Creating A To-Do List In WordPress

Time always seems to be in short supply, especially if you run a growing business or manage other people.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have so many deadlines to meet, projects 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 seems to end.

Now … on top of all this, add the extra workload of promoting and growing your business online and keeping your website updated with new content and everything can quickly start to become unmanageable and out of control.

Whether you are running a business, website, blog, or managing a project, it’s important to be able to organize and prioritize your daily tasks, monitor your progress and daily accomplishments, and, if necessary, delegate responsibilities to team members efficiently.

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

The Benefits Of Using To-Do Lists

A “to do” list helps you measure your progress as you work towards completing tasks. Your to do list can be very detailed or specific, or just serve as a reminder of what needs to be done today, tomorrow, this week, this month, etc.

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

Clear Thinking

Writing a to do list means you won’t have to keep remembering stuff or store a ton of information inside your brain. Once things are written down on a to-do list, your head is free to process information and you can focus on things that are more important to you.

Better Strategic Planning

Creating and organizing to do lists helps you see the bigger picture and come up with a strategic plan to get tasks completed on time and on budget.

Quickly Reschedule

To-do lists help you better cope with changes in circumstances. If an appointment suddenly gets cancelled or extra time becomes available because something was completed sooner than expected, you can quickly reschedule and reorganize and continue working with minimal disruption.

Reduce Stress

Stress can come from feeling overwhelmed by the thought that there is so much that needs doing and very little time to do it all in. Creating a to do list allows you to work on important tasks that need to get done within the time you have available, and push out non-urgent tasks that can be addressed later. This can help you stress less.

Improved Collaboration

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 to do lists, then prioritizing tasks and working in a focused manner increases productivity and efficiency in your business.

What about using a to do list on your website?

In this tutorial you are going to learn how to add a to-do list to 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 Plugin

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

Description

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

Features

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

You can configure 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 completion of items.

The shared to-do list option offers a number of different settings. You can assign to-do items to a specific user (this includes a setting to email a new to-do item to assigned users) and optionally to have assigned 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 also included in the front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the backend to manage your lists and the to-do lists are also displayed on the dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is available as well as shortcode to display the to-do list items on your blog. There are two shortcodes for front-end administration of your list. Category management is accessible through the back-end.

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

How To Install The Plugin

From your site’s admin, scroll down the main menu and 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 item in the Search Results tab and click Install Now …

Activate the plugin after installing it …

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

When the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

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

This brings you to the ‘Settings’ section …

Let’s set up the plugin …

Setting Up The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

The Settings screen is divided into four sections:

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

Let’s now go 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 set up ‘public’ and ‘private’ categories for your to-do lists.

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

List View

List View allows you to choose how lists will be viewed. You can choose 3 types of to-do list views:

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

Show Added By

Enabling this option lets you display which of your members has added an item to your to-do list.

Note: This setting only works if ‘List View’ is set to ‘Group’.

Show Date Completed

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

Show Deadline

Enabling this option lets you specify deadlines for to-do tasks …

Show Progress

If this option is enabled, you can 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 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 (‘Yes’), automatic paragraphs are used to display content in to-do lists.

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 provides you with a complete WordPress editorial solution …

To learn more this WordPress plugin, visit this site: WordPress Post Planner – Plugin For WordPress

After configuring your options, remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button …

Advanced Settings

After configuring the general settings, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab to continue …

This brings up the ‘Advanced Settings’ screen …

In this screen you can customize your To-Do lists, assign to-do tasks to users and perform database maintenance tasks.

Let’s step 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

In this section 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 (important), middle and lowest (low) priority items …

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

Show To-Do Item ID

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), the item’s ID show up on your to-do list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If enabled, the date your to-do list was added shows up on the To-Do Items table …

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

If you have selected either ‘Group’ or ‘Master’ View for your to-do list, you can configure the options in this area and assign to-do items to other users …

You can configure the following options in this area:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you 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 displays 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

Check the boxes in this section (Administrator to display the type of users that can be assigned to-do 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

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), WordPress automatically sends an email to users with their assigned to-do items …

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

Note: If this option is disabled, you can skip the remaining items 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 show to-do categories in the email subject.

If you don’t want to-do categories added to 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 is a useful option if you have various 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 your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like in this field …

From Email

Add into this field the email address that you want displayed as the “sent from” email address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Add a subject field for the email that will be sent automatically to users whenever 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

In this section of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab you can perform database maintenance operations related to plugin data directly from your plugin settings area …

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

The tasks below can be performed in this section:

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

Any database operations performed from this screen cannot be undone. If you are sure that you want to perform database maintenance in this section, then we recommend backing up your WP database first.

If you don’t want to perform manual backups, then consider using professional support services, or use a WordPress backup plugin. You can read about a great WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to perform complete site backups here:

• Backup, Duplicate And Protect Your WP Websites And Blogs With Backup Creator WordPress 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 plan to set 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 …

The default general capabilities of 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 non-administrators should only be permitted to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list itself.

Let’s review the settings for this section:

View To-Do List

This setting enables 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 option enables the chosen capability to mark to-do items as completed or uncompleted.

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This option allows the chosen capability to edit existing items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

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

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This setting allows 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 setting permits the selected capability to delete individual to-do items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

Here you can permit the selected capability to purge all the completed to-do items.

Add Categories Capability

This setting allows the selected capability to add new categories.

Import/Export

The ability to import and export to-do list data can be very useful. For example, you may need to transfer data from an existing to-do list to another website, or export the list data for backup or archiving 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

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

This opens up a window allowing you to view or save your data as plain text to a storage device (e.g. your hard drive) …

As well as exporting to-do list data from the ‘Import/Export’ section, 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 – pages, posts, etc…), or selecting ‘To-Do’ from the ‘Choose what to export’ section and clicking 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 …

Locate the previously saved to-do list data file in your hard drive or external drive and click ‘Open’ …

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

Your file data will be imported.

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

How To Use Cleverness To-Do List

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

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

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 WP dashboard toolbar …

You can also add new items to your to-do list inside 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 contains many items, since the link is only going to send you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section further 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 set up your plugin, you may or may not see certain options displayed when adding new to-do items.

Select 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 item to your list …

Note: If you have selected 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 assign multiple users to the same item (click on ‘x’ to remove users) …

Once a new item has been added, 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

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

Depending on your configuration plugin settings (see previous section), users assigned to completing tasks may also receive email notifications …

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

When users responsible for completing an item tick the item checkbox …

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

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

Additional Plugin Information

The Cleverness plugin provides additional functions that let you display to-do lists on your site using widgets, and add lists to content inside a page or post using shortcodes.

Widgets

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 want the to-do list to appear …

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

Your list will appear wherever the widget has been added (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use WordPress Widget

Shortcodes

You can also add to-do lists to your site by placing shortcodes 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’ tab to access the Shortcode Documentation section …

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

Once you know what type of information you want to add to your site, create or edit a new or existing post or page and either type or paste the shortcode into the content area …

Publish your page or post and you should see the list displayed exactly where you have added the short code …

Visit the plugin website 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 or blog.

***

***