How To Create A To-Do List In WordPress

There are never enough hours in the day to get everything done, especially when you run a hectic business or manage a team.

There are just so many things to do and remember. You have deadlines to meet, urgent tasks to complete, meetings to attend, fires to put out, calls and appointments to make, schedules 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 workload of promoting and growing your business online and keeping your website or blog updated with fresh content and everything can quickly start feeling unmanageable and overwhelming.

Whether you run a business, website, blog, or manage a project, it’s important to be able to organize and manage your daily tasks.

One simple proven tool that can help you save time, create a sense of order and manageability, and allow you to take control is to use a “to do” list.

To-Do Lists – Benefits

A “to do” list can help you monitor your progress when working towards certain goals. Your to-do list can be quite detailed and specific, or just serve as a reminder of the things that need to be done over a given period of time.

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

Think More Clearly

Writing to do lists means you don’t have to memorize things or store information inside your mind. Once tasks are recorded on a to do list, your brain is free to process information and you can focus on more important things.

Save Time

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you save time and manage your workload more effectively. You can gain a clearer perspective on what is truly urgent vs what is not, and what tasks have to be completed first.

Reschedule Quickly

A to-do list helps you better handle changes in circumstances. If a meeting gets cancelled or extra time becomes available because a task was completed sooner than expected, you can quickly reschedule and keep working with little to no disruption.

Stress Less

Stress can come from feeling overwhelmed by so much to do and so very little time to do it all in. Creating to do lists allow you to prioritize urgent things that have to be completed within the time you have available, and reschedule non-urgent items that can be addressed at a later time. This can reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed and help to take away some of the stress you (and your team) may be feeling.

Feeling Of Accomplishment

Crossing items off your to do list not only helps you feel more positive, motivated and in-control, it also allows you to stress less, as you can objectively see (or show) that the workload is getting done 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. Create a list, prioritize your list items and work things systematically and efficiency and productivity in your business will surely increase.

Let’s turn now to using to-do lists on your website or blog. More specifically, adding to do lists to WordPress.

In this step-by-step tutorial you are going to learn how to easily add a to do list to a WordPress website or blog to improve business efficiency and productivity using a customizable, multi-featured to do list WordPress plugin called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To-Do List

Download The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

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 are discussed in more detail in the tutorial section.

You can configure the plugin with private to-do lists for each user, to have all users share a 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 a specific user (this includes a setting to email a new to-do item to users) and optionally to have those items be viewable by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users. There are also settings available to enable the display of deadline and progress fields. Category support is also included as front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the backend to help you manage your lists and the to-do lists can also display on the dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is also available as shortcode to display the to do list items on your site. There are 2 short codes for front-end administration of the list. Category management is restricted to the back-end.

If you plan to set up a multi-author blog you can use this plugin to create custom to do lists for your post editors if you also use a copy of the Post Planner plugin.

Installing The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

In your site’s dashboard section, go to the menu and 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 tab and click Install Now …

Click Activate Plugin …

Note: You can also activate the plugin in the Plugins screen …

When the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

Note: The settings screen can also be accessed by selecting To-Do List > Settings from the admin menu …

This brings you to the ‘Settings’ area …

The section below shows you how to set up the plugin …

Configuring The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

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

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

To-Do List Categories

Select ‘Enabled’ to organize lists into categories, otherwise leave this option set to ‘Disabled’.

Note: When you enable this option, a ‘Categories’ item will be added to the To-Do List menu …

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

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

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

List View

List View lets you specify how lists are viewed. You can select three list views:

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

Sort Order

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

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

Show Added By

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you display which of your members 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, completion dates will display for 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 lets you specify task progress indicators for your to-do items …

Show Admin Bar Menu

If this option is enabled, the ‘To-Do List’ menu will display in your WordPress 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

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

Integrate with Post Planner

If you plan to run a collaborative 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 …

Go here for more information about this handy plugin: WordPress Post Planner – Plugin For WordPress

After you are done configuring your plugin options in this section, click the ‘Save Changes’ button …

Advanced Settings

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

This brings up the ‘Advanced Settings’ screen …

In this area you can customize your To Do lists, assign to-do items to other users and perform database maintenance tasks.

