Creating To Do Lists In WordPress

If you run a fast-paced business or manage a team, there are never enough hours in the day to get things done.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have deadlines to meet, tasks to complete, meetings to attend, fires to put out, calls and appointments to make, schedules to keep and so on. The amount of things that need to get done never ends.

Now … add the extra dimension of promoting and growing your business online and keeping your website updated with fresh content and everything can quickly start to become unmanageable and out of control.

Whether you run a business, website, blog, or manage a team, you need to be able to organize and manage your daily activities.

A ”tried and true” method that can help you save time, alleviate stressful workloads, and allow you to regain control is to use “to do” lists.

Benefits Of Using A To Do List

A “to do” list helps you keep track of your progress when trying to get tasks completed. Your to do list can be very detailed and very specific, or serve as a concise reminder of the things that need to be done today, tomorrow, next week, next month, etc.

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

Think Clearly

Writing to do lists means you don’t have to try to memorize things or clutter your head with details. Once things are written down on a to do list, your head is free to process other information and you can focus on other important things.

Be More Strategic

After creating and organizing your to-do list, you can break larger projects into doable tasks and formulate a strategy to get things completed effectively.

Keep Work Logs

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

Reduce Stress

Stress can come from feeling overwhelmed by the fact that there are so many things that needs doing and so very little time to do it in. Using to do lists allow you to prioritize urgent tasks that have to be completed within the time you have available, and reschedule non-urgent items that can be worked on at a later time. This can reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed and help to relieve some of the stress you (and your team) may be feeling.

Collaborating With Others

Creating 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 a to do list, both in business and in your personal life. Creating a to-do list, then prioritizing tasks and working in a systematic way improves your business productivity and efficiency.

What about adding a to do list to your website or blog?

In this tutorial we are going to show you how to easily create to-do lists in WordPress to improve business efficiency and productivity using a customizable, multi-featured to-do list plugin 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 plugin lets you easily add a to-do list to WordPress.

Plugin Features

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

You can set up the plugin to assign private to do lists for each user, to have all users share your to do list, or to have a master list with individual item completions.

The shared to do list has a variety of settings available. You can assign to-do items to a specific user (this includes a setting to email new to-do items to users) and optionally to have assigned items only viewable by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users based on user roles. There are also settings to display deadline and progress fields. Category support is included as well in the front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the admin backend to help you manage your lists and the to-do lists can also appear on the dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is also available as shortcode to display the to-do list items on your site. There are 2 short codes for front-end list administration. Management of categories is accessed through the back-end.

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

Installing The Plugin

In your WP administration area, scroll down the main menu and select Plugins > Add New …

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

Locate the entry in the Search Results section and click Install Now …

Activate the plugin …

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

When the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

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

This takes you to the ‘Settings’ area …

Let’s go through the plugin configuration process …

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Configuration

The Settings area is divided into four sections:

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

Let’s configure each of these sections.

To-Do List Settings

Categories

Choose ‘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 plugin menu …

This allows you to add categories that you can then 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 lists.

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

List View

List View allows you to choose how your lists will be viewed. There are three list views available:

• Individual – Use this option if you want each user to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Choosing this option allows users to share one to-do list.
• Master – This option allows you to create a master list for all users, where users have their own individual items to complete. If you select the ‘Master’ list view, make sure that you adjust 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 ID, Alphabetical, or Category options, items will be sorted first by priority.

Show Added By

If this option is enabled, you can 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

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) displays completion dates for to-do tasks.

