Creating To-Do Lists In WordPress

Time is always in short supply, especially if you are a busy person trying to run a business or manage a team.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have deadlines to meet, urgent tasks to complete, meetings to attend, fires to extinguish, appointments to make, schedules 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 workload of trying to promote and grow your business online and maintaining your website updated with new content and things can start becoming 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 daily activities, keep track of your progress and daily accomplishments, and, if necessary, assign tasks and responsibilities to other people effectively.

One simple “tried and true” method that can help you save time, reduce stressful workloads, and allow you to regain control is to use a “to do” list.

To-Do Lists – Benefits

A “to do” list can help you monitor your progress as you work to achieve your objectives. Your to do list can be minutely 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 benefits of using to-do lists:

Free Up Resources

Creating a to-do list means that you won’t have to memorize things or clutter your mind with details. Once things are recorded on a to-do list, your head is free to process information and you can focus on more important things.

Save Time

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you manage your time better. You can develop a clearer perspective on what is truly important vs what isn’t, and what steps should be completed first.

Keep Documented Work Logs

To-do lists allow you to retain documented logs of what you have done. This can be used to provide evidence of work done to clients or employers, or simply as a method of helping you track your own productivity and efficiency.

Stress Relief

Stress can come from feeling overwhelmed by the thought that there are so many things to do and so very little time to do it in. Creating a to-do list allows you to work on urgent items that need to be completed within a reasonable timeframe, and push out tasks that can be worked on at a later time. This can help reduce stress.

Feeling Of Accomplishment

Crossing items off to do lists not only makes you feel more productive, motivated and in-control, it also lets you relax more, as you can objectively see (or show) that work is indeed being completed and that progress is being made.

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, prioritizing tasks and working towards completing the items listed improves your business productivity and efficiency.

What about using to do lists on your website or blog?

In this detailed tutorial we are going to show you how to easily create a to do list in WordPress to help your business grow  faster and more efficiently 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/

Plugin Description

This plugin lets you easily add customizable to do lists to WordPress.

Features

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

You can set up the plugin to have private to do lists for individual users, to have all users share your to do list, or to have a master list with individual item completions.

The shared to-do list option provides a number of different settings. You can assign to do items to a specific user (this includes emailing a new to-do item to the user) and optionally to have those items only seen by that user. You can also assign different permission levels using capabilities. There are also settings available to show 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 lists are also displayed on a dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is also available as shortcode to display the to do list items on your blog. There are two shortcodes for front-end administration of your list. Management of categories is accessible via the back-end admin section.

If you plan to run a multi-author blog you can use this to do lists plugin to create custom to do lists for your post editors if you also download a copy of the Post Planner plugin.

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Installation

Log into your WP dashboard area, 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 Cleverness To-Do List entry in the Search Results area and click Install Now …

Activate the plugin after installing it …

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

After the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

Note: The plugin’s settings screen can also be accessed by choosing To-Do List > Settings from your admin menu …

This takes you to the plugin ‘Settings’ page …

The section below shows you how to configure the plugin …

How To Set Up The Plugin

The plugin’s ‘Settings’ screen is divided into 4 tabs:

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

Let’s go through each of these sections.

To-Do List Settings

Categories

Choose ‘Enabled’ to organize lists into categories, otherwise leave this option set to ‘Disabled’.

Note: When you enable this option, a ‘Categories’ item is 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 to-do lists.

Private categories will not be visible using sidebar widgets or short codes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

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

• Individual – Choosing this option allows users to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Select this option if you want all 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 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 list items will be sorted.

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

Show Added By

Enabling this option lets you 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

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 tasks …

Show Progress

Enabling this option lets you specify task progress indicators for your to-do items …

Show Admin Bar Menu

If enabled (‘Yes’), the ‘To-Do List’ menu displays in your WP 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 to display content in to-do list items using paragraphs.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you are running 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 …

Visit this site for more information about using this handy plugin: WordPress Post Planner – WordPress Editorial Solution Plugin

After you have finished configuring your plugin options, click the ‘Save Changes’ button …

Advanced Settings

Once you have configured the settings in the To-Do List Settings tab, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab to proceed …

This brings up the ‘Advanced Settings’ area …

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

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

Here 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, refer to the date section of the WordPress Codex below:

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

In this area you can customize your labels for prioritizing important, normal and lowest (low) items …

Highest (important) priority items are shown in red and low priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option shows item IDs on the to-do list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option will show the date the 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 area and assign to-do items to other users …

The following options can be configured in this section:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enable this option (‘Yes’) to 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

Enable this option to display tasks only to users who have been specifically assigned those items. Leave this option disabled (‘No’) to display to-do items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this area (Administrator to display the type of users that can be assigned todo items. If you do not want to assign to-do items to a particular role, then leave its checkbox unticked.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

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

If you don’t want emails sent out to users, then leave this option disabled (‘No’).

Note: If you disable this option, skip the other settings 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 display to-do categories in the subject of your emails.

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

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 site has a number of 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 email notifications to users. Add the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

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

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Add a subject field for the email that will be sent automatically to users when new items have been assigned 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 allows you to perform database maintenance operations related to plugin data directly from the plugin settings area without having to log into your server …

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

You can perform the following tasks:

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

Actions that you perform on the database from this screen cannot be reversed. If you are sure that you want to proceed with any of the database operations available in this section, then remember to backup your database first.

If you don’t want to back up your files yourself, then consider using professional assistance services, or use backup plugins. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that can automate your backup process here:

• Back Up, Copy & Protect Your WordPress Web Sites With Backup Creator WordPress Plugin

User Permissions

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

If you select Individual List, the only configurable 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 would like users to perform for each option …

By default, general capabilities for 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 allow non-administrators to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list.

Below is a description of the settings in this section:

View To-Do List

Here you can enable the selected 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

This option enables the chosen capability to mark to-do items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

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

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This allows the chosen capability to assign items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

Here you can enable 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 permit the chosen capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This setting allows the chosen capability to purge all the completed items.

Add Categories Capability

This setting 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 need to copy over data from an existing list to another website, or store the data for backup or reporting purposes.

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

Now you can easily export or import your list 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 download and save the data as plain text to an internal or external storage device …

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

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

Locate the previously saved to-do list data file and click ‘Open’ …

Once uploading the 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 start create and edit to do lists.

How To Use The Plugin

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

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

Adding New Items To Your List

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

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

You can also add a new item to your to-do list in the Dashboard 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 already contains many items, since the link will simply 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 the way you have configured the plugin’s settings, you may or may not see certain options displayed when new items to your to-do list.

Configure 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 new item to your list …

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

Once the new item has been added, it will be listed as an entry in the ‘To-Do Items’ table …

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

Editing And Removing To-Do Items From Your List

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 set up the plugin (see previous section), users assigned to completing tasks may also receive an email notification in their inboxes …

After creating your to-do list, users can view it when logged into their own user dashboard …

When users responsible for the item complete the task and tick the item checkbox …

… the item is then removed from the “To-Do” list …

And gets listed the ‘Completed Items’ section located in the ’To-Do List’ page …

Additional Information

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

Widgets

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

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

Your to-do list will display wherever the widget has been added (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

To learn more about how to use widgets in WordPress, see the tutorial below:

• How To Use s

Using The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Shortcodes

You can also display lists and checklists on your site with short codes.

To access the documentation on using shortcodes, click on To-Do List > To-Do List from the dashboard menu …

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

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

The documentation section explains different ways to configure and use shortcodes to display lists on your posts and pages.

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

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

Visit the plugin website for more information about this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you know how to create and add to-do lists in WordPress.

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