How To Create A To-Do List In WordPress

Time always seems to be in short supply, especially if you are a busy person trying to run a business or manage a team.

There are so many things to do and remember. You have deadlines to meet, project tasks to complete, meetings to attend, fires to put out, calls and appointments to make, schedules to keep and so on. The stress of trying to get things done on time never ends.

Now … on top of all this, add the extra dimension of promoting and growing your business online and keeping your website or blog updated with new content and things can start to become 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 prioritize your daily activities, monitor your progress and daily accomplishments, and, if necessary, delegate responsibilities to others efficiently.

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

Benefits Of Using A To-Do List

A “to-do” list can help you track your progress as you to get tasks completed. Your to-do list can be minutely detailed and specific, or act as a reminder of the things that need to be done today, tomorrow, this week, this month, etc.

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

Stay Organized

To-do lists help you create order, stay organized and achieve your goals sooner.

Better Strategic Planning

After creating and organizing a to do list, you can view the larger picture and come up with a strategy for getting everything done on time and on budget.

Log Your Work

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

Relieve Stress

Stress can result from feeling overwhelmed by the fact that there is so much that needs to get done and so very little time to do it all in. Creating a to-do list allows you to work on important things that need to get done within a reasonable timeframe, and reschedule non-urgent items that can be worked on later. This can reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed and help to alleviate some of the stress you may be feeling.

Sense Of Accomplishment

Ticking items off your to do list not only makes you feel more productive, motivated and in-control, it also lets you relax more, as you can objectively see (or show) that the work is being completed and that things are moving forward.

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 systematically and your business efficiency and productivity will surely improve.

What about adding to-do lists to your WordPress website?

In this step-by-step tutorial we are going to show you how to add a to-do list to a WordPress website or blog 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/

Description

This plugin provides users with a to do list feature.

Features

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

You can configure Cleverness To-Do List to assign 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 completion of items.

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

A new menu item is added to the backend to manage your lists and your to-do lists are also listed on a dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is available as well as shortcode to display the to do list items on your site. There are two short codes for front-end list administration. Category management is accessible through the back-end.

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

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Installation

Inside your site’s administration area, click on Plugins > Add New …

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

Locate the entry in the Search Results tab and click Install Now …

Activate the plugin …

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

After you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

Note: You can also get to the settings section by choosing To-Do List > Settings from your admin menu …

This takes you to the ‘Settings’ screen …

Let’s go through the plugin setup process …

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Configuration

The Settings area is divided into four tabs:

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

Let’s go through each of these sections.

To-Do List Settings

To-Do List Categories

Select ‘Enabled’ to organize 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 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 set up ‘public’ and ‘private’ categories for your to-do lists.

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

List View

List View lets you specify how your to-do lists are viewed. There are 3 list views available:

• Individual – Selecting this option allows each user to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Choose this option if you want all users to be able 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 items to complete. If you select the ‘Master’ list view, make sure that you adjust the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (see further below).

Sort Order

‘Sort Order’ lets you specify how your to-do list items will be sorted.

If you choose Category, Alphabetical or ID, Category, ID or Alphabetical options, items will be first sorted 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 when ‘List View’ is set to ‘Group’.

Show Date Completed

Enabling this option displays completion dates for to-do tasks.

Show Deadline

If enabled (‘Yes’), you will be able to specify deadlines for to-do tasks …

Show Progress

Enabling this option lets you 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 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 to display content in your to-do list items using paragraphs.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you plan to run a multi-author site or blog, you can integrate the Cleverness To-Do List plugin with a plugin called WordPress Post Planner, from the same plugin developer that provides you with a complete WordPress editorial solution …

For more details about this plugin, visit this site: WordPress Post Planner

When you have configured your plugin options, 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 up the plugin’s ‘Advanced Settings’ screen …

This section lets you customize your To-Do lists, assign to-do tasks to users and perform plugin 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

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

The following settings can be configured in this section:

Date Format

In this section you can specify how to display dates on your to-do 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

Here you can customize your labels for prioritizing important, middle (normal) and low items …

Items given the highest priority display in red in your lists and low priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

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

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If enabled, the date the to-do list was added will show on your 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 settings in this area and assign to-do items to other users …

You can configure the following options in this area:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you 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

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

User Roles to Show

Checking the boxes in this area Editor displays the type of users that can be assigned to-do items. If you do not want to assign to-do items to a specific role, then leave its check box unticked.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

If you enable this option, 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 (‘No’).

Note: If this option is disabled, you can skip the other 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 in the subject of emails sent to users …

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

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

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

If enabled, you can display the user who assigned the to-do item in the email. This is a useful option if your site has multiple project managers assigning to-do items to users …

From Field for Emails Sent to User

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

From Email

In this field, enter the email address that you would like displayed as the “sent from” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Add into this field a subject field for the email that will be sent out automatically to users when a new item has been added in your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

Type 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

In this section you can carry out database maintenance operations associated with plugin data directly from the plugin settings area without having to log into your web server …

This function is useful if, for example, you see that todo items you have deleted are still displaying 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 – Remove all of your to-do items.

Actions that you perform on your database 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 back up your data yourself, then consider getting professional WordPress assistance, or use a WordPress backup plugin. Learn about a great WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to perform automated backups here:

• Backup, Duplicate & Keep Your WordPress Sites Protected With Backup Creator WordPress Plugin

User Permissions

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

If you choose the Individual List type, the only configurable item applicable in this section is the View To-Do List permission …

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 have access to for each option …

By default, general capabilities for each user role are set 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 permit non-administrator users to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list.

Let’s review the settings in this section:

View To-Do List

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

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

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

Assign To-Do Item Capability

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

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This option allows 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 to-do items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

Here you can permit 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

The ability to import and export to-do list data can be useful. For example, you may need to copy over data from an existing list to another website, or store the data for backup or reporting purposes.

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

Now you can import or export 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 your data in plain text format to a storage medium …

As well as exporting list data from the ‘Import/Export’ tab, you can also export data by going to your admin 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 just select ‘To-Do’ from the ‘Choose what to export’ section and click on the ‘Download Export File’ button to save 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 …

Locate the previously saved to-do list data file in your hard drive or external drive and click ‘Open’ …

Once uploading your data file, click on ‘Import Settings’ …

Your file will be imported.

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

How To Use The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

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’ screen …

Add New To-Do Items To Your List

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

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

You can also add a new item to your to-do list 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, since the link will simply send you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section at the bottom of the page) …

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

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

Select the options you have enabled for your to-do items, enter appropriate 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 lets you assign items 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 delete a user) …

After 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 keep adding items to your 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 how you have configured the plugin (see previous section), users assigned to tasks may also receive email notifications …

After creating your to-do list, users can view it when logged into their WP dashboard …

When users assigned with the item complete the task and click on the item check box …

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

And appears in the ‘Completed Items’ section located in the ’To-Do List’ plugin area …

Additional Information

The Cleverness To-Do List plugin provides additional functions that let you display to-do lists on your WordPress website using widgets, and display lists on content inside a post or page using shortcodes.

Using The 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 (or footer) menu where you want your list to display …

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

Your list will display on your site where you have added the ‘to-do-list’ widget (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use WordPress Widget

Using The Cleverness Plugin Short Codes

The Cleverness To-Do List plugin also lets you create lists to your site by inserting short codes into your content.

To access the plugin’s shortcode documentation, click on To-Do List > To-Do List from your dashboard menu …

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

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

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

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

Publish your page or post and you will see the list displayed 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 know how to create and add to-do lists in WordPress.

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