Creating To-Do Lists In WordPress

As a business owner, time is always in short supply.

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

Now … add the extra workload of promoting and growing your business online and maintaining your website or blog updated with fresh content and everything can quickly start feeling unmanageable and chaotic.

Whether you are running a business, website, blog, or managing a project, it’s important to be able to organize and prioritize your daily activities, monitor your progress and daily accomplishments, and, if necessary, assign responsibilities to members of your team effectively.

A proven tool that can help you save time, reduce stress, and allow you to gain some control is to use “to do” lists.

To-Do Lists – Benefits

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

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

Stay Organized

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

Strategize

Creating and organizing to do lists helps you view the larger picture and create a strategic plan for getting tasks done effectively.

Keep Work Logs

To-do lists allow you to retain documented logs of what you have done. You can use this to provide evidence of work to clients or employers, or just as a method of helping you track your own productivity and efficiency.

Accountability

Without accountability there’s no commitment to completion, and no motivation to act with a sense of purpose. Lack of accountability can also allow excuses to creep in and take over your productivity.

Better Delegation Of Tasks

A to do list helps you better assign work to other people. This is also important if you plan to collaborate on a team-based project (see further below).

As you can see, there are many benefits to using to-do lists, both in business and in your personal life. Create a list, prioritize your list items and work towards completing the tasks on the list and efficiency and productivity in your business will surely improve.

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

In this detailed step-by-step tutorial we are going to show you how to easily add a to do list to WordPress to improve business efficiency and productivity using a great little plugin for WordPress called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To Do List

Plugin URL

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

Description

This plugin lets you easily add customizable to do lists to your WP website or blog.

Features

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

You can set up Cleverness To-Do List to have private to-do lists for individual users, 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 provides a number of settings. 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 those items only viewable by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users. There are also settings available 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 help you manage your lists and the to-do list can also be displayed on a dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is available as well as short code to display the to do list items on your blog. There are 2 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 editors if you also install the developer’s premium plugin, Post Planner.

Plugin Installation

From your site’s admin, choose Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Activate the plugin after installing it …

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

Once you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

Note: You can also get to the plugin’s settings screen by selecting To-Do List > Settings from the admin menu …

This brings you to the plugin ‘Settings’ area …

Let’s set up the plugin …

Configuring The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

The plugin’s ‘Settings’ screen is divided into 4 sections:

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

Let’s configure each of these tabs.

To-Do List Settings

To-Do List Categories

Select ‘Enabled’ to organize your 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 to your lists (see ‘Plugin Usage’ section further below for more details) …

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

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

List View

List View allows you to specify how your to-do lists are viewed. You can choose 3 to-do list views:

• Individual – Choosing this option lets each user create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Choose 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 configure 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 select Category, Alphabetical or ID, Category, ID or Alphabetical options, items will be sorted first by priority.

Show Added By

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

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

Show Date Completed

If this option is enabled, 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 will be able to specify task progress indicators for your to-do items …

Show Admin Bar Menu

If this option is enabled, the ‘To-Do List’ menu will display in your WP Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you add and edit items on your to-do list using the WordPress WYSIWYG Editor …

Use Auto Paragraphs

If enabled, automatic paragraphs are used to display content in your to-do list items.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you are running a multi-author website or blog, you can integrate the Cleverness To-Do List plugin with a plugin called WordPress Post Planner, developed by the same plugin author that provides you with a complete WordPress editorial solution …

To learn more about using this plugin, go here: WordPress Post Planner – Editorial Solution Plugin For WordPress

After configuring your plugin options, click the ‘Save Changes’ button …

Advanced Settings

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

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

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

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

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

In this area 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 in your to-do list (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 your labels for prioritizing important, middle and lowest (low) items …

Items prioritized as “important” display in red in the lists and lowest (low) priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

If enabled (‘Yes’), item IDs appear on the list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If enabled (‘Yes’), the date your to-do list was added will show on the items table …

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

If you have selected ‘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 …

The following options can be configured in this area:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enable this option (‘Yes’) to assign to-do items to other users …

Note: This setting must be set to ‘Yes’ for the settings below it to work.

