How To Create To Do Lists In WordPress

Time always seems to be in short supply, especially if you are running a growing business.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have deadlines to meet, project tasks to complete, priorities to attend to, fires to extinguish, calls and appointments to make, commitments to keep and so on. The stress of trying to get things done on time never seems to end.

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

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

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

To-Do Lists – Benefits

A “to-do” list can help you monitor your progress as you work to achieve a certain objective. Your to-do list can be very detailed and very specific, or just serve as a concise reminder of tasks that need doing over a given period of time.

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

Clearer Thinking

Creating a to-do list means that you don’t have to memorize stuff or store information inside your head. Once things are written down on a to do list, your head is free to process other information and you can focus on other areas that are more important.

Strategize

Creating and organizing to do lists helps you view the bigger picture and create a strategic plan to get everything done effectively.

Reschedule And Reorganize Quickly

Having a to-do list helps you better cope with events. If an appointment suddenly gets cancelled or extra time has been made available because some aspect of the project got completed sooner than expected, you can quickly reorganize or reschedule and continue working without disruption.

Less Stress

Stress can result from feeling overwhelmed by the thought that there are so many things that needs doing and very little time to do it in. Using to do lists allow you to prioritize important tasks that need to be completed immediately, and reschedule non-urgent items that can be addressed at a later time. This can help you stress less.

Collaboration

Using to do lists and other project management tools is essential for working 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 productivity and efficiency in your business.

What about adding a to-do list to your WordPress website?

In this step-by-step tutorial you are going to learn how to easily add a to do list to a WordPress website or blog to help your team get things done  faster and more efficiently using a great little WordPress plugin called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To-Do List

Download URL

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

Plugin Description

This plugin provides users with a to do list feature.

Plugin Features

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

You can configure the plugin to have 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 provides a number of settings. You can delegate to do items to specific users (this includes a setting to email new to-do items to assigned users) and optionally to have assigned items be viewable by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users. There are also settings available to display deadline and progress fields. Category support is included as well as front-end administration.

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

A sidebar widget is available as well as short code 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 via the back-end.

If you plan to set up a multi-author blog you can use this to-do lists 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 WordPress admin section, go to the menu and choose Plugins > Add New …

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

Locate the Cleverness To-Do List plugin in the Search Results section and click Install Now …

Activate the plugin …

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

Once you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

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

This takes you to the ‘Settings’ section …

The section below shows you how to set up the plugin …

Setting Up The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

The Settings area is divided into four sections:

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

Choose ‘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 create ‘public’ and ‘private’ categories for your to-do lists.

Categories set to ‘private’ will not be visible using the 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 three list views:

• Individual – Select this option if you want each user 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 – This option allows you to create a master list for all users, where users have their own individual items to complete. If using the ‘Master’ list view, make sure to adjust the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (this is covered further below).

Sort Order

‘Sort Order’ lets you specify how to order list items.

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

Show Added By

If this option is enabled, you can display which users on your site have added an item to the 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 items.

Show Deadline

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

Show Progress

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

Show Admin Bar Menu

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you display the ‘To-Do List’ menu in your WordPress Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

This 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 to-do list items using paragraphs.

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 this handy plugin, visit this site: WordPress Post Planner – Plugin For WordPress

When you are done configuring your options, remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button to update your settings …

Advanced Settings

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

This brings you to the plugin’s ‘Advanced Settings’ area …

In this screen you can customize your To Do lists, assign to-do tasks to other users and carry out 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

In this section you can 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 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

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

Items given the highest (important) priority display in red 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 on the to-do list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) will display the date the To-Do Items table 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 options in this area:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enable this option (‘Yes’) to 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

If enabled, you can display tasks only to users who have been specifically assigned those items. Leaving this option disabled (‘No’) displays to-do 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. If you don’t want to assign to-do items to a role, then leave its checkbox unticked.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

If you enable this option, WordPress will automatically send users an email with their assigned to-do items …

Leave this option disabled (‘No’) 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 in the subject of emails sent to users …

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 to-do categories to display the subject of your emails, then leave this option disabled (‘No’).

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 several 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 to users. Enter the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like in this field …

From Email

Add the email address that you would like displayed as the “sent from” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

In this field, enter a subject field for the email that will be sent out automatically to users whenever new items have been assigned in your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

Add into this field 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 of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab allows you to carry out database maintenance operations associated with plugin data directly from your plugin settings area itself without the need to log into your server …

This is useful if, for example, you notice that old todo items are still listed on your site.

You can perform the following tasks in this section:

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

Any actions that you perform on your database from this screen cannot be reversed. If you are comfortable to proceed with any of the database operations available in this section, then make sure to backup your WordPress database first.

If you don’t want to do your own backups, then consider using a professional service, or use a WordPress backup plugin. You can read about a WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to completely automate your file and database backups here:

• Backup, Copy And Keep Your WP Sites Protected With Backup Creator WP Plugin

User Permissions

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

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

If you are configuring user permissions and capabilities for Group or Master List types, select the highest level capabilities that you would like users to be able to perform for each option …

The default general capabilities of 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 make sure that you only permit non-administrator users to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list itself.

Below is a description of the settings in this 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

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

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

Here you can allow the chosen capability to modify existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

Here you can enable the chosen capability to delegate to-do items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

Here you can permit 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

Here you can enable the chosen 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 copy over data from one site to another, or store your list data for backup or reporting purposes.

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

Now you can easily import and export your list data and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

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

This will open up a new window allowing you to view or download your data in plain text format to an internal or external hard drive …

In addition to exporting list data from the ‘Import/Export’ section, you can also export data by going to your WordPress admin menu and choosing Tools > Export …

You can include to-do list data in an export file (in XML format), either by selecting ‘All content’ (includes everything – posts, pages, etc…), or selecting ‘To-Do’ from the ‘Choose what to export’ section and clicking on the ‘Download Export File’ button to save your file to your storage device…

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

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

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

After configuring all plugin settings, you can start create and edit your lists.

How To Use Cleverness To-Do List

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’ page …

Adding New To-Do Items To Your List

There are several 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 dashboard 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 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 will simply take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section down the page) …

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

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

Set up 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 to-do item …

Note: If you are using a list type that allows you to assign tasks to specific users, select a user from the drop-down list and assign them the item …

You can also assign items to multiple users (click on ‘x’ to remove users) …

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

Repeat this process to keep adding new items to your to-do 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 your plugin configuration settings (discussed in the previous section), users assigned to tasks may also receive email notifications …

Once you have created your to-do list, users can view it when logged into their own user dashboard …

When a user assigned with an item completes the task and ticks 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’ screen …

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 any page or post using shortcodes.

Plugin Widget

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

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

The list will display wherever you have added 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

Using The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Short Codes

The Cleverness To-Do List plugin also lets you display to-do lists and checklists to your site using shortcodes.

To access the plugin’s shortcode documentation, click on To-Do List > To-Do List from your WP admin menu …

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

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

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

Once you know what type of information you would like to display on your site, open up a new post or page and either type or paste the shortcode into the content section …

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

For more information about this plugin, visit the plugin website:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you can create and add a to-do list to your WordPress site or blog.

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