Show Deadline

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you specify deadlines for your to-do tasks …

Show Progress

If enabled (‘Yes’), you will be able to specify task progress indicators for your to-do items …

Show Admin Bar Menu

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) displays the ‘To-Do List’ menu 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

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 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 …

To learn more about using this WordPress plugin, visit this site: WordPress Post Planner

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

Advanced Settings

After you have configured the general settings, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab …

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 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

This section of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab allows you to customize your To Do List …

The following options can be configured 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, refer to the date section of the WordPress Codex below:

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

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

Items given the highest priority display in red in your lists and low priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option will display item IDs on your to-do list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If enabled, the date the to-do list was added displays on the items table …

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 section and assign items to other users …

The following options can be configured in this section:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you can 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

Enable this option to display items only to users who have been specifically assigned those items. Leaving this option disabled (‘No’) displays items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Checking the boxes in this section Contributor displays the type of users that can be assigned todo 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 this option is enabled (‘Yes’), WordPress automatically sends an email to users with their assigned to-do items …

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

Note: If this option is disabled, 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 on the subject of your emails …

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

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

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

If this option is enabled, you can display the user who assigned the to-do item in the email. This option is useful if, for example, your website has various project managers assigning to-do items to users …

From Field for Emails Sent to User

This field allows you to customize the “From” field when sending out email notices. You can enter your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like in this field …

From Email

Type into this field the email address that you want to display as the “sent from” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

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

Text in Emails Sent to User

In this field, enter 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 you can carry out database maintenance tasks related to plugin data directly from the plugin settings area without the need to access your server …

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

You can perform the following tasks:

• Delete Tables – Delete custom database tables that are no longer being used.
• Delete All To-Do Items – Delete all of your to-do items.

Any database operations carried out from this screen cannot be reversed. If you are sure that you want to carry out database operations in this section, then remember to backup your database first.

If you don’t want to perform your own backups, then consider getting professional WordPress support, or use WordPress backup plugins. You can learn more about a WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to perform complete WordPress backups here:

• Backup, Clone & Protect Your WP Sites With Backup Creator WP Plugin

User Permissions

Here you can configure user permissions and capabilities for Group or Master List types …

If you select Individual List, the only permission that applies in this section is the View To-Do List permission …

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 …

The 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 using the Master list type make sure that you only allow 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 in the User Permissions section:

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 selected capability to mark items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

This enables the selected capability to add new items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

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

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This option permits the selected capability to delegate to-do items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This setting enables 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 permit the selected capability to delete individual to-do items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This permits the selected capability to purge all the completed items.

Add Categories Capability

This option allows 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 transfer 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 section …

Use this section to import or export your 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 opens up a new window allowing you to view or download the data as plain text to a storage device (e.g. your hard drive) …

In addition to exporting list 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 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 save your file to your 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 …

Select 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’ …

Your file data will be imported.

Now that you have configured all plugin settings, you are ready to begin creating and editing your lists.

Plugin Usage

To create a new to-do list, go to your WordPress dashboard menu and click on To-Do List > To-Do List …

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

How To Add New To Do Items

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

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

You can also add new to-do items to your list in 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 contains many items, since the link is only going to send you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section at the bottom of the page) …

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

Depending on how you have set up your plugin, some options may not display when adding 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 new to-do item …

Note: If you are using a list type that lets you 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 users) …

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

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

Edit And Delete To Do 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 your configuration plugin settings (see previous section), users assigned to completing tasks may also receive an email notification in their inboxes …

Once you have created your to-do list, users can view it from their own WP dashboard …

When users responsible for completing an item click on the item checkbox …

… the item is deleted from the “To-Do” list …

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

Additional 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 lists on content inside a page or post 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 menu location where you would like your to-do list to appear …

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

Your to-do list will now display where you have inserted the ‘to-do-list’ widget (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

To learn more about using WordPress widgets, see the tutorial below:

• Using Widgets In WordPress

Using The Cleverness Plugin Shortcodes

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

To access the plugin’s shortcode documentation, click on To-Do List > To-Do List from your dashboard 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 type of information you would like to add to your site, create or edit a new or existing post or page and either type or paste the short code into the content section …

Publish your post or page and you should see the list showing in the location where you added the shortcode …

Go here to download this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you know how to create and add to-do lists to your WordPress site or blog.

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