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’ screen lets you customize your To Do List …

The following options can be configured in this section:

Date Format

In this area you can 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, refer to the relevant section of the WordPress Codex below:

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

Here you can customize your labels for prioritizing important, middle and low items …

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

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) will display item IDs on your 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 either ‘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 settings in this section:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enabling this option lets you 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

Enable this option (‘Yes’) to display items only to users who have been specifically assigned those items. Leave this option disabled (‘No’) to display 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 don’t 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 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 on the subject of your emails …

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

If you don’t want categories to display the subject of your emails, then leave this option disabled (‘No’).

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 is a useful option if your site has a number of project managers assigning to-do items to users …

From Field for Emails Sent to User

Use this field to customize the “From” field when sending out email notices. Enter 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 displayed as the “sent from” email address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Enter a subject field for the email that will be automatically distributed to users when new items have been added in 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

In this section of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab you can perform database maintenance operations associated with plugin data inside your plugin settings area …

This function is useful if, for example, you see that previously deleted todo items are still listed on your site.

You can perform the tasks below:

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

Any database operations you perform from this screen cannot be reversed. If you are sure that you want to perform database operations in this section, then make sure to backup your WordPress database first.

If you don’t want to back up your files yourself, then consider getting professional WordPress support, or use a backup plugin. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that can automate your backup process here:

• Backup, Copy & Keep Your WP Web Sites Protected With Backup Creator Plugin For WordPress

User Permissions

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

If you select Individual List, the only configurable option that applies in 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 …

By default, general capabilities for 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 non-admin users should only be permitted to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list itself.

Here is a description of the settings in this tab:

View To-Do List

This setting permits the selected 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 permit the chosen capability to mark to-do 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 setting permits the selected capability to edit existing items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

Here you can permit the selected capability to delegate items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This setting permits 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 chosen capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This setting allows the selected capability to purge all the completed to-do items.

Add Categories Capability

Here you can permit the selected 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 an existing list to another website, or store the data for backup or archiving purposes.

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

Here you can import and export your data and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

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

This will open up a new window allowing you to download and save the data in plain text format to a storage medium …

As well as exporting data from the ‘Import/Export’ tab, 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 – 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 an internal or external 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 …

Locate the previously saved to-do list data file in your hard drive or external drive and click ‘Open’ …

Once uploading the data file, click the ‘Import Settings’ button …

Your file data will be imported.

Now that you have configured all of the plugin settings, you can start create and edit your 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 up the ‘To-Do List’ page …

Add New To Do Items

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

For example, you can add new to-do items to your list from your 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 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 will simply take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section at the bottom of the screen) …

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

Depending on how you have configured your plugin settings, you may or may not see certain options displayed when new items to your to-do list.

Select the options you have enabled for your to-do items, add 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 responsibilities over 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 remove users) …

After you have added an item, it 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 To-Do Items From Your List

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

Depending on your plugin configuration settings (see 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 a user assigned with completing an item ticks the item checkbox …

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

And gets listed the ‘Completed Items’ table located in the ’To-Do List’ plugin area …

Additional Plugin Information

The Cleverness To-Do List plugin provides added functionality that lets you display a to-do list on your website using widgets, and insert a list into content inside a 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 want the to-do list to display …

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

Your to-do list will display wherever the ‘to-do-list’ widget was inserted (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

To learn more about using WordPress widgets, see the tutorial below:

• How To Use s

Using The Cleverness Plugin Shortcodes

The Cleverness plugin also lets you add lists to your site with short codes.

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

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

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

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

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

Publish your post or page and you will see the list showing exactly where you entered the short code …

To learn more about this plugin, visit the plugin website:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you can add to-do lists to your WordPress site.

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