Creating A To Do List In WordPress

If you are running a hectic business, time always seems to be in short supply.

There is just so much to do and remember. You have so many 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 “doing” never seems to stop.

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

Whether you run a business, website, blog, or manage a project, it’s important to be able to organize and prioritize your activities, track your progress, and, if necessary, assign tasks to members of your team efficiently.

One proven method that can help you save time, create a sense of order and manageability, 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 when trying to complete projects. Your to-do list can be detailed or specific, or just serve as a concise reminder of what needs to be done over a given period of time.

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

Free Up Resources

Writing to do lists means you won’t have to try and remember things or store unnecessary information inside your mind. Once things are recorded on a to do list, your head is free to process other information and you can focus on more important things.

Prioritize Your Time

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you save time and manage your workload more effectively. You can gain a better perspective on what’s more important vs what isn’t, and what steps should be done first.

Keep Work Logs

To-do lists allow you to keep documented logs of what you have done. You can use this as evidence of work done to employers or clients, or simply as a way of helping you monitor your own productivity and efficiency.

Stress Relief

Stress can come from feeling overwhelmed by the fact that there are so many things that needs doing and very little time to do it all in. Using a to-do list allows you to prioritize urgent things that need to be completed immediately, and push out tasks that can be worked on at a later time. This can help reduce stress.

Working With Others

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

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 in a focused way and your business productivity and efficiency will improve.

What about using to-do lists on your website or blog?

In this detailed tutorial you are going to learn how to easily create a to-do list in WordPress to help your business grow  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/

Description

This WordPress plugin provides users with a to-do list feature.

Features

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

You can set up 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 includes different settings. You can assign to do items to a specific user (this includes a setting to email a new to do item to the user) and optionally to have assigned items be seen by that user. You can also assign different permission levels using capabilities. There are also settings available to show 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 manage your list and your to-do list can also display 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 2 short codes for front-end list administration. Management of categories is accessed 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 download the Post Planner plugin for WordPress from the same developer.

Installing The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

Log into your WordPress administration area scroll down the menu click on Plugins > Add New …

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

Locate the item in the Search Results section and click Install Now …

Activate the plugin after installing it …

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

Once the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

Note: The settings screen can also be accessed by choosing To-Do List > Settings from the dashboard menu …

This takes you to the ‘Settings’ area …

The section below shows you how to set up the plugin …

Plugin Setup

The Settings screen is divided into 4 sections:

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

Let’s now review each of these sections.

To-Do List Settings

To-Do List Categories

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

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

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

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

Categories marked ‘private’ are not visible 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 will be viewed. You can choose three kinds of to-do list views:

• Individual – Choosing this option allows users to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Select this option if you want all users to be able to share one to-do list.
• Master – Select this option to have one master list for all users, where users have their own individual items to complete. If you choose the ‘Master’ list view, make sure to adjust the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (see further below).

Sort Order

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

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

Show Added By

If this option is enabled, you can display which of your members has added an item to your to-do list.

Note: This setting only applies if ‘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 (‘Yes’) lets you specify deadlines for your to-do items …

Show Progress

If enabled (‘Yes’), you will be able to specify task progress indicators for your to-do items …

Show Admin Bar Menu

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

Use WYSIWYG Editor

Enabling 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 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 author that provides you with a complete WordPress editorial solution …

To learn more about using this handy plugin, go here: WordPress Post Planner

After configuring your plugin options in this section, remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button …

Advanced Settings

After configuring the settings in the To-Do List Settings tab, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab to continue …

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

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

Let’s take you 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 …

You can configure the following settings in this section:

Date Format

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

Note: To learn more about how to format dates in WordPress, visit the relevant section of the WordPress Codex below:

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

In this area you can customize labels for highest, normal and lowest priority items …

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

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) will display the item’s ID on the list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option displays the date your To-Do Items table was added …

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 settings in this section 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 lets you 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

Enable this option (‘Yes’) to display items only to users who have been 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 section Editor displays the type of users that can be assigned items. Leave the check box unticked for any roles that you don’t want to assign to-do items.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

If 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 to send out emails to users.

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 added to the subject of your emails.

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

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you can display the user who assigned the to-do item in the email. This is a useful option if you have several 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. Type the name of your company, 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 sent out automatically 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 you can perform database maintenance operations related to plugin data directly from the plugin settings area itself …

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

You can perform the following tasks:

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

Any database operations performed from this screen cannot be reversed. If you are comfortable to perform database maintenance in this section, then make sure to backup your database first.

If you don’t want to back up your data yourself, then use the services of a professional WordPress provider, or use WordPress backup plugins. Learn about a great WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your site backups here:

• Backup, Duplicate And Protect Your WP Web Sites With Backup Creator WordPress Plugin

User Permissions

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

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

If you plan to set up 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 of 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 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 now review the settings in this tab:

View To-Do List

This allows the selected 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 enables the selected capability to mark to-do items as completed or uncompleted.

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This option enables 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

This setting permits 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

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

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

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

Add Categories Capability

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

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

Use this section to import and export your 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 window allowing you to view or save the data as plain text to a storage device …

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

You can include to-do list data in a WordPress 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 the ‘Download Export File’ button to save your file to an internal or external hard drive…

Importing To-Do List Data

To import a list data file, 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’ …

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

Your file data will be imported.

After configuring all plugin settings, you can 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 …

Adding New To Do Items

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

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

You can also add new to-do items using 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 will simply send you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section further down the page) …

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

Depending on the way you have configured your plugin settings, some options may not display when new items to your to-do list.

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

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 make multiple users responsible for the same item (click on ‘x’ to delete users) …

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

Repeat this process to add new items to your list …

Editing And Deleting To-Do 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 how you have set up the plugin (discussed in the previous section), users assigned to completing tasks may also receive email notifications …

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

When users responsible for completing an item tick the item check box …

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

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

Additional Plugin Information

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

Widgets

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 menu location where you want the list to show …

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

The list will display where the ‘to-do-list’ widget has been placed (e.g. 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 To-Do List Plugin Shortcodes

Cleverness To-Do List also lets you display lists on your site by inserting short codes into your content.

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

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

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

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 into the content section …

Publish your page or post and you will see the list displayed exactly where you added the short code …

Visit the plugin website for more information about this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you know how to create and add a to-do list to your WordPress site.

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