Creating A To-Do List In WordPress

Time is always in short supply, especially when you run a fast-paced business or manage a team.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have so many deadlines to meet, project tasks to complete, meetings to attend, fires to put out, calls and appointments to make, commitments to keep and so on. The amount of things that need ”doing” never seems to end.

Now … add the extra workload of promoting and growing your business online and maintaining your website or blog updated with fresh content and things can quickly start feeling unmanageable and out of control.

Whether you run a business, website, blog, or manage a team, it’s important to be able to organize and prioritize your activities, keep track of your progress, and, if necessary, delegate responsibilities to team members effectively.

A ”tried and true” tool 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 A To Do List

A “to-do” list helps you monitor your progress when trying to get tasks completed. Your to do list can be very detailed or specific, or just serve as a concise reminder of what needs to be done over a given period of time.

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

To Do Lists Help Keep Things Organized

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

Better Manage Your Time

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you save time. You can gain a clearer perspective on what’s truly important vs what is not, and what steps should be completed first.

Log Your Work

To-do lists allow you to retain documented logs of what you have done. You can use this to provide evidence of work done to clients or employers, or just as a means of helping you assess your own productivity and efficiency.

Accountability

Without accountability there is no commitment to getting things completed, and no motivation to take meaningful action. Lack of accountability lets excuses creep in and take over your productivity.

Sense Of Accomplishment

Crossing items off your to-do list not only makes you feel more positive, motivated and in-control, it also lets you relax more, as you can objectively see (or show) that work is indeed getting done and that things are moving forward.

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 systematic way and your business productivity and efficiency will increase.

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

In this detailed step-by-step tutorial you are going to learn how to add a to do list to a WordPress site 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 plugin lets you easily add to-do lists to WordPress.

Plugin Features

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

You can set up Cleverness To Do List to assign private to do lists for individual users, 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 option includes a number of 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 those items only 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 in the front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the backend to help you manage your list and the to do list is also displayed on a dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is also available as shortcode to display the to-do list items on your site. There are 2 shortcodes for front-end administration of the list. Management of categories is accessed via the back-end admin section.

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

Plugin Installation

In your WP dashboard section, click on Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Click “Activate Plugin” …

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

After the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

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

This brings you to the plugin ‘Settings’ area …

The section below shows you how to go through the plugin setup process …

How To Configure The Plugin

The Settings area is divided into 4 tabs:

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

Let’s now review 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: If you enable this option, a ‘Categories’ item will be added to the To-Do List plugin menu …

This allows you to add categories that can help 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 widgets or shortcodes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

List View allows you to choose how your lists will be viewed. There are three types of to do list views available:

• Individual – Select this option if you want each user to be able to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Selecting this option lets users share the same to-do list.
• Master – This option allows you to have a master list for all users, where users have their own individual items to complete. If you select the ‘Master’ list view, make sure that you set the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (this is covered further below).

Sort Order

‘Sort Order’ lets you specify how to sort 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, 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

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

Show Deadline

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you will be able to specify deadlines for to-do items …

Show Progress

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

Show Admin Bar Menu

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you display the ‘To-Do List’ menu in your WordPress Dashboard Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

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

Use Auto Paragraphs

Enable this option to display content in your to-do lists using paragraphs.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you plan to run 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 plugin author to help make managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

To learn more about using this WordPress plugin, go here: WordPress Post Planner – WordPress Multi-Author Publishing Plugin

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

Advanced Settings

After you have configured the general settings, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab to continue …

This brings up the plugin’s ‘Advanced Settings’ screen …

This tab lets you customize your To-Do lists, assign to-do items to other users and perform 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

Here you can 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 on your todo list (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

This section lets you customize the labels for important, middle and lowest priority items …

Highest (important) priority items display in red in the lists and lowest (low) priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option shows the item’s ID on your to-do list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

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

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 area and assign to-do items to other users …

You can configure the following options in this section:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enabling this option 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

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you display items only to users who have been assigned those items. Leaving this option disabled (‘No’) displays to-do items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this area (Administrator to display the type of users that can be assigned todo 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 you enable this option, WordPress will automatically send an email to users 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, 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 on the subject of your emails …

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

Leave this option disabled if you don’t want categories to show the email subject.

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) displays 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 emails to users. You can enter the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

Add the email address that you want showing as the “sent from” email address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

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

Text in Emails Sent to User

Add into this field 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 lets you perform database maintenance operations associated with plugin data inside the plugin settings area itself …

This is useful if, for example, you see that old items 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 of your to-do items.

Any database operations carried out from this screen cannot be reversed. If you are sure that you want to carry out database operations in this section, then we recommend backing up your database first.

If you don’t want to back up your data yourself, then consider getting assistance from a WordPress professional, or use a backup plugin. You can read about a great WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to automate WordPress file and database backups here:

• Backup, Duplicate & Protect Your WP Website With Backup Creator WP Plugin

User Permissions

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

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

If you plan to set up user permissions and capabilities for Group or Master List types, select the highest level capabilities that you would like users to perform for each option …

The 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 using 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.

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

View To-Do List

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

Add To-Do Item Capability

This option enables the selected capability to add new items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This setting allows the chosen capability to edit existing items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This permits the selected capability to delegate to-do items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This option enables 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 permit the selected capability to delete individual to-do items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

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

Add Categories Capability

This permits the chosen capability to add new categories.

Import/Export

The ability to import and export to-do list data can be very useful. For example, you may want to copy over data from one site to another, or export your list data for backup or reporting purposes.

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

Here you can import or export your list and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

You can export and download your to-do list data settings by clicking on the ‘Download Export File’ …

This opens up a new window allowing you to view or download your data in a plain text file (e.g. Notepad) to a storage medium …

In addition to exporting list data from the ‘Import/Export’ section, you can also export data by going to your dashboard menu and selecting Tools > Export …

You can include to-do list data in an export file (in XML format), either by selecting ‘All content’ (includes everything – posts, pages, etc…), or selecting ‘To-Do’ from the ‘Choose what to export’ section and clicking the ‘Download Export File’ button to save your file to your hard drive…

Importing To-Do List Data

Importing a list data file is easy. Just click on the ‘Browse’ button next to the ‘Choose File to Import’ field …

Select the file in your hard drive or external drive 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.

After configuring all plugin settings, you are ready to begin create and edit to do lists.

How To Use The Plugin

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

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

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 to your list in the 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, as the link is only going to send you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section further down the page) …

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

Depending on the way you have configured the plugin settings, you may or may not see certain options displayed when adding 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 to-do item …

Note: If you are using a list type that lets you assign items to 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 remove a user) …

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

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

Editing And Deleting Items

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 configured your plugin 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 when logged into their dashboard …

When the user assigned with an item completes the task and clicks on the item check box …

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

And appears in the ‘Completed Items’ section 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 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 want the to-do list to display …

Configure the settings on the widget and click ’Save’ to update your settings …

Your list will appear on your site where you have added the widget (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

Shortcodes

You can also add lists on your site by placing short codes into your content.

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

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

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

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

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

Publish your page or post and you should see the list displayed in the location where you have added the shortcode …

For more details about this plugin, visit the plugin website here:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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