Creating To-Do Lists In WordPress

If you plan to run a growing business, time is always in short supply.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have clients to meet, urgent tasks 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 ends.

Now … add the extra workload of trying to promote and grow your business online and maintaining your website updated with regular content and things can start feeling 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 activities, monitor your progress and daily accomplishments, and, if necessary, assign responsibilities to team members effectively.

One ”tried and true” tool that can help you save time, reduce stressful workloads, and allow you to gain some control is to use “to-do” lists.

To Do Lists – Benefits

A “to-do” list helps you measure your progress when trying to achieve your objectives. Your to-do list can be detailed and specific, or serve as a reminder of the things that need to be done over a given period of time.

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

Think Clearly

Writing a to do list means that you don’t have to keep remembering things or store additional information inside your head. Once things are recorded on a to-do list, your brain is free to process other information and you can focus on other areas that could be more important.

Better Strategic Planning

Creating and organizing to-do lists helps you break your workload into doable tasks and create a strategy to get things done efficiently.

Quickly Reschedule

Using to do lists let you better cope with changes in circumstances. If you find that an appointment has been cancelled at short notice or extra time is made available when a task gets completed sooner than expected, you can quickly reschedule and keep working without loss of focus.

Less Stress

Stress can result from feeling overwhelmed by so much to do and very little time to do it in. Creating a to do list lets you prioritize important tasks that need to be completed within a reasonable timeframe, and reschedule items that can be addressed later. This can help reduce stress.

Feeling Of Accomplishment

Ticking items off a to do list not only helps 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 getting done and that things are moving forward.

As you can see, there are many benefits to using a to-do list, both in business and in your personal life. Creating a to do list, prioritizing tasks and working systematically improves your business productivity and efficiency.

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

In this step-by-step tutorial we are going to show you how to add a to-do list to WordPress to help your team get things done  faster and more efficiently using a customizable, multi-featured to do list plugin 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 WordPress.

Plugin 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 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 provides a number of different settings. 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 only seen 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 in the front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the admin backend to manage your list and the to-do lists are also listed 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 2 shortcodes for front-end administration of the list. Management of categories is accessed via the back-end.

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 install the Post Planner plugin for WordPress from the same developer.

Installing The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

In your WP dashboard area, go to the menu and select Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Click “Activate Plugin” …

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

Once you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

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

This takes you to the ‘Settings’ section …

The section below shows you how to configure the plugin …

How To Set Up The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

The Settings area is divided into four sections:

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

Let’s configure each of these sections.

To-Do List Settings

To-Do List Categories

Choose ‘Enabled’ to organize your 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 allows you to add categories to 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 the sidebar widgets or short codes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

List View lets you specify how your to-do lists will be viewed. There are 3 list views you can choose:

• Individual – Select this option if you want each user 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 – Use this option to have 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 to order to-do list items.

If you choose Alphabetical, ID or Category, ID, Category or Alphabetical 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 works when ‘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

If this option is 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 displays the ‘To-Do List’ menu in your WP Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

If enabled, you will be able to 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 collaborative website or blog, you can integrate the Cleverness To-Do List plugin with a plugin called WordPress Post Planner, developed by the same author that helps to make managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

To learn more about using this WordPress plugin, go here: WordPress Post Planner – Multi-Author Publishing Plugin For WordPress

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

Advanced Settings

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

This brings you to the ‘Advanced Settings’ section …

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

This section of the ‘Advanced Settings’ screen allows you to 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 in your todo lists (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

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

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

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

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

Show To-Do Item ID

If enabled (‘Yes’), item IDs will show on the list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

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

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

If you have selected ‘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 section:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

If enabled (‘Yes’), you can assign tasks 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

Enable this option to display tasks only to users who have been 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 section Contributor to display the type of users that can be assigned to-do 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, WordPress automatically sends an email to users with their assigned to-do items …

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

Note: If you disable this option, skip 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 email subject.

Leave this option disabled (‘No’) if you don’t want categories to display 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 is a useful option if you have a number of 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 email notifications. Type the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

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

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Add a subject field for the email that will be sent out 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

In this section of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab you can carry out database maintenance operations associated with plugin data directly from your plugin settings area itself …

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

The following tasks can be performed in this section:

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

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

If you don’t want to back up your site yourself, then hire a professional service, or use a WordPress backup plugin. You can learn more about a great WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to automate backups here:

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

User Permissions

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

If you have selected the Individual List type, the only item applicable 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 …

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 permit non-administrators to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list itself.

Let’s review the settings for this tab:

View To-Do List

This enables 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 permit the selected capability to mark items as completed or uncompleted.

Add To-Do Item Capability

This setting permits the chosen capability to add new to-do items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

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

Assign To-Do Item Capability

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

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

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

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

Here you can enable the chosen capability to purge all the completed to-do items.

Add Categories Capability

This option permits 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 website to another, or export your data for backup or archiving purposes.

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

Here you can easily export and import your list and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

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

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

As well as exporting data from the ‘Import/Export’ tab, you can also export data by going to your WordPress dashboard menu and choosing Tools > Export …

You can include to-do list data in a WordPress export file (in XML format), either by checking ‘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 save your file to an internal or external hard drive…

Importing To-Do List Data

To import a 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’ …

After the data file has been uploaded to your settings area, click on ‘Import Settings’ …

Your file data will be imported.

Once you have configured all plugin settings, you can start create and edit your 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 …

How To Add A New Item To Your To Do List

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

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

You can also add new to-do items inside the 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 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 the way you have set up your plugin, some options may not display when adding new to-do items.

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 item to your list …

Note: If you have selected a list type that allows you to 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 a user) …

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

Repeat the above process to keep adding new items to your to-do 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 the plugin (see previous section), 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 own dashboard …

When users assigned with an item complete the task and click on the item check box …

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

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

Additional Information

The Cleverness plugin offers additional functions that let you display a to-do list on your site using widgets, and display lists on any page or post using short codes.

Widgets

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 (or footer) menu where you want your to-do list to show …

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

Your to-do list will appear where you have added the ‘to-do-list’ widget (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use WordPress Widget

Plugin Short Codes

The Cleverness plugin also lets you display lists and checklists to your site using short codes.

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

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

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

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

Once you know what information you would like to display on your site, create or edit a new or existing post or page and either type or paste the short code inside the content area …

Publish your post or page and you will see the list showing exactly where you added the short code …

Go here for more details about this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

***

***