How To Create A To-Do List In WordPress

If you plan to run a growing business, 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 clients to meet, projects to complete, meetings to attend, fires to put out, deliveries to make, commitments to keep and so on. The stress of trying to get things done on time never seems to stop.

Now … add the extra workload of trying to promote and grow your business online and keeping your website updated with fresh content and everything can quickly start becoming 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 activities, keep track of your progress, and, if necessary, delegate tasks and responsibilities to other people efficiently.

A ”tried and true” method that can help you save time, alleviate stress, 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 very specific, or serve as a reminder of what needs to be done today, tomorrow, this week, this month, etc.

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

A To-Do List Helps You Create Order

Having a to-do list helps you create order, stay organized and achieve goals sooner.

Better Strategic Planning

After creating and organizing a to-do list, you can break down your workload into doable tasks and create a strategy to get everything completed efficiently.

Reorganize And Reschedule Quickly

Having a to-do list lets you better handle unexpected situations. If an appointment suddenly gets cancelled at the last minute or extra time becomes available when some aspect of the process gets completed sooner than expected, you can keep working with little to no loss of focus.

Relieve Stress

Stress can come from feeling overwhelmed by so much to do and so very little time to do it all in. Using a to-do list allows you to prioritize important items that need to be completed immediately, and reschedule non-urgent items that can be addressed at a later time. This can help reduce stress.

Collaboration

Creating 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 to-do lists, both in business and in your personal life. Creating a to do list, then prioritizing tasks and working systematically increases your business productivity and efficiency.

Let’s turn now to using to-do lists on your website. More specifically, adding a to do list to WordPress.

In this detailed step-by-step tutorial you are going to learn how to create to do lists in WordPress to improve business efficiency and productivity using a customizable, multi-featured to-do list WordPress plugin called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To-Do List

Download The Plugin

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

Plugin Description

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

Plugin Features

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

You can configure the plugin 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 includes a number of different settings. You can delegate to do items to a specific user (this includes emailing new to-do items to assigned users) and optionally to have those items only viewable by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users. There are also settings 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 list and the to do list can also be displayed 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 administration of the list. Category management is accessed via the back-end admin section.

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 developer’s premium plugin, Post Planner.

Installing The Plugin

Inside your site’s admin area, choose Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Click “Activate Plugin” …

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

After the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

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

This brings you to the ‘Settings’ area …

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

How To Set Up The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

The Settings screen is divided into 4 tabs:

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

Let’s take you through each of these sections.

To-Do List Settings

List View

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

Individual – Select this option if you want each user to be able to create and manage their own private to-do list.
Group – Choosing this option allows users to share the same to-do list.
Master – This option allows you 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 to configure the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (this is covered further below).

Sort Order

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

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

Show Added By

If enabled, you can display which of your members has added an item to the to-do list.

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

Show Date Completed

If this option is enabled, completion dates will display for to-do items.

Show Deadline

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you specify deadlines for your 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 enabled (‘Yes’), the ‘To-Do List’ menu will display in your WP Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

If enabled (‘Yes’), you will be able to 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 your to-do lists.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you plan to run a collaborative 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 configuring your plugin options, remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button …

Advanced Settings

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

This brings up the plugin’s ‘Advanced Settings’ area …

This screen lets you customize your To-Do lists, assign to-do items to other users and carry out 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 settings can be configured in this section:

Date Format

In this area you can specify how to display dates on your to-do list (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

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

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

Here you can customize your labels for prioritizing important, middle (normal) and low items …

Items given the highest priority 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, the item’s ID show on the list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

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

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

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

You can configure the following settings in this area:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you 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

Enabling this option lets you display items only to users who have been specifically assigned those items. Leaving this option disabled displays items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Checking the boxes in this area (Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, Subscriber) displays the type of users that can be assigned items. Leave the check box unticked for any roles that you do not 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 (‘No’) if you don’t want to send out emails to users.

Note: If you disable this option, 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 on the subject of your emails …

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

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

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

Enabling this option lets you display the user who assigned the to-do item in the email. This is a useful option if your site has several 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 to users. Enter your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

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

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Add into this field a subject field for the email that will be automatically distributed to users whenever a new item has been assigned to your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

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 area you can carry out database maintenance tasks related to plugin data directly from your plugin settings area itself without having to access your server …

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

The following tasks can be performed:

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

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

If you don’t want to back up your site manually, then use a professional service, or use a WordPress backup plugin. You can read about a great WordPress backup plugin that can automate your site backups here:

Back Up, Duplicate & Protect Your WP Web Sites With Backup Creator WP Plugin

User Permissions

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

If you choose the Individual List type, the only configurable item that applies in this section is the View To-Do List permission …

If you plan to set up user permissions and capabilities for Group or Master List types, select the highest level capabilities that you want users to be able to perform 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-administrator users to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list.

Let’s now review the settings for this section:

View To-Do List

This option allows the chosen 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 allow the chosen capability to mark to-do items as completed or uncompleted.

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This enables the selected capability to edit existing items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This option enables the chosen capability to assign to-do items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This permits 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

Here you can enable the selected capability to delete individual to-do items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

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

Add Categories Capability

Here you can permit the chosen capability to add new categories.

Import/Export

Being able to import and export to-do list data can be useful. For example, you may want to copy over 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 section …

Here you can easily export or import 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 download and save the data as plain text to a storage device …

As well as exporting list data from the ‘Import/Export’ tab, you can also export data by going to your WordPress main menu and selecting 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 just select ‘To-Do’ from the ‘Choose what to export’ section and click the ‘Download Export File’ button to download your file to an internal or external hard drive…

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’ …

The data from the existing to-do file will be imported.

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

Plugin Usage

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

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

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 new to-do items to your list from your WP admin toolbar …

You can also add a new item to your to-do list from the ‘To-Do List’ dashboard section 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, as the link is only going to take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section further down the page) …

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

Depending on how you have configured the plugin’s settings, some options may not display when adding new to-do items.

Select the options you have enabled for your to-do items, add appropriate information into the relevant fields and click on the ‘Submit To-Do Item’ button to add the item to your list …

Note: If you have selected a list type that lets you assign responsibilities over 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) …

Once you have added the item, the item will be listed as an entry in the ‘To-Do List’ table …

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

Edit And Delete Items

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

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

After creating your to do list, users can view the list when logged into their WP dashboard …

When users responsible for an item complete the task and click on the item checkbox …

… the item no longer appears in 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 plugin offers additional functions that let you display to-do lists on your WordPress website using widgets, and display a list on content inside a post or page using short codes.

Plugin Widget

To add to-do lists to your site using widgets, go to the ‘Widgets’ section (Appearance > Widgets) and drag the ‘To-Do List’ widget to the location in your sidebar menu where you want the list to display …

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

The list will appear where the ‘to-do-list’ widget was inserted (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

Using s

Using The Cleverness Plugin Short Codes

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

To access the plugin’s shortcode documentation, select To-Do List > To-Do List from your dashboard 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 section …

This documentation section explains various ways to configure and use shortcodes to display lists and checklists on your posts and pages.

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

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

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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"I was absolutely amazed at the scope and breadth of these tutorials! The most in-depth training I have ever received on any subject!" - Myke O'Neill, DailyGreenPost.com

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