How To Create A To Do List In WordPress

If you plan to run a growing business, there never seems to be enough time to get things done.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have so many deadlines to meet, projects to complete, meetings to attend, fires to put out, calls and appointments to make, commitments to keep and so on. The “doing” never stops.

Now … add the extra workload of trying to promote and grow your business online and maintaining your website or blog updated with fresh content and things can start to feel unmanageable and out of control.

Whether you run a business, website, blog, or manage a team, you need to be able to organize and prioritize your activities, track your progress, and, if necessary, assign tasks to others efficiently.

One proven method 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 to keep you on track and measure your progress as you to get projects completed. Your to do list can be detailed or specific, or just serve as a concise reminder of the things that need doing today, tomorrow, next week, next month, etc.

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

Think Clearly

Writing to do lists means that you won’t have to try and remember things or store information inside your head. Once tasks are jotted down on a to-do list, your head is free to process information and you can focus on other things that may be more important.

Better Strategic Planning

After creating and organizing your to do list, you can break down larger projects into doable tasks and formulate a strategic plan to get tasks completed efficiently.

Keep Documented Work Logs

A to do list allows you to retain documented logs of the work you have done. This can be used to provide evidence of work to clients or employers, or just as a means of helping you measure your own productivity and efficiency.

Stress Less

Stress can come from feeling overwhelmed by so much to do and so very little time to do it in. Using to do lists allow you to work on urgent items that need to get done within a reasonable timeframe, and reschedule non-urgent tasks that can be worked on later. This can help reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed and take away some of the stress you may be feeling.

Collaborate Better With Others

Using to-do lists and other project management tools is essential for getting other people involved 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. Creating a to do list, prioritizing tasks and working in a focused way improves efficiency and productivity in your business.

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

In this tutorial you are going to learn how to add a to-do list to WordPress 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 Plugin

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

Plugin Description

This plugin provides users with a to do list feature.

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 completion of items.

The shared to do list offers a number of different settings. You can assign to do items to a specific user (this includes emailing new to-do items 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 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 your to do list can also appear on a dashboard widget.

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

If you plan to run a multi-author blog you can use the plugin to create custom to do lists for your post editors if you also own the Post Planner plugin for WordPress from the same developer.

Plugin Installation

In your site’s administration section, go to the menu and choose 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 Cleverness To-Do List 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 plugin’s ‘Settings’ screen can also be accessed by choosing To-Do List > Settings from the admin menu …

This brings you to the plugin ‘Settings’ area …

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

How To Configure The Plugin

The Settings screen is divided into 4 tabs:

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

Let’s now go 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 is added to the To-Do List menu …

This allows you to 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’ will not be visible when using sidebar widgets or shortcodes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

List View lets you choose how lists are viewed. You can choose from three kinds of to-do 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 – Choose this option to create a master list for all users, where users have their own individual completion of items. If you choose 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 choose ID, Alphabetical, or Category options, items will be sorted first by priority.

Show Added By

If enabled (‘Yes’), 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

If this option is enabled, completion dates will display for your to-do items.

Show Deadline

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

Show Progress

If this option is enabled, you will be able to specify task progress indicators for your to-do items …

Show Admin Bar Menu

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you display the ‘To-Do List’ menu 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

If enabled, automatic paragraphs are used to display content in to-do list items.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you are running a multi-author site or blog, you can integrate the Cleverness To Do List plugin with a plugin called WordPress Post Planner, from the same developer that provides you with a complete WordPress editorial solution …

To learn more this plugin, go here: WordPress Post Planner

When you have configured your plugin options, remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button to update your settings …

Advanced Settings

After configuring the settings in the To-Do List Settings tab, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab to proceed …

This brings you to the ‘Advanced Settings’ screen …

In this section you can customize your To Do lists, assign to-do items to other users and carry out 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 allows you to 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 in your todo lists (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

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

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

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

Items given the highest priority are shown in red and lowest priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option displays the items’ IDs on your to-do list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If enabled, the date your to-do list was added will display on your 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 options 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

If this option is enabled, you can assign tasks 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 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

Check the boxes in this section Editor to display the type of users that can be assigned to-do 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 you enable this option, WordPress will automatically send 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 the remaining 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 categories displayed in the subject of your emails.

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

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you display the user who assigned the to-do item in the email. This option is useful if, for example, your site has multiple 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

Add into this field the email address that you want showing as the “sent from” email address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

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

Text in Emails Sent to User

In this field, 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 area you can carry out database maintenance tasks related to plugin data inside the plugin settings area itself …

This function is useful if, for example, you notice that items you have already deleted are still displaying on your site.

You can perform the tasks below:

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

Any 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 remember to backup your database first.

If you don’t want to do site backups, then consider using professional support services, or use a WordPress backup plugin. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to perform automated WordPress backups here:

• Backup, Copy And Protect Your WP Web Site With Backup Creator Plugin For WordPress

User Permissions

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

If you are using the Individual List type, the only permission applicable in 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 want users to have access to for each option …

By default, general capabilities for each user role are set up as follows:

• Subscribers: Read
• Contributors: Edit Posts
• Authors: Publish Posts
• Editors: Edit Others Posts
• Administrators: Manage Options

Note: When working with the Master list type make sure that you only authorize non-admin users to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list itself.

Let’s go through the settings in this tab:

View To-Do List

This option permits 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 setting enables the chosen capability to mark to-do items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

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

Assign To-Do Item Capability

Here you can permit the selected capability to assign to-do items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

Here you can enable 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 enable the chosen capability to delete individual to-do items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

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

Add Categories Capability

This setting allows the chosen capability to add new categories.

Import/Export

Being able to import and export to-do list data can be useful. For example, you may decide to copy over data from one site to another, or store 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 import or export your list data and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

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

This will open up a window allowing you to view or download your data as plain text to a storage medium …

In addition to exporting to-do 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 an export file (in XML format), either by checking ‘All content’ (includes everything – posts, pages, etc…), or selecting ‘To-Do’ from the ‘Choose what to export’ section and clicking the ‘Download Export File’ button to save 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 previously saved to-do list data file and click ‘Open’ …

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

Your file will be imported.

After configuring all plugin settings, you can begin create and edit to do lists.

How To Use The Plugin

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

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

How To Add New To-Do Items

There are a number of 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 dashboard toolbar …

You can also add new to-do items inside 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 already contains many items, as the link will simply take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section down the page) …

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

Depending on how you have configured the plugin’s 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, enter appropriate values and 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 chosen a list type that allows you to assign items to users, select a user from the drop-down list and assign them the item …

You can also assign multiple users to the same item (click on ‘x’ to delete users) …

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

Repeat this process to continue adding items to your list …

Edit And Delete To-Do Items

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

Depending on how you have configured your plugin settings (discussed in the previous section), users assigned to completing tasks may also receive an email notification in their inboxes …

After creating your to-do list, users can view the list from their dashboard …

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

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

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

Additional Information

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

Plugin Widget

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 want your to-do list to appear …

Configure the settings in the widget and click the ‘Save’ button …

Your to-do list will now display wherever you have placed the widget (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• Using s

Plugin Short Codes

You can also create lists on your site with short codes.

To access the plugin’s short code documentation, click on To-Do List > To-Do List from your admin menu …

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

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

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

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

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

Visit the plugin website here to download this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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