Creating To Do Lists In WordPress

If you plan to run a hectic business or manage any kind of project that involves people collaborating, time is always in short supply.

There are so many things to do and remember. You have clients to meet, urgent tasks to complete, priorities to attend to, fires to extinguish, deliveries to make, commitments to keep and so on. The amount of things that need ”doing” never ends.

Now … add the extra dimension of trying to promote and grow your business online and keeping your website updated with regular content and everything can start becoming unmanageable and out of control.

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

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

Benefits Of Using A To Do List

A “to do” list helps you measure your progress when trying to achieve certain goals. Your to-do list can be detailed and specific, or act as a reminder of tasks that need doing today, tomorrow, next week, next month, etc.

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

Keep Things Organized

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

Better Strategic Planning

After creating and organizing a to do list, you can see the larger picture and create a strategic plan to get tasks completed efficiently.

Reschedule Or Reorganize Quickly

A to-do list helps you better deal with situations. If an appointment gets cancelled or extra time is made available when a task gets completed sooner than expected, you can quickly reorganize and reschedule and continue working with little to minimal loss of focus.

Eliminate Stress

Stress can result from feeling overwhelmed by the thought that there are so many things to do and so very little time to do it in. Using to-do lists allow you to prioritize urgent tasks that need to be completed within a reasonable timeframe, and push out tasks that can be addressed later. This can help you stress less.

Collaborating 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 to do lists, both in business and in your personal life. Creating a to-do list, then prioritizing tasks and working in a focused manner increases productivity and efficiency in your business.

What about using to-do lists on your website?

In this tutorial you are going to learn how to easily create a to do list in 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 provides users with a to do list feature.

Features

Note: the features described below are 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 the same to-do list, or to have a master list with individual completion of items.

The shared to-do list option includes different settings. You can delegate to do items to specific users (this includes emailing a new to-do item to users) and optionally to have assigned items be seen by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users. There are also settings to enable the display of deadline and progress fields. Category support is also included as front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the admin backend to manage your list and your to do lists can also appear on the dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is available as well as shortcode to display the to-do list items on your blog. There are two shortcodes for front-end administration of your list. Management of categories is restricted to the back-end admin section.

If you plan to set up a multi-author blog you can use this to-do lists plugin to create custom to-do lists for your post editors if you also install the Post Planner plugin for WordPress.

How To Install The Plugin

Log into your site’s admin section and choose Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Activate the plugin after installing it …

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

After you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

Note: The plugin’s ‘Settings’ screen can also be accessed by selecting To-Do List > Settings from the admin menu …

This brings you to the ‘Settings’ page …

Let’s configure the plugin …

Plugin Configuration

The plugin’s ‘Settings’ area is divided into four sections:

To-Do List Settings – In this tab you can specify the main plugin settings.
Advanced Settings – In this area you can customize To Do lists, assign to-do items to other users and perform database maintenance tasks.
User Permissions – In this area you can 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 configure each of these sections.

To-Do List Settings

List View

List View lets you choose how lists will be viewed. There are 3 list views available:

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

Sort Order

‘Sort Order’ lets you specify how to sort list items.

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

Show Added By

Enabling this option lets you display which members have 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 your to-do tasks.

Show Deadline

If enabled, you will be able to specify deadlines for your to-do tasks …

Show Progress

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

Show Admin Bar Menu

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) displays the ‘To-Do List’ menu in your WP Dashboard Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

This menu option lets you add and edit items on your to-do list using the WordPress WYSIWYG Editor …

Use Auto Paragraphs

If enabled (‘Yes’), automatic paragraphs are used to display content in to-do lists.

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 to help make the task of managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

To learn more this plugin, visit this site: WordPress Post Planner – Plugin For WordPress

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

Advanced Settings

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

This brings up the ‘Advanced Settings’ screen …

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

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

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

Show To-Do Item ID

If this option is enabled, the item’s ID will display on the to-do list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option displays the date the table of items was added …

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

If you have chosen ‘Group’ or ‘Master’ View for your to-do list, you can configure the settings in this area and assign items to other users …

The following options can be configured in this section:

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

Enable this option (‘Yes’) to display to-do 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 (Administrator displays the type of users that can be assigned to-do items. If you don’t want to assign to-do items to a particular role, then leave its checkbox unticked.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

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

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

Note: If this option is disabled, skip 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 on the subject of your emails …

Leave this option disabled (‘No’) if you don’t want to display categories in the email subject.

Leave this option disabled (‘No’) if you don’t want to-do categories added to the email subject.

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

Enable this option to display the user who assigned the to-do item in the email. This option is useful if, for example, you have various 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 notifications. You can 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

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

Text in Emails Sent to User

In this field, enter 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 carry out database maintenance operations related to plugin data inside your plugin settings area itself …

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

You can perform the following tasks in this section:

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

Any database operations you perform from this screen cannot be undone. If you are comfortable to proceed with any of the database operations available in this section, then remember to backup your WP database first.

If you don’t want to back up your files manually, then consider using a professional, or use WordPress backup plugins. You can read about a great WordPress backup plugin that can automate your site backups here:

Backup, Clone & Keep Your WP Web Sites Protected With Backup Creator WordPress Plugin

User Permissions

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

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

If you plan to set up user permissions and capabilities for Group or Master List types, select the highest level capabilities that you want users to have access to 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 working with the Master list type make sure that you only allow non-administrator users to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list.

Let’s go through the settings for the User Permissions tab:

View To-Do List

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

Add To-Do Item Capability

This setting allows the selected capability to add new items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

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

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This option allows the chosen capability to delegate items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

Here you can enable 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 permits the selected capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This allows the selected capability to purge all the completed to-do items.

Add Categories Capability

This option allows the selected 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 one website to another, or store your 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 easily import or export your list data and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

To export and download your list data settings click on the ‘Download Export File’ …

This will open up a window allowing you to download and save your data as plain text to an internal or external hard drive …

As well as exporting data from the ‘Import/Export’ section, you can also export data by going to your WordPress main 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 – pages, posts, 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

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

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

The data from the existing to-do file will be imported.

After configuring all plugin settings, you can start creating and editing to-do lists.

How To Use Cleverness To-Do List

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

This brings you to the ‘To-Do List’ page …

Adding New To-Do Items To Your List

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

For example, you can add new to-do items from your WP dashboard 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 contains many items, as the link is only going to take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section at the bottom of the screen) …

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, enter 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 tasks to 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 After adding a new item, it will display as an entry in the ‘To-Do Items’ table …

Repeat this process to keep adding new items to your list …

Edit And Delete 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 your settings (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 from their WordPress dashboard …

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

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

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

Additional Plugin Information

The Cleverness To-Do List plugin offers additional functions that let you display a to-do list on your WordPress website using widgets, and display a list on any post or page 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’ section (Appearance > Widgets) and drag the ‘To-Do List’ widget to the menu location where you would like your to-do list to show …

Configure the widget settings and click ’Save’ …

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

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

Using Widgets In WordPress

Shortcodes

The Cleverness plugin also lets you display lists and checklists on your site by inserting shortcodes into your content.

To access the documentation on using short codes, click on To-Do List > To-Do List from your dashboard menu …

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

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

The documentation section explains various ways to configure and use short codes for displaying lists and checklists on your pages and posts.

Once you know what type of information you would like to display on your site, create a new post or page and either type or paste the shortcode inside the content section …

After publishing your post or page, you should see the list displayed in the location where you have inserted the short code …

To download this plugin, go here:

Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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"This is AMAZING! I had learnt about how to use WordPress previously, but this covers absolutely everything and more!! Incredible value! Thank you!" - Monique, Warrior Forum

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