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

Enable this option to display tasks only to users who have been specifically assigned those items. Leave this option disabled (‘No’) to display to-do items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Checking the boxes in this area Contributor displays the type of users that can be assigned items. If you do not want to assign to-do items to a role, then don’t tick its checkbox.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), WordPress automatically sends an email to users with their assigned to-do items …

If you don’t want emails sent out to users, then leave this option disabled.

Note: If this option is disabled, skip the remaining 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 display categories in the email subject.

Leave this option disabled if you don’t want categories to show 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 is a useful option if you have various 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 notices. You can enter your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like in this field …

From Email

Type in the email address that you want displayed as the “sent from” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

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

Text in Emails Sent to User

Add into this field 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 section lets you carry out database maintenance tasks associated with plugin data directly from your plugin settings area …

This is useful if, for example, you see that previously deleted todo items are still appearing on your site.

You can perform the tasks below:

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

Any database operations performed from this screen cannot be reversed. If you are comfortable to proceed with any of the database operations available in this section, then we recommend backing up your database first.

If you don’t want to perform your own site backups, then consider hiring the services of a professional WordPress provider, or use backup plugins. You can read about a great WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your site backups here:

• Backup, Clone & Protect Your WP Website With Backup Creator WordPress Plugin

User Permissions

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

If you have chosen Individual List, the only setting applicable for 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 want users to be able to perform for each option …

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

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

Note: When using the Master list type make sure that you only authorize non-administrator users to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list.

Let’s now review the settings in the User Permissions section:

View To-Do List

Here you can permit 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

Here you can enable the selected capability to mark to-do items as completed or uncompleted.

Add To-Do Item Capability

This option allows the selected capability to add new items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

Here you can enable the selected capability to edit existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This setting enables the selected capability to assign to-do 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 option permits the selected capability to delete individual to-do items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

Here you can permit the chosen capability to purge all the completed items.

Add Categories Capability

Here you can allow the selected 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 copy over data from an existing to-do list to another website, or store 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 and import your to-do list 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 opens up a new window allowing you to download and save your data in a plain text file (e.g. Notepad) to a storage device (e.g. your hard drive) …

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

You can include to-do list data in a WordPress 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 download your file to your hard drive…

Importing To-Do List Data

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

Locate the file and click ‘Open’ …

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

Your file will be imported.

Now that you have configured all of the plugin settings, you can start creating and editing to do lists.

Plugin Usage

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

This brings up the ‘To-Do List’ page …

How To Add New Items To Your To-Do List

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

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

You can also add new to-do items inside 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 down the page) …

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

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

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 item to your list …

Note: If you have selected a list type that allows you to assign items to specific 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 remove users) …

Once you have added the item, the item will be listed as an entry in the ‘To-Do Items’ table …

Repeat this process to keep adding items to your list …

Edit And Delete Items

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

Depending on how you have configured your settings (discussed in the previous section), users assigned to tasks may also receive an email notification in their inboxes …

Once you have created your to-do list, users can view it from their own dashboard …

When the user assigned with completing an item ticks the item checkbox …

… the item is then removed from the “To-Do” list …

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

Additional Information

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

Widgets

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 your to-do list to show …

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

Your list will display wherever you have inserted the ‘to-do-list’ widget (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• Using s

Using The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Short Codes

Cleverness To-Do List also lets you create lists to your site by inserting shortcodes into your content.

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

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

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

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

Once you know what type of information you want to add to your site, create or edit a new or existing page or post and either type or paste the shortcode inside the content editor …

Publish your page or post and you should see the list displayed in the location where you have inserted the shortcode …

Visit the plugin website to download this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you can add a to-do list to your WordPress site.

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