Creating To-Do Lists In WordPress

As a busy person trying to run a business or manage a team, time always seems to be in short supply.

There is just so much to do and remember. You have clients to meet, project tasks to complete, priorities to attend to, fires to extinguish, appointments to make, commitments to keep and so on. The amount of things that need to get done never seems to stop.

Now … on top of all this, add the extra dimension of promoting and growing your business online and keeping your website or blog updated with regular content and everything can quickly start feeling unmanageable and chaotic.

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, delegate tasks to members of your team or staff efficiently.

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.

To Do Lists – Benefits

A “to do” list can help you track your progress as you work towards a certain goal. Your to-do list can be quite detailed and specific, or serve as a concise reminder of what needs to be done today, tomorrow, this week, this month, etc.

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

Clear Thinking

Writing a to do list means you won’t have to try and remember things or clutter your brain with details. Once things are recorded on a to do list, your head is free to process information and you can focus on things that are more important to you.

Save Time

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you save time and better manage your workload. You can gain a clearer perspective on what is more important vs what isn’t, and what steps have to be completed first.

Reorganize Quickly

A to do list helps you better cope with situations. If you find that an appointment has been cancelled at the last minute or extra time is made available because some task was completed sooner than expected, you can continue moving forward with minimal loss of focus.

Accountability

With no accountability there’s no commitment to getting things completed, and no motivation to act with a sense of purpose. Lack of accountability can also let excuses creep in and impact your productivity.

Sense Of Accomplishment

Ticking items off to do lists gives you a sense of accomplishment and allows you to stress less, as you can objectively see (or show) that the work is being completed 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. Creating a to do list, prioritizing tasks and working in a systematic way improves productivity and efficiency in your business.

What about using a to do list on your website?

In this step-by-step tutorial you are going to learn how to easily create to do lists in WordPress to improve business efficiency and productivity using a great little plugin called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To Do List

Download The Plugin

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

Plugin Description

This plugin lets you easily add a customizable to do list to a WordPress website or blog.

Features

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

You can configure Cleverness To Do List to assign 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 has a variety of settings available. You can assign to-do items to specific users (this includes emailing a new to do item to assigned users) and optionally to have those items be seen by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users based on user roles. There are also settings available to show 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 can also be displayed on the dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is also available as short code to display the to-do list items on your blog. There are 2 short codes for front-end list administration. Management of categories is accessible via 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 planners if you also download a copy of the Post Planner plugin for WordPress from the same developer.

Installing The Plugin

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

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

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 from the Plugins area …

When the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

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

This takes you to the ‘Settings’ area …

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

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Setup

The Settings screen is divided into four tabs:

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

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

This lets you add categories that can help organize your lists (see ‘Plugin Usage’ section further below for more details) …

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

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

List View

List View allows you to specify how to-do lists will be viewed. You can choose from 3 kinds of to-do list views:

• Individual – Selecting this option lets users create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Choosing this option allows users to share one to-do list.
• Master – Select this option to create a master list for all users, where users have their own individual items to complete. If you select the ‘Master’ list view, make sure to adjust the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (this is covered 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 lets you 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

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 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 this option is enabled, automatic paragraphs are used to display content in to-do lists.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you plan to run a collaborative site or blog, you can integrate the Cleverness To Do List plugin with a plugin called WordPress Post Planner, from the same developer to help make the process of managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

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

After you have configured your plugin options in this section, remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button …

Advanced Settings

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

This brings up the ‘Advanced Settings’ section …

This screen lets you customize your To-Do lists, assign to-do tasks to users and carry out plugin 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 …

The following options can be configured in this section:

Date Format

This section lets you specify how to display dates on 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 low items …

Items given the highest (important) priority are color-coded in red and low priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

If enabled, the items’ IDs will display on your list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) displays the date your To-Do 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 settings in this area and assign to-do items to other users …

You can configure the following options in this area:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

If enabled, you can assign to-do items 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’) displays items only to users who have been specifically assigned those items. Leaving this option disabled displays items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Checking the boxes in this section Editor displays the type of users that can be assigned items. If you do not want to assign to-do items to a role, then don’t tick its checkbox.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

When you enable this option, WordPress automatically sends users an email with their assigned to-do items …

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

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 in the subject of emails sent to users …

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

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

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

If this option is enabled, you can display the user who assigned the to-do item in the email. This option is useful if, for example, your website has several project managers assigning to-do items to users …

From Field for Emails Sent to User

This field lets you customize the “From” field when sending out email notices to users. Add your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

In this field, add the email address that you want showing as the “sent from” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Add a subject field for the email that will be automatically sent out to users whenever new items have been added to your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

In this field, type 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 lets you perform database maintenance operations associated with plugin data directly from the plugin settings area without the need to access your server …

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

You can perform the following tasks in this section:

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

Actions that you perform on your database from this screen cannot be reversed. If you are comfortable to proceed with any of the database operations available in this section, then make sure to backup your WP database first.

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

• Back Up, Clone & Protect Your WordPress Sites With Backup Creator Plugin For WordPress

User Permissions

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

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

If you are configuring user permissions and capabilities for Group and Master List types, select the highest level capabilities that you would like users to have access to for each option …

The default general capabilities for each user role are configured 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 itself.

Here is a description of the settings for this section:

View To-Do List

Here you can allow 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

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

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

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

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This setting enables the chosen capability to assign to-do items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This option enables 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

Here you can permit the chosen capability to delete individual 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 setting permits 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 want to transfer data from an existing to-do list to another website, or export the data for backup or archiving purposes.

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

Here you can easily export and import 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 new window allowing you to view or save the data in a plain text file (e.g. Notepad) to a storage device …

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

You can include to-do list data in an export file (in XML format), either by selecting ‘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 file and click ‘Open’ …

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

Your file will be imported.

Now that you have configured all plugin settings, you are ready to begin creating and editing to do lists.

How To Use The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

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 …

How To Add New To-Do Items To Your List

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

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

You can also add new to-do items to your list 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 send 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 the way you have configured the plugin settings, you may or may not see certain options displayed when new items to your to-do list.

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 new item to your list …

Note: If you are using a list type that allows you to assign responsibilities over 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 users) …

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

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

Editing And Removing Items From Your List

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

Depending on how you have configured 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 own WordPress dashboard …

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

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

And appears in the ‘Completed Items’ table located in the ’To-Do List’ page …

Additional Information

The Cleverness To-Do List plugin provides additional functions that let you display to-do lists on your website using widgets, and add a list to any post or page using short codes.

Widgets

To add to-do lists to your site using widgets, go to the ‘Widgets’ page (Appearance > Widgets) and drag the ‘To-Do List’ widget to the location in your sidebar (or footer) menu where you would like the list to display …

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

Your list will appear wherever the widget has been added (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use Widgets In WordPress

Plugin Short Codes

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

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

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

Click on the ‘Shortcodes’ tab 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 would like to add to your site, create or edit a new or existing page or post and either type or paste the shortcode into the content section …

Publish your post or page and you will see the list displayed exactly where you have added the short code …

For more information about this plugin, go here:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you know how to create and add to-do lists to your WordPress site.

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