Creating A To-Do List In WordPress

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

There is just so much to do and remember. You have deadlines to meet, tasks to complete, meetings to attend, fires to put out, deliveries to make, commitments to keep and so on. The stress of trying to get things done on time never seems to end.

Now … add the extra dimension of trying to promote and grow your business online and maintaining your website or blog updated with fresh content and everything can quickly start becoming 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 daily tasks, track your progress, and, if necessary, delegate responsibilities to members of your team or staff effectively.

A proven method that can help you save time, reduce stressful workloads, and allow you to take control is to use a “to-do” list.

The Benefits Of Using To-Do Lists

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

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

To Do Lists Create Order

To-do lists help you create order, keep things organized and achieve goals faster.

Better Manage Your Time

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you save time and better manage your workload. You can develop a clearer perspective on what is more urgent vs what isn’t, and what tasks should be completed first.

Keep Documented Work Logs

To-do lists let you keep 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 measure your own productivity and efficiency.

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 allows excuses to creep in and take over your productivity.

Improved Collaboration

Using to-do lists and other project management tools is essential for collaborating with other people on some of your larger or more complex projects.

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 towards completing the tasks on your list and efficiency and productivity in your business will improve.

What about using a to do list on your WordPress website?

In this detailed tutorial we are going to show you how to create a to-do list in WordPress to improve business efficiency and productivity using a great little 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 plugin lets you easily add customizable to do lists to your WP website or blog.

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Features

Note: the features described below are 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 your to do list, or to have a master list with individual item completions.

The shared to do list has a variety of settings available. You can assign to-do items to specific users (this includes emailing new to do items to assigned users) and optionally to have assigned items only seen by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users. There are also settings available to display deadline and progress fields. Category support is included as well as front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the admin backend to manage your list and your 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 two short codes for front-end list administration. Management of categories is accessed through the back-end admin section.

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

Installing The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

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

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

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 from the Plugins screen …

When the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

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

This brings you to the ‘Settings’ screen …

Let’s go through the plugin setup process …

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Setup

The Settings screen is divided into 4 sections:

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

Let’s take you through each of these tabs.

To-Do List Settings

Categories

Choose ‘Enabled’ to organize your to-do 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 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.

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

List View

List View allows you to specify how your lists will be viewed. There are three list views you can select:

• 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 – This option allows you to have one master list for all users, where users have their own individual completion of items. If you choose the ‘Master’ list view, make sure that you 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 choose Alphabetical, ID or Category, ID, Category or Alphabetical options, items will be sorted first by priority.

Show Added By

If enabled (‘Yes’), you can display which of your users has added an item to your to-do list.

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

Show Date Completed

Enabling this option displays completion dates for your to-do tasks.

Show Deadline

Enabling this option lets you specify deadlines for to-do tasks …

Show Progress

If enabled, you will be able to 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 WP Dashboard 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 enabled (‘Yes’), automatic paragraphs are used to display content in your to-do lists.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you are running 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 that helps to make the process of managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

Visit this site to learn more this handy plugin: WordPress Post Planner

After configuring your plugin options, 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 continue …

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

This area lets you customize your To Do lists, assign to-do items to users and perform plugin 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’ tab 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 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 your labels for highest (important), middle and lowest priority items …

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

Show To-Do Item ID

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), the items’ IDs display on your to-do list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If enabled, the date the to-do list was added appears on the table of items …

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 options in this area and assign items to other users …

You can configure the following settings in this area:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you assign tasks 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

If this option is enabled, you can display to-do items only to users who have been specifically assigned those items. Leave this option disabled to display items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Checking the boxes in this section Contributor displays the type of users that can be assigned todo 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

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), WordPress automatically sends users an email with their assigned to-do items …

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

Note: If you disable this option, skip other items 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-do categories added to the subject of your emails.

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

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

Enable this option to display the user who assigned the to-do item in the email. This is a useful option if you have various 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

Type into this field the email address that you would like to display as the “sent from” email address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Enter a subject field for the email that will be distributed automatically to users whenever a new item has been assigned to your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

Type in 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 carry out database maintenance tasks related to plugin data inside your plugin settings area …

This is useful if, for example, you see that to-do items you have previously deleted are still showing on your site.

You can perform the tasks below:

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

Actions that you perform on your database from this screen cannot be reversed. If you are comfortable to perform database operations in this section, then we recommend backing up your database first.

If you don’t want to do manual backups, then use the services of a professional, or use a backup plugin. You can learn more about a great WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to automate file and data backups here:

• Backup, Clone And Keep Your WP Website Protected With Backup Creator WP Plugin

User Permissions

In this section you can configure user permissions and capabilities for Group and Master List types …

If you select the Individual List type, the only configurable option 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 …

By 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 authorize non-administrator users to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list itself.

Let’s go through the settings for this tab:

View To-Do List

Here you can allow 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 allow the selected capability to mark to-do items as completed or uncompleted.

Add To-Do Item Capability

This allows the chosen capability to add new to-do items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This setting allows the selected capability to edit existing items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This option enables the selected capability to assign to-do items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

Here you can enable 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

This setting enables the chosen capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This option enables the selected capability to purge all the completed items.

Add Categories Capability

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

Import/Export

Being able to import and export to-do list data can be very useful. For example, you may want to transfer data from one website to another, or export your data for backup or reporting 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 list and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

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

This opens up a new window allowing you to download and save the data as plain text to a storage device (e.g. your hard drive) …

In addition to exporting data from the ‘Import/Export’ tab, you can also export data by going to your WordPress admin 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 – pages, posts, 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 previously saved to-do 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’ …

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

Your file data will be imported.

After configuring all of the plugin settings, you are ready to start creating and editing your 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 click on To-Do List > To-Do List …

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

Add New To-Do Items To Your List

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

For example, you can add new to-do items from your dashboard 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 already contains many items, since the link will simply 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’ section.

Depending on the way you have configured the plugin settings, some options may not display when adding 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 item to your list …

Note: If you have chosen a list type that lets you 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) …

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

Repeat this process to add new items to your to-do list …

Edit And Delete Items From Your List

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 the plugin (see previous section), users assigned to tasks may also receive email notifications …

After creating your to do list, users can view it inside their own WordPress user dashboard …

When a user assigned with completing an item ticks the item checkbox …

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

And appears in the ‘Completed Items’ section located in the main screen of the ‘To-Do List’ plugin …

Additional Plugin Information

The Cleverness plugin provides added functionality that lets you display to-do lists on your WordPress website using widgets, and insert lists into content inside a post or page using shortcodes.

Using The Cleverness To-Do List 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 menu location where you want the list to appear …

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

The to-do list will appear where the ‘to-do-list’ widget was added (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use Widgets In WordPress

Short Codes

The plugin also lets you display 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 corner of your screen …

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

This section explains various ways to configure and use shortcodes to display lists on your content.

Once you know what type of information you want to add to your site, open up a new page or post and either type or paste the short code inside the content area …

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

For more details about this plugin, go here:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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