How To Create To Do Lists In WordPress

Time always seems to be in short supply, especially if you are running a fast-paced business.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have so many deadlines to meet, projects to complete, priorities to attend to, fires to extinguish, appointments to make, schedules to keep and so on. The amount of things that need to get done never ends.

Now … on top of all this, add the extra workload of trying to promote and grow your business online and keeping your website or blog updated with fresh content and things can quickly start to become unmanageable and chaotic.

Whether you run a business, website, blog, or manage a project, it’s important to be able to organize and manage your day.

One simple proven tool that can help you save time, alleviate stress, and allow you to gain some control is to use “to-do” lists.

To Do Lists – Benefits

A “to do” list helps you monitor your progress as you complete projects. Your to do list can be minutely detailed or specific, or act as a reminder of what needs to be done today, tomorrow, this week, this month, etc.

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

Stay Organized

To-do lists help you create order, keep things organized and reach your goals sooner.

Save Time

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

Keep Work Logs

To-do lists let you maintain documented logs of what work has been done. This can be used to provide evidence of work done to clients or employers, or simply as a way of helping you measure your own productivity and efficiency.

Ensures Accountability

Without accountability there’s no commitment to getting things completed, and no motivation to take meaningful action. Lack of accountability can also let excuses 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 a to do list, both in business and in your personal life. Creating to do lists, then prioritizing tasks and working in a systematic way increases efficiency and productivity in your business.

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

In this tutorial we are going to show you how to create a to do list in WordPress to help get things done online  faster and more efficiently using a great little plugin called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To-Do List

Download The Plugin

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

Description

This plugin lets you easily add to do lists to WordPress.

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Features

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

You can configure Cleverness To Do List to assign private to-do lists for individual users, to have all users share a 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 new to-do items to the user) and optionally to have those items be viewable by that user. You can also assign different permission levels using capabilities. 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 backend to help you manage your lists and your to-do list can also be displayed on the dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is also available as short code to display the to-do list items on your blog. There are two short codes for front-end list administration. Management of categories is restricted to the back-end.

If you plan to run a multi-author site you can use the plugin to create custom to-do lists for your post planners if you also use a copy of the Post Planner plugin for WordPress.

How To Install The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

Inside your WordPress administration area, choose Plugins > Add New …

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

Locate the Cleverness To-Do List plugin in the Search Results tab and click Install Now …

Click Activate Plugin …

Note: You can also activate this plugin from the Plugins screen …

Once you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

Note: The ‘Settings’ area can also be accessed by choosing To-Do List > Settings from your dashboard menu …

This brings you to the ‘Settings’ page …

Let’s go through the plugin setup process …

Plugin Setup

The “To-Do List” plugin ‘Settings’ screen is divided into four sections:

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

Let’s take you through each of these tabs.

To-Do List Settings

Categories

Select ‘Enabled’ to organize your lists into categories, otherwise leave this option set to ‘Disabled’.

Note: If you enable this option, a ‘Categories’ item gets added to the To-Do List plugin menu …

This allows you to 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 lists.

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

List View

List View allows you to specify how lists are viewed. You can choose from 3 kinds of to-do list views:

• Individual – Selecting this option allows users to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Select this option if you want all users to be able to share the same to-do list.
• Master – This option allows you to have 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 (see further below).

Sort Order

‘Sort Order’ lets you specify how your to-do list items will be sorted.

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

Show Added By

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you display which of your members has added an item to your to-do list.

