Creating To-Do Lists In WordPress

There are never enough hours in the day to get things done, especially if you run a growing business.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have clients to meet, tasks to complete, meetings to attend, fires to extinguish, deliveries to make, commitments to keep and so on. The amount of things that need ”doing” never seems to stop.

Now … on top of all this, add the extra dimension of promoting and growing your business online and maintaining your website updated with new content and things can start feeling unmanageable and overwhelming.

Whether you are running a business, website, blog, or managing a project, it’s important to be able to organize and prioritize your daily tasks, track your progress and daily accomplishments, and, if necessary, assign responsibilities to others effectively.

A 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 helps you measure your progress as you to get projects completed. Your to do list can be minutely detailed and specific, or act as a reminder of the things that need doing today, tomorrow, next week, next month, etc.

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

Think Clearly

Writing a to-do list means that you don’t have to memorize things or store a ton of information inside your brain. Once tasks are written down on a to-do list, your head is free to process other information and you can focus on things that are more important to you.

Be More Strategic

By creating and organizing your to-do list, you can see the bigger picture and formulate a strategy to get everything completed effectively.

Log Your Work

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

Eliminate Stress

Stress can come from feeling overwhelmed by the fact that there are so many things that needs to get done and so little time to do it all in. Using a to-do list allows you to prioritize urgent tasks that have to get done within a reasonable timeframe, and reschedule items that can be worked on at a later time. This can help reduce stress.

Better Delegation Of Work

A to-do list helps you better assign tasks to other people. This is also important when collaborating with others (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 your business efficiency and productivity will improve.

What about using to do lists on your WordPress website?

In this detailed tutorial we are going to show you how to easily add to-do lists to your WP website or blog to help your business grow online  faster and more efficiently using a great little plugin for WordPress called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To Do List

Download The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

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

Plugin Description

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

Plugin Features

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

You can configure Cleverness To-Do List with private to-do lists for each user, to have all users share your to do list, or to have a master list with individual completion of items.

The shared to do list has a variety of settings available. 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 only viewable by that user. You can also assign different permission levels using capabilities. There are also settings available to enable the display of deadline and progress fields. Category support is included as well as front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the backend to help you manage your list and your to do lists are also listed 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 two short codes for front-end administration of the list. Management of categories is restricted to the back-end admin section.

If you plan to set up a multi-author site 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.

Plugin Installation

Log into your WordPress admin area and in the main menu choose Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Click “Activate Plugin” …

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

Once you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

Note: The plugin’s ‘Settings’ section can also be accessed by choosing To-Do List > Settings from your admin menu …

This takes you to the ‘Settings’ screen …

Let’s go through the plugin configuration process …

Plugin Configuration

The Settings screen is divided into four sections:

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

Let’s go through each of these tabs.

To-Do List Settings

To-Do List 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 menu …

This allows you to add categories to your to-do lists (see ‘Plugin Usage’ section further below for more details) …

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

Private categories are not visible using widgets or shortcodes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

List View lets you specify how your to-do lists will be viewed. There are three list views available:

• Individual – Choosing this option lets each user create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Choosing this option lets users share one to-do list.
• Master – This option allows you to create a master list for all users, where users have their own individual items to complete. If using 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 to order your to-do list items.

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

Show Added By

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

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

Show Date Completed

Enabling this option displays completion dates for your to-do items.

Show Deadline

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you specify deadlines for 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 this option is enabled, the ‘To-Do List’ menu displays in your WP Dashboard Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) 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 your 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, from the same plugin developer that provides you with a complete WordPress editorial solution …

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

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

Advanced Settings

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

This brings up the ‘Advanced Settings’ screen …

This tab lets you customize your To-Do lists, assign to-do tasks to users and carry out plugin database maintenance tasks.

Let’s step 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 …

The following settings can be configured in this section:

Date Format

Here 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, see 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 important, middle and lowest items …

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

Show To-Do Item ID

If this option is enabled, item IDs show up on the list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option shows the date your items table 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 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 to display tasks only to users who have been specifically assigned those items. Leaving this option disabled will display to-do items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this section Editor to display the type of users that can be assigned items. Leave the checkbox unticked for any roles that you do not want to assign to-do items.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

When this option is enabled, WordPress will automatically send an email to users 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, you can skip the 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 on the subject of your emails …

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

If you don’t want categories to appear the email subject, then leave this option disabled.

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

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

From Email

Type into this field the email address that you want to display as the “sent from” email address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

In this field, enter a subject field for the email that will be automatically sent out to users when new items have been assigned in your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

In this field, 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 of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab you can carry out database maintenance tasks related to plugin data inside the plugin settings area without having to access your web server …

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

You can perform the following tasks:

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

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

If you don’t want to perform your own site backups, then consider using professional assistance services, or use a WordPress backup plugin. You can learn more about a WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to completely automate your WordPress file and database backups here:

• Back Up, Clone And Keep Your WP Site Protected With Backup Creator WordPress Plugin

User Permissions

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

If you have chosen Individual List, the only setting that applies 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 …

By default, general capabilities of each user role are 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-administrator users should only be authorized to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list itself.

Below is a description of the settings for the User Permissions tab:

View To-Do List

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

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This enables the selected capability to modify existing items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This setting enables the selected capability to assign items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

Here you can allow 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

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

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

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

Add Categories Capability

This option permits the chosen 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 transfer data from one website to another, or export your list data for backup or archiving purposes.

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

Now you can 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 opens up a window allowing you to view or save the data in plain text format to a storage device (e.g. your hard drive) …

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 choosing Tools > Export …

You can include to-do list data in an export file (in XML format), either by checking ‘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 save 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 the data file has been uploaded in your settings area, click on ‘Import Settings’ …

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

Now that you have configured all plugin settings, you can start creating and editing to do lists.

Plugin Usage

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

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

Add New Items To Your List

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

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

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 already contains many items, since the link is only going to take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section further down the screen) …

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

Depending on how you have set up your plugin, you may or may not see certain options displayed when when you add new to-do items.

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

Note: If you are using 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 assign multiple users to the same item (click on ‘x’ to remove users) …

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

Repeat the above process to keep adding items to your list …

Editing And Removing Items From Your List

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

Depending on how you have set up the plugin (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 the list from their WordPress dashboard …

When the user assigned with completing an item clicks on the item checkbox …

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

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

Additional Plugin Information

The Cleverness plugin provides added functionality that lets you display a to-do list on your website using widgets, and add a list to any page or post using shortcodes.

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 your to-do list to show …

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

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

To learn more about how to use widgets in WordPress, see the tutorial below:

• How To Use s

Plugin Shortcodes

The Cleverness plugin also lets you add lists and checklists on your site by placing short codes into your content.

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

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

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

The documentation section explains various ways to configure and use shortcodes to display lists on your content.

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

After publishing your page or post, you will see the list showing exactly where you entered the short code …

Visit the plugin website here for more information about this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you can create and add to-do lists in WordPress.

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