How To Create To Do Lists In WordPress

If you plan to run a fast-paced business, time is always in short supply.

There is just so much to do and remember. You have clients to meet, tasks to complete, priorities to attend to, fires to put out, appointments to make, schedules to keep and so on. The “doing” never stops.

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 regular content and everything can suddenly begin to feel unmanageable and out of control.

Whether you run a business, website, blog, or manage a project, it’s important to be able to organize and prioritize your daily tasks, keep track of your progress, and, if necessary, assign tasks to team members efficiently.

One proven method that can help you save time, create a sense of order and manageability, and allow you to gain some control is to use “to-do” lists.

To Do Lists – Benefits

A “to-do” list helps you track your progress when trying to achieve your objectives. Your to do list can be detailed or specific, or just serve as a concise reminder of what needs to be done over a given period of time.

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

Keep Things Organized

Having a to do list helps you create order, stay organized and reach goals faster.

Manage Your Time Better

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you save time and better manage your workload. You can develop a clearer perspective on what’s truly important vs what is not, and what steps should be done first.

Keep Documented Work Logs

To-do lists let you keep documented logs of what work has been done. You can use this as evidence of work to employers or clients, or just as a way of helping you monitor your own productivity and efficiency.

Accountability

Without accountability there is no commitment to getting things completed, and no motivation to take meaningful action. Lack of accountability can also allow excuses to creep in and impact your productivity.

Better Delegation

A to do list helps you better delegate work to other people. 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 systematically and productivity and efficiency in your business will surely increase.

What about using to do lists on your WordPress website or blog?

In this tutorial you are going to learn how to easily add to do lists to a WordPress website or blog to improve business efficiency and productivity using a great little WordPress plugin called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To-Do List

Plugin URL

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

Plugin Description

This WordPress plugin lets you easily add a to do list to WordPress.

Features

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

You can set up Cleverness To-Do List to have private to do lists for individual users, to have all users share your to-do list, or to have a master list with individual item completions.

The shared to do list includes different settings. You can delegate to do items to specific users (this includes a setting to email a new to-do item to the user) and optionally to have those items only seen by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users. There are also settings 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 the to-do list can also display on a dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is also available as short code 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 set up a multi-author blog you can use the plugin to create custom to-do lists for your post editors if you also download the Post Planner plugin for WordPress from the same developer.

How To Install The Plugin

From your WP admin area, select Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Activate the plugin after installing it …

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

After you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

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

This brings you to the ‘Settings’ page …

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

Setting Up The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

The Settings area is divided into 4 tabs:

• To-Do List Settings – This tab lets you specify the main plugin settings.
• Advanced Settings – The options in this tab let you customize your to-do lists, assign to-do items to other users and perform 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 – This section lets you import and export to-do plugin and list data settings.

Let’s 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 to 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.

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

List View

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

• Individual – Select this option if you want each user to be able to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Select this option if you want all users to share the same to-do list.
• Master – Use this option to have one master list for all users, where users have their own individual items to complete. If you choose the ‘Master’ list view, make sure that you set the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (this is covered further below).

Sort Order

‘Sort Order’ lets you specify how list items will be sorted.

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

Show Added By

Enabling this option lets you display which users have added an item to your to-do list.

Note: This setting only applies when ‘List View’ is set to ‘Group’.

Show Date Completed

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), completion dates will display for to-do tasks.

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 enabled (‘Yes’), the ‘To-Do List’ menu will display in your WordPress Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

If this option is enabled, you can 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 lists using paragraphs.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you plan to run 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 plugin developer that provides you with a complete WordPress editorial solution …

Go here to learn more this handy plugin: WordPress Post Planner – Editorial Solution Plugin For WordPress

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

Advanced Settings

After you have configured 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 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

In this area you can customize your To-Do List …

You can configure the following settings in this section:

Date Format

Here 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 how to format dates in WordPress, see the relevant section of the WordPress Codex below:

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

Here you can customize the labels for highest, normal and low priority items …

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

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) will display the items’ IDs on your list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

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

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

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

The following settings can be configured in this area:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enable this option to 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

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you can display to-do items only to users who have been assigned those items. Leave this option disabled (‘No’) to display to-do items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Checking the boxes in this section (Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, Subscriber) displays the type of users that can be assigned todo items. If you don’t want to assign to-do items to a particular role, then leave its checkbox unticked.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

When you enable this option, WordPress automatically sends an email to users 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, skip the remaining settings 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 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 display the subject of your emails, then leave this option disabled.

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 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 email notices. Enter 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 showing as the “sent from” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Type into this field a subject field for the email that will be automatically sent out 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 allows you to carry out database maintenance operations associated with plugin data inside your plugin settings area itself …

This function is useful if, for example, you see that old to-do items are still displaying on your site.

You can perform the following tasks:

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

Any database operations you perform from this screen cannot be undone. If you are comfortable to proceed with any of the database operations available in this section, then we recommend backing up your database first.

If you don’t want to do manual backups, then get help from a WordPress professional, or use a backup plugin. You can read about a WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to completely automate your site backups here:

• Backup, Duplicate & Protect Your WP Site 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 the Individual List type, the only configurable item that applies in this section is the View To-Do List permission …

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 perform for each option …

The default general capabilities of 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 non-administrator users should only be authorized to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list.

Let’s go through the settings in this tab:

View To-Do List

This setting enables 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

Here you can enable the chosen capability to mark to-do items as completed or uncompleted.

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

Here you can permit the selected capability to modify existing items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

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

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

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

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

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

Add Categories Capability

Here you can permit the selected 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 an existing to-do list to another website, or export your list data for backup or reporting purposes.

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

Use this section to easily export or import your to-do list 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 window allowing you to download and save your data in plain text format to an internal or external drive …

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

You can include to-do list data in a WordPress 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 download your file to an internal or external hard drive…

Importing To-Do List Data

To import a previously saved to-do list data file, click on the ‘Browse’ button next to the ‘Choose File to Import’ field …

Locate the file and click ‘Open’ …

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

Your file will be imported.

Once you have configured all of the plugin settings, you can begin creating and editing your to-do lists.

Plugin Usage

To create a new to do list, log into your WordPress admin, then go to 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 a number of ways to add new to-do items to your list.

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

You can also add new to-do items inside your 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 is only going to take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section further down the page) …

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

Depending on the way you have configured the plugin’s settings, some options may not display when when you add new to-do items.

Configure the options you have enabled for your to-do items, enter appropriate information into the relevant fields and click on the ‘Submit To-Do Item’ button to add the item to your list …

Note: If you have chosen 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 make multiple users responsible for the same item (click on ‘x’ to delete a user) …

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

Repeat this process to keep adding new items to your to-do list …

Editing And Deleting Items From Your List

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

Depending on your plugin configuration settings (see 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 it when logged into their own WordPress user dashboard …

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

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

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

Additional Information

The Cleverness To-Do List plugin provides added functionality that lets you display a to-do list on your WordPress website using widgets, and add a list to any 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 location in your sidebar (or footer) menu where you want the to-do list to display …

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

The list will appear wherever the widget was inserted (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use Widgets In WordPress

Short Codes

You can also add lists on your site by inserting short codes into your content.

To access the plugin’s shortcode documentation, click on 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’ menu entry to access the Shortcode Documentation …

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

Once you know what type of information you would like to display on your site, create a new page or post and either type or paste the short code into the content editor …

After publishing your page or post, you should see the list displayed in the location where you added the shortcode …

To learn more about this plugin, go here:

• 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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