Creating To Do Lists In WordPress

When you are running a fast-paced business, time always seems to be in short supply.

There are just so many things to do and remember. You have so many deadlines to meet, tasks to complete, priorities to attend to, fires to put out, appointments to make, commitments to keep and so on. The amount of things that need to get done never seems to stop.

Now … add the extra workload of promoting and growing your business online and keeping your website or blog updated with fresh content and everything can start to feel unmanageable and overwhelming.

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

One simple proven method that can help you save time, create a sense of order and manageability, and allow you to gain some control is to use a “to-do” list.

Benefits Of Using A To-Do List

A “to do” list can help you measure your progress as you work towards certain objectives. Your to do list can be minutely detailed and specific, or just serve as a concise reminder of what needs to be done today, tomorrow, this week, this month, etc.

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

Think Clearly

Writing to-do lists means that you won’t have to try to memorize stuff or store information inside your brain. Once things are jotted down on a to-do list, your head is free to process other information and you can focus on other areas that may be more important.

Save Time

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you manage your time better. You can develop a better perspective on what is more important vs what is not, and what steps should be done first.

Quickly Reorganize

Using to do lists let you better cope with urgent situations. If an appointment gets cancelled at short notice or extra time becomes available because a task was completed sooner than expected, you can keep working with minimal disruption.

Accountability

Without 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 productivity.

Working With Others

Creating 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. Creating a to do list, then prioritizing tasks and working to complete the items listed improves your business productivity and efficiency.

Let’s turn now to using a to do list on your website. More specifically, how to add a to-do list to WordPress.

In this step-by-step 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 plugin for WordPress 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 a WordPress site.

Features

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

You can configure the plugin 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 completion of items.

The shared to-do list option offers different settings. You can delegate to-do items to a specific user (this includes a setting to email new to do items to the assigned user) and optionally to have assigned items only viewable by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users. There are also settings to display deadline and progress fields. Category support is also included in the front-end administration.

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

A sidebar widget is also available as short code to display the to-do list items on your blog. There are 2 short codes for front-end list administration. Category management is accessible via the back-end admin section.

If you plan to run a multi-author site you can use the plugin to create custom to do lists for your post editors if you also use a copy of the Post Planner plugin.

Plugin Installation

Log into your WordPress admin and choose Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Activate the plugin after installing it …

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

Once you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

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

This brings you to the ‘Settings’ section …

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

Configuring The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

The Settings area is divided into 4 sections:

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

Let’s now review 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: When you enable this option, a ‘Categories’ item will be added to the To-Do List plugin menu …

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

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

Categories marked ‘private’ will not be visible using the sidebar widgets or shortcodes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

List View allows you to specify how your lists will be viewed. You can choose three 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 – Use this option if you want all users to be able to share the same to-do list.
• Master – Use this option to have a master list for all users, where users have their own individual items to complete. If using the ‘Master’ list view, make sure to 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 your to-do list items.

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

Show Added By

Enabling this option lets you display which users have added an item to the to-do list.

Note: This setting only applies when ‘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 this option is enabled, you will be able to specify deadlines for your to-do items …

Show Progress

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

Show Admin Bar Menu

Enabling this option lets you display the ‘To-Do List’ menu in your WordPress 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 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 plugin developer that provides you with a complete WordPress editorial solution …

To learn more about this WordPress plugin, visit this site: WordPress Post Planner

After you have configured your plugin options, remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button …

Advanced Settings

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

This brings you to the ‘Advanced Settings’ area …

This area lets you customize your To-Do lists, assign to-do tasks to other users and carry out 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

Here you can 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 todo lists (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

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

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

This section lets you customize your labels for prioritizing highest, middle (normal) and lowest items …

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

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option displays item IDs on the 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 settings in this area and assign to-do items to other users …

The following settings can be configured in this area:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you assign tasks 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

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you can display tasks only to users who have been assigned those items. Leaving this option disabled (‘No’) displays items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this section Subscriber) to display the type of users that can be assigned items. If you don’t want to assign to-do items to a specific role, then don’t tick its check box.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

When 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.

Note: If this option is disabled, skip the remaining 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 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 to-do categories added to the subject of your emails, then leave this option disabled (‘No’).

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

Enabling this option displays the user who assigned the to-do item in the email. This is a useful option if you have a number of 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 to users. Enter your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like in this field …

From Email

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

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Add into this field a subject field for the email that will be automatically distributed to users whenever new items have been added 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

This section allows you to perform database maintenance operations associated with plugin data directly from the plugin settings area without the need to log into your server …

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

You can perform the following tasks:

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

Any actions that you perform on the database from this screen cannot be reversed. If you are comfortable to perform database operations in this section, then we recommend backing up your WP database first.

If you don’t want to back up your site manually, then get professional help, or use WordPress backup plugins. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your site backups here:

• Back Up, Copy & Protect Your WP Website With Backup Creator WordPress Plugin

User Permissions

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

If you are using the Individual List type, the only setting applicable for this section is the View To-Do List permission …

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

The 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 working with the Master list type non-administrator users 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 this section:

View To-Do List

Here you can allow 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

Here you can allow the selected capability to mark to-do items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

Here you can enable the selected capability to add new to-do items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

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

Assign To-Do Item Capability

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

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This option enables 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 enables the selected capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

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

Add Categories Capability

Here you can permit 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 want to copy over data from an existing to-do list to another website, or store the list data for backup or reporting purposes.

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

Here you can export or import your to-do list data and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

You can export and download your to-do list data settings by clicking on the ‘Download Export File’ …

This opens up a new window allowing you to view or download the data as plain text to a storage device …

In addition to exporting list data from the ‘Import/Export’ tab, you can also export data by going to your dashboard 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 – posts, pages, etc…), or just select ‘To-Do’ from the ‘Choose what to export’ section and click on the ‘Download Export File’ button to download 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 …

Locate the previously saved to-do list data file and click ‘Open’ …

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

Your file will be imported.

Once you have configured all of the plugin settings, you are ready to begin create and edit your 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 …

Add A New Item To Your To-Do List

There are several 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 new to-do items to your list in your Dashboard 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 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 screen) …

The methods shown above will bring 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 adding new items to your to-do list.

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 item to your list …

Note: If you have chosen a list type that lets you assign responsibilities over 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 users) …

Once the new item has been added, it 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 …

Editing And Deleting To-Do Items

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

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

After creating your to-do list, users can view it from their own dashboard …

When users assigned with completing an item click on the item checkbox …

… 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 Plugin 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 short codes.

Using The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Widget

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

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

The list will now display wherever you have placed the ‘to-do-list’ widget (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use s

Using Plugin Shortcodes

The plugin also lets you add to-do lists and checklists to your site using short codes.

To access the plugin’s shortcode documentation, select To-Do List > To-Do List from your 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 screen …

The documentation section explains different ways to configure and use short codes to display lists and checklists on your posts and pages.

Once you know what information you would like to add to your site, open up a new page or post and either type or paste the short code inside the content editor …

Publish your page or post and you should see the list showing in the location where you added the shortcode …

To learn more about this plugin, go here:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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