How To Create A To Do List In WordPress

When you are running a fast-paced business or managing a team, time always seems to be in short supply.

There are just so many things to do and remember. You have deadlines to meet, projects to complete, meetings to attend, fires to put out, deliveries to make, schedules to keep and so on. The “doing” never seems to end.

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

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

One ”tried and true” method that can help you save time, reduce stressful workloads, and allow you to regain control is to use a “to do” list.

Benefits Of Using A To-Do List

A “to-do” list helps you monitor your progress when trying to achieve certain objectives. Your to do list can be very detailed and very specific, or act as a 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:

Free Your Brain

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

Better Strategic Planning

By creating and organizing a to-do list, you can see the larger picture and come up with a strategic plan for getting everything done on budget and on time.

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 to clients or employers, or simply as a way of helping you assess your own productivity and efficiency.

Accountability

With no accountability there is no commitment to getting things completed, and no motivation to act with a sense of purpose. Lack of accountability lets excuses creep in and take over your productivity.

Better Delegation Of Work

To-do lists help you assign work to others better. This is also important when collaborating within a team (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 things systematically and efficiency and productivity in your business is sure to 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 easily create a to do list in WordPress to improve business efficiency and productivity 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.

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Features

Note: the plugin features described below are discussed in more detail in the tutorial section.

You can configure Cleverness To-Do List with private to-do lists for individual users, 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 delegate to do items to specific users (this includes emailing new to do items to the user) and optionally to have assigned items only viewable 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 also included in the front-end administration.

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

A sidebar widget is available as well as short code to display the to do list items on your blog. There are 2 short codes for front-end administration of your list. Category management is accessible through the back-end.

If you plan to run a multi-author blog you can use this plugin to create custom to do lists for your post editors if you also download a copy of the developer’s premium plugin, Post Planner.

How To Install The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

Log into your site’s dashboard scroll down the main menu select Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Click Activate Plugin …

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

When you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

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

This brings you to the ‘Settings’ section …

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

Plugin Setup

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

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

Let’s go through each of these sections.

To-Do List Settings

To-Do List Categories

Select ‘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 lets you add categories to your lists (see ‘Plugin Usage’ section further below for more details) …

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

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

List View

List View lets you specify how your to-do lists are viewed. You can choose 3 kinds of to-do list views:

• Individual – Choosing this option lets each user create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Use this option if you want all users to be able to share the same 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 you select 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 your to-do list items will be sorted.

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

Show Added By

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you display which members on your site have 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 (‘Yes’) displays completion dates for to-do tasks.

Show Deadline

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

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 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 (‘Yes’) to display content in your to-do list items using paragraphs.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you are running a collaborative website or blog, you can integrate the Cleverness To-Do List plugin with a plugin called WordPress Post Planner, developed by the same author that provides you with a complete WordPress editorial solution …

To learn more about using this handy plugin, go here: WordPress Post Planner – Editorial Solution Plugin For WordPress

Once you are done configuring your plugin options, remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button …

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 plugin’s ‘Advanced Settings’ section …

In this screen you can customize your To Do lists, assign to-do items to other users and carry out 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 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, refer to the date section of the WordPress Codex below:

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

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

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

Show To-Do Item ID

If enabled (‘Yes’), item IDs show on the list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If enabled (‘Yes’), the date the to-do list was added displays on the items table …

To-Do List Advanced Settings > Assign To-Do Items Settings

If you have selected either ‘Group’ or ‘Master’ View for your to-do list, you can configure the settings in this section and assign to-do items to other users …

The following options can be configured in this section:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

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

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this area Subscriber) to display the type of users that can be assigned items. Leave the check box 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 automatically sends users an email with their assigned to-do items …

If you don’t want emails sent out to users, then leave this option disabled (‘No’).

Note: If this option is disabled, you can 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 categories in the subject of your emails.

Leave this option disabled if you don’t want to-do categories to display the subject of your emails.

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 site 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 emails to users. Type 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

Type into this field a subject field for the email that will be sent automatically to users whenever new items have been assigned in your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

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 you can perform database maintenance operations related to plugin data inside the plugin settings area itself …

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

You can perform the following tasks:

• Delete Tables – Remove any 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 perform database maintenance in this section, then we recommend backing up your WP database first.

If you don’t want to back up your site manually, then get professional WordPress assistance, or use WordPress backup plugins. Learn about a great WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your backup process here:

• Backup, Copy & Keep Your WordPress Web Site 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 are using the Individual List type, the only configurable option applicable in this section is the View To-Do List option …

If you are setting up user permissions and capabilities for Group and Master List types, select the highest level capabilities that you want 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.

Let’s now review the settings for the User Permissions section:

View To-Do List

This option allows 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

This option allows the chosen capability to mark items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

Here you can permit the chosen capability to edit existing items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

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

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

Here you can permit 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

This setting allows the chosen capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This option enables the chosen capability to purge all the completed to-do items.

Add Categories Capability

This option enables 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 decide to transfer data from one website to another, or export your data for backup or archiving purposes.

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

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

Exporting To-Do List Data

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

This will open up a window allowing you to view or download the data in plain text format to an internal or external drive …

As well as exporting list data from the ‘Import/Export’ section, you can also export data by going to your main menu and choosing Tools > Export …

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

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

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

The data from the existing to-do 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 Cleverness To-Do List

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 up the ‘To-Do List’ screen …

Add New To Do Items To Your List

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

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

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

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

Depending on how you have set up your plugin, some options may not display 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 items to users, select a user from the drop-down list and assign them the item …

You can also assign items to multiple users (click on ‘x’ to delete a user) …

After an item has been added, it will display as an entry in the ‘To-Do Items’ table …

Repeat the above process to continue adding items to your to-do 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 set up the plugin (see previous section), users assigned to tasks may also receive email notifications …

Once you have created your to-do list, users can view it inside their WP user dashboard …

When users responsible for completing an item click on the item check box …

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

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

Additional Plugin Information

The Cleverness plugin offers additional functions that let you display to-do lists on your site using widgets, and add lists to content inside a post or page using shortcodes.

Using The Plugin Widget

To add a to-do list 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 ’Save’ …

The list will display where the widget has been placed (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• Using WordPress Widget

Shortcodes

The plugin also lets you display lists and checklists to your site with short codes.

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

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

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

This documentation section explains various ways to configure and use short codes to display lists and checklists on your content.

Once you know what information you would like to add to your site, open up a new post or page and either type or paste the shortcode inside the content editor …

After publishing your page or post, you will see the list displayed in the location where you have inserted the short code …

Visit this site to learn more about this plugin:

• 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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