for this section is the View To-Do List permission …

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

The default general capabilities for 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 allowed to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list itself.

Let’s now review the settings for the User Permissions tab:

View To-Do List

Here you can allow 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 enables the chosen capability to mark items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

This option enables 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

This setting enables the chosen capability to assign items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

Here you can enable 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 setting allows the chosen capability to delete individual to-do items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This permits the chosen capability to purge all the completed items.

Add Categories Capability

This option allows the chosen capability to add new categories.

Import/Export

Being able to import and export to-do list data can be useful. For example, you may need to copy over data from an existing to-do list to another website, or store 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 to-do list data and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

You can export and download your data settings by clicking 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 data from the ‘Import/Export’ tab, you can also export data by going to your WordPress main menu and choosing Tools > Export …

You can include to-do list data in an export file (in XML format), either by selecting ‘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 save your file to your hard drive…

Importing To-Do List Data

To import a previously saved to-do list data file, 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 in your settings area, click on ‘Import Settings’ …

Your file data will be imported.

Once you have configured all of the plugin settings, you can start creating and editing your lists.

How To Use The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

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’ page …

How To Add New To Do Items To Your List

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

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

You can also add a new item to your to-do list inside your Dashboard 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 contains many items, since the link is only going to take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section at the bottom of the page) …

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

Depending on the way you have set up your plugin, you may or may not see certain options displayed when adding new to-do items.

Configure 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 lets you assign responsibilities over items to specific users, select a user from the drop-down list and assign them the item …

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

After a new item has been added, it will display as an entry in the ‘To-Do List’ table …

Repeat the above process to keep adding items to your list …

Editing And Deleting Items From Your List

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 earlier), users assigned to completing tasks may also receive email notifications …

After creating your to do list, users can view the list inside their user dashboard …

When a user assigned with the item completes the task and ticks the item check box …

… the item no longer appears in the “To-Do” list …

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

Additional Information

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

Using The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Widget

To add to-do lists to your site using widgets, go to the ‘Widgets’ page (Appearance > Widgets) and drag the ‘To-Do List’ widget to the menu location where you would like the to-do list to appear …

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

Your to-do list will now display where the widget has been inserted (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

To learn more about using WordPress widgets, see the tutorial below:

• How To Use Widgets In WordPress

Using The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Short Codes

You can also add to-do lists and checklists on your site with short codes.

To access the documentation on using shortcodes, select To-Do List > To-Do List from the WordPress admin menu …

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

Click on the ‘Shortcodes’ menu to access the Shortcode Documentation section …

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

Once you know what information you would like to display on your site, create or edit a new or existing post or page and either type or paste the short code into the content editor …

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

For more details about this plugin, visit the plugin website:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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