Creating To-Do Lists In WordPress

There never seems to be enough time to get everything done, especially if you are a busy person trying to run a business or manage a team.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have clients to meet, tasks to complete, priorities to attend to, 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 ends.

Now … on top of all this, add the extra dimension of trying to promote and grow your business online and maintaining your website updated with new content and things can start to become unmanageable and chaotic.

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

One simple “tried and true” tool that can help you save time, alleviate stressful workloads, and allow you to take control is to use a “to-do” list.

To Do Lists – Benefits

A “to-do” list can help you monitor your progress as you work to get projects completed. Your to do list can be detailed or specific, or serve as a reminder of the things that need to be done today, tomorrow, next week, next month, etc.

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

Free Your Brain

Writing to-do lists means that you don’t have to try to memorize things or store a ton of information inside your head. Once tasks are recorded on a to-do list, your brain is free to process information and you can focus on other important things.

Strategize

By creating and organizing your to-do list, you can view the larger picture and formulate a strategic plan to get tasks done on time and on budget.

Document Your Work

To-do lists let you maintain documented logs of what you have done. You can use this as evidence of work to clients or employers, or simply as a means of helping you monitor your own productivity and efficiency.

Ensures Accountability

Without accountability there is no commitment to completion, and no motivation to act with a sense of purpose. Lack of accountability can also let excuses creep in and influence your productivity.

Feeling Of Accomplishment

Crossing items off to do lists not only helps you feel more positive, motivated and in-control, it also allows you to stress less, as you can objectively see (or show) that work is indeed being completed and that progress is being made.

As you can see, there are many benefits to using a to do list, both in business and in your personal life. Create a list, prioritize your list items and work systematically and your business efficiency and productivity is sure to increase.

What about using to-do lists on your website?

In this tutorial we are going to show you how to create to do lists 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/

Description

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

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Features

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

You can set up 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 item completions.

The shared to do list option includes different settings. 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 using capabilities. There are also settings available to show deadline and progress fields. Category support is included as well as front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the backend to manage your list and your to-do list is also listed 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 shortcodes for front-end list administration. Management of categories is restricted to the back-end.

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

How To Install The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

Log into your WP dashboard scroll down the main menu click on Plugins > Add New …

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

Locate the Cleverness To-Do List entry in the Search Results section and click Install Now …

Activate the plugin …

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

When the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

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

This brings you to the plugin ‘Settings’ area …

Let’s configure the plugin …

Configuring The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

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

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

Let’s now 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: If you enable this option, a ‘Categories’ item will be added to the To-Do List menu …

This lets you add categories that you can use to organize 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.

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

List View

List View allows you to choose how to-do lists are viewed. You can choose from three types of to do list views:

• Individual – Choosing this option lets users create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Select this option if you want all users to share one to-do list.
• Master – Select this option to create a master list for all users, where users have their own individual items to complete. If using 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 to sort list items.

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

Show Added By

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you display which members have added an item to the 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 to-do items.

Show Deadline

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you will be able to 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

Enabling this option lets you display the ‘To-Do List’ menu in your WP Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

This menu option lets you add and edit items on your to-do list using the WordPress WYSIWYG Editor …

Use Auto Paragraphs

Enable this option 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, developed by the same author to help make the task of managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

Visit this site to learn more this plugin: WordPress Post Planner – Multi-Author Publishing Plugin For WordPress

After you have configured your plugin options, click the ‘Save Changes’ button …

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 …

This area lets you customize your To Do lists, assign to-do tasks to users and perform 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

Here 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, visit the date section of the WordPress Codex below:

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

This section lets you customize your labels for prioritizing important, middle and lowest items …

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

Show To-Do Item ID

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), the items’ IDs will show on your list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) will show the date the To-Do Items table was added …

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 settings in this area and assign items to other users …

You can configure the following options 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

Enabling this option lets you display to-do items only to users who have been specifically assigned those items. Leave this option disabled to display to-do items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this area (Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, Subscriber) to display 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 don’t tick its checkbox.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

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

Leave this option disabled if you don’t want emails sent out to users.

Note: If you disable this option, you can skip other 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 in the subject of emails sent to users …

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

If you don’t want categories to display the email subject, then leave this option disabled.

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

If enabled (‘Yes’), you can display the user who assigned the to-do item in the email. This option is useful if, for example, you have various 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 notices. Enter your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

Type in the email address that you would like showing 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 when new items have been added 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

This area of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab allows you to perform database maintenance tasks associated with plugin data inside your plugin settings area itself …

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

You can perform the following tasks:

• Delete Tables – Delete custom database tables that you no longer use.
• 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 sure that you want to carry out database operations in this section, then we recommend backing up your database first.

If you don’t want to back up your data manually, then get support from a WordPress professional, or use WordPress backup plugins. You can learn more about a WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to completely automate your WordPress file and data backups here:

• Backup, Duplicate And Keep Your WordPress Site Protected With Backup Creator WP Plugin

User Permissions

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

If you have selected Individual List, the only permission applicable for 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 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-administrators should only be allowed to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list.

Let’s now review the settings in the User Permissions tab:

View To-Do List

This setting permits 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

Here you can allow the chosen capability to mark items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

This option permits the chosen capability to add new to-do items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

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

Assign To-Do Item Capability

Here you can allow the selected capability to assign 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 option permits the selected 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 enables the chosen capability to add new categories.

Import/Export

The ability to import and export to-do list data can be useful. For example, you may decide to copy over data from an existing list to another website, or store your data for backup or archiving purposes.

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

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

Exporting To-Do List Data

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

This opens up a new window allowing you to view or download the data as plain text to an internal or external hard drive …

In addition to 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 a WordPress export file (in XML format), either by checking ‘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 …

Locate the file in your hard drive or external drive and click ‘Open’ …

Once your data file has been uploaded in your settings area, click on ‘Import Settings’ …

The data from the existing to-do file will be imported.

Now that you have configured all of the plugin settings, you can start create and edit your to-do lists.

Plugin Usage

To create a new to-do list, log into your WordPress dashboard, then go to the menu and select To-Do List > To-Do List …

This brings you to 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 from your WP dashboard toolbar …

You can also add new items to your to-do list in 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, since the link will simply take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section down the screen) …

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

Depending on the way you have set up your plugin, some options may not display when adding new to-do items.

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 item to your list …

Note: If you have chosen a list type that allows you to assign tasks 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 a user) …

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

Repeat the above process to add new items to your to-do list …

Edit And Delete To Do Items

To edit or delete an item, click on the ‘Edit’ or ‘Delete’ buttons associated with items under the ‘Action’ column …

Depending on how you have configured the plugin (discussed earlier), users assigned to completing tasks may also receive email notifications …

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

When the user assigned with completing an item clicks on the item checkbox …

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

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

Additional Plugin Information

The Cleverness To-Do List plugin provides additional functions that let you display to-do lists on your WordPress site using widgets, and display a list on any page or post using short codes.

Using The Cleverness Plugin Widget

To add to-do lists to your site using widgets, go to the ‘Widgets’ section (Appearance > Widgets) and drag the ‘To-Do List’ widget to the menu location where you want your list to display …

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

The to-do list will appear where the widget has been inserted (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use WordPress Widget

Using Plugin Short Codes

The Cleverness plugin also lets you create lists to your site by inserting shortcodes into your content.

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

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

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

The documentation section explains various ways to configure and use short codes to display lists and checklists on your posts and pages.

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

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

For more details about this plugin, visit the plugin website:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you know how to add to-do lists in WordPress.

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