How To Create A To Do List In WordPress

There is never enough time to get things done, especially if you are a business owner or busy manager.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have deadlines to meet, tasks to complete, meetings to attend, fires to put out, deliveries to make, commitments to keep and so on. The stress of trying to get things done on time never stops.

Now … on top of all this, add the extra workload of promoting and growing your business online and keeping your website updated with fresh content and everything can quickly start to feel unmanageable and chaotic.

Whether you are running a business, website, blog, or managing a project, you need to be able to organize and manage your daily activities.

A proven tool that can help you save time, alleviate stress, and allow you to regain control is to use “to do” lists.

Benefits Of Using To Do Lists

A “to do” list can help you monitor your progress as you complete tasks. Your to-do list can be detailed and very specific, or act as a concise reminder of what needs to be done over a given period of time.

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

To Do Lists Create Order

A to-do list helps you create order, keep things organized and reach goals faster.

Better Strategic Planning

By creating and organizing your to do list, you can view the bigger picture and formulate a strategy to get things completed on budget and on time.

Keep Documented Work Logs

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

Stress Relief

Stress can come from feeling overwhelmed by the thought that there are so many things to do and so little time to do it all in. Using to-do lists allow you to prioritize urgent things that have to be completed within the time you have available, and push out tasks that can be worked on later. This can reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed and help to take away some of the stress you may be feeling.

Better Delegation Of Work

Having to-do lists help you better delegate work to others. This is also important if you plan to collaborate within a team (see further below).

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 productivity and efficiency in your business will surely improve.

What about using a to do list on your WordPress website or blog?

In this detailed tutorial you are going to learn how to add to do lists to WordPress to help your team get things done  faster and more efficiently using a customizable, multi-featured to do list 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 lets you easily add customizable to do lists to a WordPress website or blog.

Features

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

You can set up 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 assign 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 be seen by that user. You can also assign different permission levels using capabilities. There are also settings available to display deadline and progress fields. Category support is included as well as front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the backend to manage your lists and the to-do list can also appear 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 shortcodes for front-end list administration. Category management is restricted to the back-end.

If you plan to run a multi-author site you can use the to do lists plugin to create custom to-do lists for your post planners if you also install the developer’s premium plugin, Post Planner.

How To Install The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

Log into your WordPress admin scroll down the main menu click on Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Click “Activate Plugin” …

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

After the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

Note: The plugin’s settings screen can also be accessed by selecting To-Do List > Settings from your dashboard menu …

This brings you to the ‘Settings’ page …

The section below shows you how to configure the plugin …

How To Configure The Plugin

The Settings screen is divided into 4 sections:

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

Let’s go through each of these tabs.

To-Do List Settings

Categories

Choose ‘Enabled’ to organize lists 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 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 create ‘public’ and ‘private’ categories for your to-do lists.

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

List View

List View lets you specify how lists will be viewed. There are 3 to do list views:

• Individual – Selecting 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 – Use this option 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 to set 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 select Category, Alphabetical or ID, Category, ID or Alphabetical options, items will be first sorted by priority.

Show Added By

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you display which of your users has added an item to the 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 your to-do items.

Show Deadline

If enabled, you can specify deadlines for your to-do items …

Show Progress

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

Show Admin Bar Menu

If this option is enabled, the ‘To-Do List’ menu displays in your WP Dashboard Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

If this option is enabled, you will be able to add and edit items on your to-do list using the WordPress WYSIWYG Editor …

Use Auto Paragraphs

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), automatic paragraphs are used to display content in to-do list items.

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 this plugin, go here: WordPress Post Planner

Once you have finished configuring your plugin options, 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 up the plugin’s ‘Advanced Settings’ screen …

In this screen you can customize your To-Do lists, assign to-do tasks to users and carry out database maintenance.

Let’s take you 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 …

You can configure the following options in this section:

Date Format

This section lets you specify how to display dates in your to-do list (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

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

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

Here you can customize your labels for prioritizing highest, middle and lowest items …

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

Show To-Do Item ID

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

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option will display the date your 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 options in this area and assign items to other users …

The following settings can be configured in this area:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enable this option to 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

If this option is enabled, you can display to-do items only to users who have been specifically assigned those items. Leaving this option disabled will display items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Checking the boxes in this section Contributor displays the type of users that can be assigned to-do 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 (‘No’) if you don’t want to send out emails to users.

Note: If this option is disabled, you can skip other 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 display categories in the subject of your emails.

If you don’t want to-do categories to appear the subject of your emails, then leave this option disabled.

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

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

From Email

Add into this field 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 whenever new items have been assigned to your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

Type in 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 area lets you perform database maintenance tasks related to plugin data inside your plugin settings area itself …

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

The following tasks can be performed in this section:

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

Any database operations performed 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 database first.

If you don’t want to back up your site yourself, then consider using professional WordPress help services, or use WordPress backup plugins. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your backup process here:

• Back Up, Duplicate & Keep Your WP Web Sites Protected With Backup Creator Plugin For WP

User Permissions

This section lets you configure user permissions and capabilities for Group and Master List types …

If you have chosen the Individual List type, the only configurable option that is applicable in this section is the View To-Do List permission …

If you are configuring user permissions and capabilities for Group and Master List types, select the highest level capabilities that you want users to be able to perform for each option …

The default general capabilities of each user role are configured 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-administrators to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list itself.

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

View To-Do List

This setting permits 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

Here you can allow the selected capability to mark 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

This enables the selected capability to modify existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

Here you can allow the chosen capability to assign items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

Here you can permit 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 selected capability to delete individual to-do items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

Here you can enable the selected capability to purge all the completed to-do items.

Add Categories Capability

This allows the chosen 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 export the data for backup or archiving purposes.

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

Now you can import or export your to-do 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 opens up a new window allowing you to view or save your data as plain text to an internal or external storage device …

As well as exporting to-do 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 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 storage device…

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 file and click ‘Open’ …

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

Your file data will be imported.

Once you have configured all of the plugin settings, you are ready to begin creating and editing your lists.

How To Use Cleverness To-Do List

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

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

Adding New To-Do Items

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

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

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

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

Depending on the way you have configured the plugin’s settings, some options may not display when when you add 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 to-do item …

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 users) …

After you have added an item, it 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 next to items under the ‘Action’ column …

Depending on how you have set up the plugin (discussed earlier), users assigned to tasks may also receive email notifications …

Once you have created your to do list, users can view the list from their WP user dashboard …

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

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

And displays in the ‘Completed Items’ table located in the ’To-Do List’ screen …

Additional Plugin Information

The Cleverness To-Do List plugin offers added functionality that lets you display a to-do list on your WordPress site using widgets, and display a list on any post or page using short codes.

Widgets

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 to-do list to appear …

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

Your to-do 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 WordPress widgets, see the tutorial below:

• How To Use WordPress Widget

Using Plugin Shortcodes

The Cleverness To-Do List plugin also lets you display to-do lists and checklists on your site using short codes.

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

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

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

This section explains different ways to configure and use short codes for displaying lists and checklists on your posts and pages.

Once you know what type of information you want to display on your site, create or edit a new or existing page or post and either type or paste the shortcode into the content editor …

After publishing your post or page, you should see the list displayed in the location where you added the shortcode …

Visit this site for more details about this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

***

***