Creating To-Do Lists In WordPress

Time always seems to be in short supply, especially if you are a business owner or busy manager.

There is just too much to do and remember. You have deadlines to meet, projects to complete, meetings to attend, fires to extinguish, calls and appointments to make, commitments to keep and so on. The amount of things that need to get done never seems to end.

Now … add the extra workload of promoting and growing your business online and keeping your website or blog updated with regular content and things suddently begin to feel unmanageable and overwhelming.

Whether you run a business, website, blog, or manage a team, you need to be able to organize and manage your daily tasks.

One ”tried and true” method that can help you save time, create a sense of order and manageability, and allow you to gain some control is to use “to do” lists.

The Benefits Of Using To Do Lists

A “to-do” list can help to keep you on track and measure your progress when trying to achieve specific objectives. Your to do list can be minutely detailed and specific, or serve as a concise reminder of what needs to be done today, tomorrow, this week, this month, etc.

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

A To Do List Helps You Create Order

A to-do list helps you create order, stay organized and reach your goals sooner.

Prioritize Your Time

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you save time. You can develop a clearer perspective on what is truly important vs what isn’t, and what steps have to be done first.

Document Your Work

To-do lists allow you to maintain documented logs of what you have done. This can be used to provide evidence of work to employers or clients, or simply as a way of helping you assess your own productivity and efficiency.

Reduce Stress

Stress can result from feeling overwhelmed by the thought that there is so much that needs doing and so very little time to do it in. Using to do lists allow you to prioritize important tasks that have to get done within a reasonable timeframe, and push out items that can be worked on later. This can help reduce stress.

Collaborating 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 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 improves productivity and efficiency in your business.

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

In this step-by-step 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 Download URL

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

Description

This WordPress plugin lets you easily add a to-do list to WordPress.

Plugin Features

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

You can set up the plugin to have 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 has a variety of settings available. You can delegate to-do items to specific users (this includes emailing new to do items to the user) and optionally to have those items be 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 in the front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the backend to help you manage your list and your to do list can also display on the 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 the list. Management of categories is accessible via the back-end admin section.

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

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Installation

Inside your site’s administration section, scroll down the menu and click on Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Activate the plugin …

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

When you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

Note: You can also get to the plugin’s ‘Settings’ area by selecting To-Do List > Settings from the dashboard menu …

This takes you to the ‘Settings’ screen …

Let’s go through the plugin configuration process …

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Setup

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

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

Let’s now configure each of these sections.

To-Do List Settings

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 menu …

This allows you to add categories that can help organize your to-do 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 using the sidebar widgets or shortcodes (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 to do list views:

• Individual – Use 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 – This option allows you to create a master list for all users, where users have their own individual completion of items. If you select 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 sort your to-do list items.

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

Show Added By

If enabled (‘Yes’), you can display which of your users has added an item to the to-do list.

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

Show Date Completed

If this option is enabled, completion dates will display for to-do tasks.

Show Deadline

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you specify deadlines for your to-do tasks …

Show Progress

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you specify task progress indicators for your to-do items …

Show Admin Bar Menu

If enabled (‘Yes’), the ‘To-Do List’ menu will display in your WordPress Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

If enabled, 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 (‘Yes’) to display content in your to-do lists 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, developed by the same plugin author that provides you with a complete WordPress editorial solution …

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

After configuring your options, click the ‘Save Changes’ button to update your settings …

Advanced Settings

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

This brings you to the ‘Advanced Settings’ section …

In this tab you can customize your To Do lists, assign to-do tasks to other users and perform 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’ screen lets you customize your To Do List …

You can configure the following options in this section:

Date Format

In this area you can specify how to display dates in your to-do lists (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

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

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

This section lets you customize the labels for highest, middle and lowest (low) priority items …

Items given the highest priority are colour-coded in red in your lists and lowest (low) 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 to-do list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

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

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

If you have selected 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 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

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) displays to-do items only to users who have been specifically assigned those items. Leave this option disabled to display to-do items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this section (Administrator to display the type of users that can be assigned items. If you don’t want to assign to-do items to a role, then leave its checkbox unticked.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

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

Leave this option disabled (‘No’) if you don’t want emails sent out to users.

Note: If you disable this option, you can 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 show to-do categories in the email subject.

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

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

Enable this option (‘Yes’) to display the user who assigned the to-do item in the email. This is a useful option if your site has various project managers assigning to-do items to users …

From Field for Emails Sent to User

This field allows you to customize the “From” field when sending out email notifications. Type the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

Type in the email address that you would like showing as the “sent from” email address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Add 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

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 of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab allows you to carry out database maintenance operations associated with plugin data inside your plugin settings area itself without having to log into your web server …

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

You can perform the following tasks in this section:

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

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

If you don’t want to do manual backups, then consider using the services of a professional WordPress provider, or use a WordPress backup plugin. You can read about a great WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to perform complete WordPress backups here:

• Backup, Copy And Protect Your WP Sites With Backup Creator WP Plugin

User Permissions

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

If you select Individual List, the only item that is applicable for this section is the View To-Do List option …

If you are setting up user permissions and capabilities for Group and Master List types, select the highest level capabilities that you want users to perform 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 using the Master list type non-admin users should only be allowed to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list.

Here is a description of the settings for this section:

View To-Do List

Here you can allow 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

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

Add To-Do Item Capability

Here you can allow the selected capability to add new items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

Here you can allow the chosen capability to edit existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

Here you can allow the chosen capability to delegate to-do items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This allows 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 chosen capability to delete individual to-do items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

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

Add Categories Capability

Here you can permit 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 decide to copy over data from an existing list to another website, or export the list data for backup or archiving purposes.

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

Use this section to easily export or import your 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 will open up a new window allowing you to view or download the data in a plain text file (e.g. Notepad) to a storage device (e.g. your hard drive) …

As well as exporting data from the ‘Import/Export’ section, 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 – 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 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 …

Select the previously saved to-do list data 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 plugin settings, you are ready to begin create and edit your to-do lists.

Plugin Usage

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

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

How To Add 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 toolbar …

You can also add new to-do items 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, as the link will simply take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section further down the screen) …

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

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

Set up 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 have selected 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 multiple users to the same item (click on ‘x’ to remove a user) …

Once the item has been added, the item will be listed as an entry in the ‘To-Do List’ table …

Repeat the above process to add new items to your list …

Editing And Deleting 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 your plugin settings (see previous section), users assigned to completing tasks may also receive email notifications …

Once you have created your to do list, users can view it when logged into their own dashboard …

When users assigned with completing an item tick the item check box …

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

And displays in the ‘Completed Items’ section located in the ’To-Do List’ plugin page …

Additional Plugin Information

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

Using The Cleverness Plugin Widget

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 menu location where you would like the list to appear …

Configure the settings in the widget and click ’Save’ …

The list will now display on your site where you have inserted the widget (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use s

Shortcodes

The Cleverness plugin also lets you add to-do lists to your site by inserting short codes into your content.

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

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

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

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

Once you know what information you want to add to your site, open up a new page or post and either type or paste the shortcode inside the content section …

After publishing your post or page, you will see the list displayed exactly where you have inserted the shortcode …

For more information about this plugin, visit this site:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you can add to-do lists to your WordPress site or blog.

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