Creating To-Do Lists In WordPress

As a busy person trying to run a business or manage a team, there never seems to be enough hours in the day to get everything done.

There are just so many things to do and remember. You have clients to meet, project tasks to complete, priorities to attend to, fires to put out, appointments to make, commitments to keep and so on. The stress of trying to get things done on time never stops.

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

Whether you run a business, website, blog, or manage a team, it’s important to be able to organize and prioritize your daily tasks, keep track of your progress and daily accomplishments, and, if necessary, delegate responsibilities to others efficiently.

A proven method that can help you save time, create a sense of order and manageability, and allow you to gain some control is to use a “to do” list.

To Do Lists – Benefits

A “to do” list helps you track your progress when trying to get projects completed. Your to do list can be very detailed and specific, or serve as a 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

To-do lists help you create order, stay organized and achieve goals faster.

Save Time

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you save time. You can develop a better perspective on what is truly important vs what is not, and what tasks have to be completed first.

Quickly Reorganize And Reschedule

Using to-do lists help you better deal with events. If you suddenly find that an appointment has been cancelled at the last minute or extra time becomes available when some part of the process gets completed sooner than expected, you can keep moving forward with little to no loss of focus.

Accountability

With no accountability there is no commitment to getting things completed, and no motivation to act with a sense of purpose. Lack of accountability lets excuses creep in and impact your productivity.

Feeling Of Accomplishment

Ticking items off your to do list not only makes you feel more positive, motivated and in-control, it also allows you to relax more, as you can objectively see (or show) that work is indeed getting done and that things are moving forward.

As you can see, there are many benefits to using to do lists, 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 your business productivity and efficiency is sure to improve.

What about using a to do list on your website?

In this detailed tutorial we are going to show you how to easily add a to do list to your WP website or blog to help your business grow online  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/

Description

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

Features

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

You can set up the plugin with 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 completion of items.

The shared to do list option has a variety of settings available. 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 assigned items be viewable by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users based on user roles. There are also settings available to show deadline and progress fields. Category support is also included as front-end administration.

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

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

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

Installing The Plugin

In your site’s administration area, choose Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Activate the plugin after installing it …

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

When you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

Note: You can also get to the ‘Settings’ section by selecting To-Do List > Settings from the dashboard menu …

This takes you to the plugin ‘Settings’ section …

The section below shows you how to go through the plugin setup process …

Plugin Setup

The plugin’s ‘Settings’ screen is divided into four tabs:

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

Let’s now take you through each of these sections.

To-Do List Settings

To-Do List Categories

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

Note: When 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 set to ‘private’ are not visible using widgets or shortcodes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

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

• Individual – Select this option if you want each user to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Choose this option if you want all users to be able to share one to-do list.
• Master – Select this option to have one 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 set the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (this is covered further below).

Sort Order

‘Sort Order’ lets you specify how to sort to-do list items.

If you choose 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 if ‘List View’ is set to ‘Group’.

Show Date Completed

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

Show Deadline

If enabled, you will be able to specify deadlines for to-do tasks …

Show Progress

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you 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

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 (‘Yes’) to display content in your to-do lists using paragraphs.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you plan to run a multi-author 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 about using this WordPress plugin, visit this site: WordPress Post Planner – WordPress Editorial Solution Plugin

After you are done configuring your plugin options in this section, 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 up the ‘Advanced Settings’ screen …

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

Let’s go through how to configure the plugin’s ‘Advanced Settings’ section …

To-Do List Advanced Settings > Customize The To-Do List

In this area you can customize your To Do List …

The following settings can be configured 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 formatting dates in WordPress, see 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, normal and lowest items …

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

Show To-Do Item ID

If enabled, item IDs appear on the to-do list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If enabled, the date your to-do list was added will display on your table of items …

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 items to other users …

The following settings can be configured in this section:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enable this option to 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 displays to-do items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this area Contributor to display the type of users that can be assigned to-do items. If you don’t want to assign to-do items to a role, then leave its check box unticked.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

If this option is enabled, WordPress will automatically send 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 you disable this option, skip the other 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 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 categories displayed in the email subject, then leave this option disabled.

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

Enable this option to 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 notifications. Add your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like in this field …

From Email

Add the email address that you want showing as the “sent from” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Add 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

Type in 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 section lets you carry out database maintenance operations related to plugin data directly from your plugin settings area …

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

You can perform the tasks below:

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

Actions that you perform on the database from this screen cannot be reversed. If you are comfortable to carry out database operations in this section, then we recommend backing up your WP database first.

If you don’t want to do site backups, then consider using professional help services, or use a WordPress backup plugin. You can learn more about a WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to perform automated WordPress file and database backups here:

• Backup, Clone & Protect Your WP Website With Backup Creator WordPress Plugin

User Permissions

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

If you are using Individual List, the only permission that is applicable for this section is the View To-Do List option …

If you plan to set up user permissions and capabilities for Group or Master List types, select the highest level capabilities that you would like users to have access to for each option …

By default, general capabilities of each user role are set 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 authorize non-administrators to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list.

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

View To-Do List

Here you can permit the selected 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 enables the selected capability to mark items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

This allows the selected capability to add new to-do items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

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

Assign To-Do Item Capability

Here you can enable the selected capability to delegate 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

Here you can allow the chosen capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This option permits the chosen capability to purge all the completed items.

Add Categories Capability

This option permits the selected 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 the list data for backup or archiving purposes.

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

Here you can export and import 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 your 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 dashboard 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 your 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 previously saved to-do list data file in your hard drive or external drive and click ‘Open’ …

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

Your file data will be imported.

Now that you have configured all plugin settings, you are ready to start creating and editing to-do lists.

How To Use The Plugin

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

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

Adding New Items To Your List

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

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

You can also add new items to your to-do list inside your 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 already contains many items, as the link will simply take 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 the way you have set up your plugin, you may or may not see certain options displayed 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 to-do item …

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

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

Repeat the above process to continue adding new items to your list …

Editing And Removing Items From Your List

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

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

After creating your to do list, users can view it from their user dashboard …

When the user assigned with the item completes the task and clicks on the item check box …

… the item disappears from the “To-Do” list …

And displays in the ‘Completed Items’ section located in the ’To-Do List’ screen …

Additional Information

The Cleverness To-Do List plugin offers additional functions that let you display to-do lists on your website using widgets, and display a list on content inside a page or post using short codes.

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 location in your sidebar menu where you want your to-do list to display …

Configure the widget settings and click ’Save’ …

The list will appear on your site where you have placed the ‘to-do-list’ widget (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• Using WordPress Widget

Short Codes

The plugin also lets you add to-do lists to your site using short codes.

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

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

Click on the ‘Shortcodes’ menu entry to access the Shortcode Documentation …

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

Once you know what type of information you would like to display on your site, create a new post or page and either type or paste the shortcode inside the content editor …

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

Go here for more information about 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.

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