Creating To-Do Lists In WordPress

If you are a business owner or busy project manager, there never seems to be enough hours in the day to get everything done.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have so many deadlines to meet, urgent tasks to complete, meetings to attend, fires to extinguish, appointments to make, commitments to keep and so on. The amount of things that need ”doing” 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 regular content and things can start becoming unmanageable and overwhelming.

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

A proven tool that can help you save time, reduce stress, and allow you to gain some control is to use a “to-do” list.

To-Do Lists – Benefits

A “to-do” list can help you measure your progress as you work to achieve certain objectives. Your to do list can be quite detailed or specific, or just serve as a concise reminder of what needs to be done over a given period of time.

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

To-Do Lists Create Order

A to-do list helps you create order, keep things organized and reach your goals sooner.

Manage Your Time Better

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

Log Your Work

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

Accountability

With no accountability there is no commitment to completion, and no motivation to take meaningful action. Lack of accountability lets excuses creep in and impact your productivity.

Better Delegation

A to do list helps you delegate work to others better. This is also important if you plan to collaborate with others (see further below).

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 towards completing the tasks you have listed and efficiency and productivity in your business is sure to improve.

What about using a to-do list on your WordPress website or blog?

In this detailed tutorial you are going to learn how to create to do lists in WordPress to help your business grow  faster and more efficiently using a great little 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/

Plugin 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 assign private to-do lists for each user, 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 has a variety of settings available. You can assign to do items to specific users (this includes emailing new to do items to users) and optionally to have assigned items be seen by that user. You can also assign different permission levels using capabilities. There are also settings available to enable the display of 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 be displayed on the dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is available as well as shortcode to display the to do list items on your site. There are 2 short codes for front-end list administration. Category management is accessed via the back-end admin section.

If you plan to set up 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.

Installing The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

From your WordPress admin, go to the main menu and choose Plugins > Add New …

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

Locate the item 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: You can also get to the plugin’s settings section by selecting To-Do List > Settings from your admin menu …

This brings you to the ‘Settings’ area …

Let’s set up the plugin …

How To Set Up The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

The Settings area is divided into four sections:

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

Let’s configure each of these tabs.

To-Do List Settings

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 can help organize your lists (see ‘Plugin Usage’ section further below for more details) …

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

Categories marked ‘private’ are not visible using sidebar widgets or shortcodes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

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

• Individual – Choosing this option allows users to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Selecting this option allows users to share one to-do list.
• Master – Use this option to create a master list for all users, where users have their own individual completion of items. If you select the ‘Master’ list view, make sure that you adjust 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

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you can display which of your users 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 displays completion dates for your to-do items.

Show Deadline

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

Show Progress

If enabled, you will be able to specify task progress indicators for your to-do items …

Show Admin Bar Menu

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

Use WYSIWYG Editor

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) 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 your 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, developed by the same author that provides you with a complete WordPress editorial solution …

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

Once you have configured 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 to continue …

This brings up the ‘Advanced Settings’ area …

This tab lets you customize your To-Do lists, assign to-do items to other users and carry out plugin 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

This section of the ‘Advanced Settings’ screen allows you to 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 lists (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

Note: To learn more about formatting dates in WordPress, visit the relevant section of the WordPress Codex below:

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

This section lets you customize your labels for prioritizing highest, middle and lowest (low) items …

Items prioritized as “important” are colour-coded in red in the lists and low priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) will display item IDs on the to-do list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

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

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 options in this section and assign to-do items to other users …

The following settings can be configured in this section:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

If enabled, 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 (‘Yes’) to display to-do items only to users who have been assigned those items. Leave this option disabled to display items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this area Subscriber) to display the type of users that can be assigned items. If you don’t want to assign to-do items to a role, then don’t tick its checkbox.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), 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 (‘No’).

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

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

If you don’t want to display categories in the subject of your emails, then leave this option disabled (‘No’).

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

If enabled, you can display the user who assigned the to-do item in the email. This is a useful option if you have several 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 emails. You can enter your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like in this field …

From Email

In this field, add the email address that you would like displayed as the “sent from” email address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

In this field, type a subject field for the email that will be sent out automatically to users whenever new items have been added in 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

This area allows you to perform database maintenance tasks related to plugin data inside your plugin settings area …

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

The following tasks can be performed:

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

Actions that you perform on your database from this screen cannot be undone. If you are comfortable to perform database maintenance in this section, then make sure to backup your WordPress database first.

If you don’t want to perform your own backups, then consider using a professional service, or use WordPress backup plugins. You can read about a great WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to perform automated WordPress site backups here:

• Backup, Copy & Keep Your WordPress Web Sites Protected With Backup Creator WordPress Plugin

User Permissions

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

If you are using Individual List, the only item 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 perform for each option …

By default, general capabilities for 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 using the Master list type non-administrator users should only be allowed to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list itself.

Let’s review the settings for this tab:

View To-Do List

Here you can permit 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

This setting permits the chosen capability to mark items as completed or uncompleted.

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This setting allows the selected capability to edit existing items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

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

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This option 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 allow the selected capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

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

Add Categories Capability

Here you can allow 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 transfer data from one site to another, or store your data for backup or archiving purposes.

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

Use this section to easily import and export your list data and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

You can export and download your list data settings by clicking on the ‘Download Export File’ …

This will open up a window allowing you to download and save the data in plain text format to a storage medium …

In addition to exporting list data from the ‘Import/Export’ section, 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 selecting ‘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 download your file to a storage medium…

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 …

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

After uploading the data file, click on ‘Import Settings’ …

Your file will be imported.

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

Plugin Usage

To create a new to-do list, go to your WordPress admin menu and select To-Do List > To-Do List …

This brings up the ‘To-Do List’ screen …

Add New 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 WP dashboard bar …

You can also add new to-do items in the 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, since the link is only going to take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section down the page) …

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

Depending on how you have configured the plugin settings, you may or may not see certain options displayed 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 allows you to assign 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 delete a user) …

After After adding a new item, the item will display as an entry in the ‘To-Do List’ table …

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

Editing And Deleting Items

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 your settings (discussed in the 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 the list inside their own user dashboard …

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

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

And displays in the ‘Completed Items’ table located in the ’To-Do List’ plugin area …

Additional Information

The Cleverness plugin offers added functionality that lets you display to-do lists on your WordPress site using widgets, and add a list to content inside a page or post using short codes.

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 list to show …

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

The list will display on your site where the widget has been placed (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• Using WordPress Widget

Using Plugin Short Codes

Cleverness To-Do List also lets you display to-do lists to your site by inserting shortcodes into your content.

To access the plugin’s short code documentation, select To-Do List > To-Do List from your WordPress admin 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 screen …

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

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

After publishing your page or post, you will see the list displayed where you have inserted the shortcode …

Go here to download this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you know how to create and add a to-do list to your WordPress site.

***

***