Note: This setting only works when ‘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

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you can specify deadlines for your to-do items …

Show Progress

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you specify task progress indicators for your to-do items …

Show Admin Bar Menu

If enabled, the ‘To-Do List’ menu displays in your WordPress Dashboard Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

Enabling 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 plan to run a collaborative site or blog, you can integrate the Cleverness To-Do List plugin with a plugin called WordPress Post Planner, developed by the same plugin author that helps to make the process of managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

Visit this site to learn more about using this plugin: WordPress Post Planner

When you have finished configuring your plugin options in this section, remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button …

Advanced Settings

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

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

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

Note: To learn more about how to format dates in WordPress, refer to the relevant section of the WordPress Codex below:

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

In this area you can customize your labels for prioritizing highest, middle (normal) and lowest (low) items …

Items prioritized as “important” display in red in the lists and lowest priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

If enabled, item IDs display on your to-do list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option will display the date your items table was added …

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 area and assign items to other users …

You can configure the following options in this section:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enable this option to 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 enabled, you can display tasks only to users who have been specifically assigned those items. Leave this option disabled (‘No’) to display items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Checking the boxes in this section Author displays the type of users that can be assigned to-do 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

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

If you don’t want emails sent out to users, then leave this option disabled (‘No’).

Note: If this option is disabled, 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 in the subject of emails sent to users …

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

If you don’t want to show categories in the subject of your emails, then leave this option disabled.

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 is a useful option if your website has a number of 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. Type the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like in this field …

From Email

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

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

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

Text in Emails Sent to User

Add into this field 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 itself …

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

The following tasks can be performed in this section:

• Delete Tables – Delete custom database tables that you are no longer using.
• Delete All To-Do Items – Remove all of your 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 WP database first.

If you don’t want to back up your site yourself, then consider getting help from a WordPress professional, or use backup plugins. You can learn more about a WordPress backup plugin that can automate your backup process here:

• Back Up, Clone And Protect Your WP Websites With Backup Creator WP Plugin

User Permissions

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

If you have chosen Individual List, the only configurable item applicable for this section is the View To-Do List permission …

If you are configuring user permissions and capabilities for Group or Master List types, select the highest level capabilities that you want 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 non-administrator users should only be allowed to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list.

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

View To-Do List

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

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This setting enables the selected capability to modify existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This setting enables the chosen capability to delegate to-do 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 setting permits the selected capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This permits the chosen capability to purge all the completed to-do items.

Add Categories Capability

Here you can enable 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 need 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 …

Now you can export and import your list 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 new window allowing you to download and save the data in a plain text file (e.g. Notepad) to a storage device …

In addition to exporting list data from the ‘Import/Export’ tab, you can also export data by going to your WordPress admin menu and choosing 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 selecting ‘To-Do’ from the ‘Choose what to export’ section and clicking the ‘Download Export File’ button to download your file to your storage medium…

Importing To-Do List Data

To import a list data file, 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’ …

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

Your file data will be imported.

Now that you have configured all plugin settings, you are ready to begin create and edit your to-do lists.

Plugin Usage

To create a new to do list, log into your WordPress admin, then scroll down the menu and click on 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 a new item to your to-do list from your dashboard toolbar …

You can also add new to-do items to your list from the ‘To-Do List’ dashboard section 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 already contains many items, since 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 the way you have configured your plugin settings, some options may not display when when you add new to-do items.

Set up 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 item to your list …

Note: If you are using a list type that lets you assign responsibilities over items to specific 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 item has been added, the item will be listed as an entry in the ‘To-Do Items’ table …

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

Edit And Remove Items From Your List

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

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

Once you have created your to do list, users can view it when logged into their own dashboard …

When users responsible for the item complete the task and click on the item check box …

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

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

Additional Information

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

Widgets

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 menu location where you want the list to display …

Configure the widget settings and click ’Save’ …

The to-do list will display where you have placed the ‘to-do-list’ widget (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use WordPress Widget

Plugin Shortcodes

You can also create to-do lists on your site by inserting short codes into your content.

To access the documentation on using short codes, click on To-Do List > To-Do List from your WP 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 …

The documentation section explains different ways to configure and use shortcodes to display lists and checklists on your content.

Once you know what type of information you would like to add to your site, open up a new page or post and either type or paste the short code into the content section …

After publishing your post or page, you will see the list displayed in the location where you added the short code …

Visit the plugin website for more details about this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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