Creating To Do Lists In WordPress

There are never enough hours in the day to get everything done, especially when you run a fast-paced business or manage any kind of project that requires people to collaborate.

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, schedules 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 promoting and growing your business online and maintaining your website updated with fresh content and things can start becoming unmanageable and overwhelming.

Whether you run a business, website, blog, or manage a team, it’s important to be able to organize and prioritize your activities, track your progress and daily accomplishments, and, if necessary, delegate tasks to other people efficiently.

One ”tried and true” 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 track your progress when trying to achieve a certain objective. Your to do list can be quite detailed or specific, or just serve as a reminder of tasks that need doing today, tomorrow, next week, next month, etc.

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

Think Clearly

Creating a to-do list means that you don’t have to try to memorize stuff or store additional information inside your brain. Once tasks are jotted down on a to do list, your brain is free to process other information and you can focus on things that are more important to you.

Better Strategic Planning

Creating and organizing to do lists helps you break your workload into doable tasks and create a strategic plan to get things done efficiently.

Log Your Work

To-do lists allow you to retain documented logs of the work you have done. This can be used as evidence of work to clients or employers, or simply as a method of helping you monitor your own productivity and efficiency.

Relieve Stress

Stress can result from feeling overwhelmed by the thought that there are so many things to do and so very little time to do it all in. Using to do lists let you work on urgent items that need to be completed within a reasonable timeframe, and reschedule non-urgent items that can be addressed later. This can help reduce stress.

Better Delegation

To-do lists help you better assign work to other people. This is also important when collaborating on a team-based project (see further below).

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, then prioritizing tasks and working to complete the items on your list improves productivity and efficiency in your business.

What about adding a to-do list to your website?

In this step-by-step tutorial we are going to show you 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 Plugin

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

Description

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

Features

Note: the features described below will be discussed in more detail in the tutorial section.

You can configure Cleverness To Do List 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 completion of items.

The shared to-do list option provides different settings. You can delegate to-do items to specific users (this includes emailing a new to-do item to assigned users) and optionally to have those items be viewable by that user. You can also assign different permission levels using capabilities. There are also settings to display 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 the to-do list can also appear on the 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 shortcodes for front-end administration of your list. Management of categories is accessible through the back-end admin section.

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

Installing The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

In your WordPress admin area, choose 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 tab and click Install Now …

Activate the plugin after installing it …

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

When you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

Note: You can also get to the settings area by choosing To-Do List > Settings from your admin menu …

This takes you to the ‘Settings’ page …

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

Plugin Setup

The plugin’s ‘Settings’ area is divided into 4 sections:

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

Let’s take you through each of these sections.

To-Do List Settings

To-Do List Categories

Choose ‘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 that can help organize your to-do lists (see ‘Plugin Usage’ section further below for more details) …

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

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

List View

List View lets you specify how to-do lists will be viewed. There are 3 list views available:

• Individual – Use this option if you want each user to be able to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Choosing this option allows all users 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 completion of items. If you choose the ‘Master’ list view, make sure to configure 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 Category, Alphabetical or ID, Category, ID or Alphabetical options, items will be first sorted by priority.

Show Added By

If this option is enabled, you can display which of your users 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 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 (‘Yes’), you can 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

This option 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 to-do list items using paragraphs.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you are running 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 to help make the task of managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

Visit this site to learn more about using this plugin: WordPress Post Planner – Editorial Solution Plugin For WordPress

When you are done configuring your plugin options, click the ‘Save Changes’ button to update your settings …

Advanced Settings

Once you have configured the settings in the To-Do List Settings tab, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab to proceed …

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

In this area you can customize your To Do lists, assign to-do tasks to other users and carry out 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

Here you can customize your To Do List …

You can configure the following options in this section:

Date Format

Here you can specify how to display dates in your todo list (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

Note: To learn more about formatting dates in WordPress, visit the date 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 (low) priority items …

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

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) shows item IDs on the list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

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

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 section and assign to-do items to other users …

The following settings can be configured in this area:

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 lets you display 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

Checking the boxes in this area (Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, Subscriber) displays the type of users that can be assigned to-do items. Leave the checkbox unticked for any roles that you don’t want to assign to-do items.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

When you enable this option, WordPress will automatically send users an email with their assigned to-do items …

If you don’t want emails sent out to users, then leave this option disabled.

Note: If this option is disabled, you can skip other 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 to-do categories in the subject of your emails.

Leave this option disabled if you don’t want to display to-do categories in the email subject.

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, your site has multiple 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 notifications. Add the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

Enter the email address that you would like showing as the “sent from” email address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Add a subject field for the email that will be automatically sent to users when a new item has been added in 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

This area of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab lets you carry out database maintenance operations associated with plugin data inside the plugin settings area itself without the need to log into your web server …

This function is useful if, for example, you notice that items you have deleted are still showing up 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 – Delete all to-do items.

Any database operations carried out from this screen cannot be undone. If you are comfortable to perform database operations in this section, then make sure to backup your WP database first.

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

• Backup, Clone And Protect Your WordPress Websites And Blogs With Backup Creator Plugin For WordPress

User Permissions

This section lets you configure user permissions and capabilities for Group or Master List types …

If you have chosen Individual List, the only item that applies in this section is the View To-Do List option …

If you are configuring user permissions and capabilities for Group and 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 configured 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-administrators to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list itself.

Let’s now review the settings for this tab:

View To-Do List

This enables the chosen 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 permits the selected capability to mark items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

Here you can permit the selected capability to edit existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

Here you can allow the chosen capability to assign 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 allow the chosen capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This option permits the chosen capability to purge all the completed items.

Add Categories Capability

Here you can permit 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 decide to copy over data from an existing list to another website, or store the list 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 data and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

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

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

As well as exporting list 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 checking ‘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 download your file to a storage medium…

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 and click ‘Open’ …

After 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 start create and edit to-do lists.

How To Use The 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 up the ‘To-Do List’ page …

How To Add New To-Do Items To Your List

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

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

You can also add a new item to your to-do list in your 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 is only going to send you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section down the screen) …

All the methods shown above will bring 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 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 are using a list type that allows you to assign responsibilities over items to specific 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) …

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

Repeat this process to add new items to your list …

Edit And Remove 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 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 own WordPress dashboard …

When the user assigned with the item completes the task and ticks the item checkbox …

… the item no longer appears in the “To-Do” list …

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

Additional Information

The Cleverness plugin offers additional functions that let you display a to-do list on your WordPress website using widgets, and insert lists into any post or page using short codes.

Widgets

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 to-do list to display …

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

Your to-do list will display where the ‘to-do-list’ widget was added (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 Plugin Shortcodes

The Cleverness To-Do List plugin also lets you display lists on your site using shortcodes.

To access the plugin’s shortcode documentation, select 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’ tab to access the Shortcode Documentation section …

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

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

Publish your post or page and you will see the list displayed in the location where you have added the shortcode …

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

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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