How To Create To Do Lists In WordPress

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

There is just too much to do and remember. You have clients to meet, urgent tasks to complete, priorities to attend to, fires to extinguish, deliveries to make, schedules to keep and so on. The amount of things that need to get done never seems to end.

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

Whether you are running a business, website, blog, or managing a project, it’s important to be able to organize and manage your day.

One simple proven tool that can help you save time, reduce stressful workloads, and allow you to gain some control is to use a “to-do” list.

To-Do Lists – Benefits

A “to-do” list can help you monitor your progress as you to get projects completed. Your to do list can be very detailed and very specific, or just serve as a concise reminder of the things that need to be done today, tomorrow, this week, this month, etc.

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

A To Do List Helps You Stay Organized

To-do lists help you create order, stay organized and reach your goals faster.

Better Time Management

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you save time and manage your workload more effectively. You can develop a clearer perspective on what is truly urgent vs what’s not, and what tasks need to be done first.

Quickly Reorganize And Reschedule

Using to do lists help you better handle events. If you suddenly find that a meeting has been cancelled at the last minute or extra time becomes available when some task gets completed sooner than expected, you can quickly reschedule and reorganize and keep working with little to no loss of focus.

Ensures 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.

Feeling Of Accomplishment

Crossing items off a to-do list 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 a to do list, both in business and in your personal life. Creating a to do list, then prioritizing tasks and working systematically improves your business efficiency and productivity.

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

In this tutorial you are going to learn how to create to-do lists in WordPress to help your team get things done  faster and more efficiently using a great little WordPress plugin called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To Do List

Plugin Download URL

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

Description

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

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Features

Note: the features listed below will be 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 item completions.

The shared to do list option includes different settings. You can delegate to-do items to specific users (this includes a setting to email new to do items to the user) 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 enable the display of deadline and progress fields. Category support is also included in the front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the admin backend to manage your list and the to-do list is also listed on the dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is available as well as shortcode 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 blog you can use this plugin to create custom to do lists for your post planners if you also download the developer’s premium plugin, Post Planner.

Installing The Plugin

Log into your site’s administration section and select Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Click “Activate Plugin” …

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

When 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 your admin menu …

This takes you to the plugin ‘Settings’ area …

Let’s go through the plugin setup process …

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Configuration

The “To-Do List” plugin ‘Settings’ area is divided into 4 sections:

• To-Do List Settings – This tab is where you can specify the main plugin settings.
• Advanced Settings – This tab lets you customize your to-do lists, assign to-do items to other users and perform plugin database maintenance tasks.
• User Permissions – Here you can 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 configure each of these sections.

To-Do List Settings

Categories

Choose ‘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 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 lists.

Private categories will not be visible when using the sidebar widgets or short codes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

List View allows you to specify how your lists are viewed. There are three to do list views available:

• Individual – Use this option if you want each user to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Selecting this option lets users share the same to-do list.
• Master – Use this option to create one master list for all users, where users have their own individual items to complete. If using the ‘Master’ list view, make sure that you configure the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (see further below).

Sort Order

‘Sort Order’ lets you specify how to order list items.

If you select ID, Alphabetical, or Category 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 the to-do list.

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

Show Date Completed

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) displays completion dates for to-do items.

Show Deadline

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

Show Progress

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

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, from the same developer that helps to make managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

To learn more about using this plugin, visit this site: WordPress Post Planner – Multi-Author Publishing Plugin For WordPress

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

Advanced Settings

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

This brings you to the plugin’s ‘Advanced Settings’ screen …

In this section you can customize your To Do lists, assign to-do items to other users and perform plugin 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

In this area you can customize your To Do List …

You can configure the following settings in this section:

Date Format

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

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

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

This section lets you customize labels for important, middle (normal) and lowest priority items …

Items prioritized as “important” are colour-coded in red and lowest priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) will show item IDs on your list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

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

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 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

Enabling this option lets you display tasks only to users who have been specifically assigned those items. Leaving this option disabled will display items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this area (Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, Subscriber) 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 check box unticked.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

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

Leave this option disabled if you don’t want emails sent out to users.

Note: If you disable this option, skip the remaining 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 email subject.

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

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 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 lets you customize the “From” field when sending out emails. You can enter your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like in this field …

From Email

Enter the email address that you want displayed as the “sent from” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Type in a subject field for the email that will be automatically distributed to users when new items have been added to your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

Enter 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 operations related to plugin data directly from the plugin settings area …

This is useful if, for example, you notice that old items are still listed on your site.

The tasks below can be performed:

• Delete Tables – Delete custom database tables that you are no longer using.
• Delete All To-Do Items – Erase 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 WordPress database first.

If you don’t want to back up your site manually, then consider getting assistance from a WordPress professional, or use backup plugins. You can learn more about a WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to completely automate your WordPress site backups here:

• Backup, Clone & Protect Your WP Web Site With Backup Creator Plugin For WP

User Permissions

This section lets you configure user permissions and capabilities for Group or 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 or Master List types, select the highest level capabilities that you would like users to have access to for each option …

The 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 make sure that you only allow 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 this tab:

View To-Do List

This allows 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 setting permits the selected capability to mark to-do items as completed or uncompleted.

Add To-Do Item Capability

Here you can permit the chosen capability to add new to-do items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

Here you can enable the selected 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

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

Add Categories Capability

This enables the selected 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 copy over data from an existing to-do list to another website, or store 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 and import your to-do list data and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

To export and download your to-do list data settings click on the ‘Download Export File’ …

This opens up a window allowing you to view or save your data in plain text format to an internal or external 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 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 the ‘Download Export File’ button to download your file to a storage medium…

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 …

Locate the file in your hard drive or external drive 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.

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

Plugin Usage

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

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

How To Add New Items To Your List

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

For example, you can add a new item to your to-do list from your WP dashboard toolbar …

You can also add new to-do items 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, since the link is only going to send you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section further down the screen) …

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

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 new item to your list …

Note: If you are using a list type that allows you to assign tasks 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) …

Once you have added an item, it will display as an entry in the ‘To-Do List’ table …

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

Edit And Remove 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 your plugin configuration settings (discussed in the previous section), users assigned to tasks may also receive an email notification in their inboxes …

Once you have created your to-do list, users can view it from their own WordPress dashboard …

When users assigned with the item complete the task and tick the item check box …

… the item is deleted 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 offers additional functions that let you display to-do lists on your WordPress site using widgets, and insert a list into any post or page using shortcodes.

Using The Plugin Widget

To add to-do lists 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 display …

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

The to-do list will appear on your site where the ‘to-do-list’ widget has been placed (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• Using Widgets In WordPress

Using The Cleverness Plugin Short Codes

You can also display lists and checklists to your site by placing shortcodes into your content.

To access the plugin’s shortcode documentation, click on To-Do List > To-Do List from the dashboard menu …

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

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

This documentation section explains different ways to configure and use shortcodes for displaying lists on your content.

Once you know what type of information you want to display on your site, create a new page or post and either type or paste the short code inside the content editor …

After publishing your post or page, you should see the list showing exactly where you added the shortcode …

Visit the plugin website here to download this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you know how to add a to-do list to your WordPress site.

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