How To Create To-Do Lists In WordPress

If you are running a growing business or managing any kind of project that involves people collaborating, time is always in short supply.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have so many deadlines to meet, projects to complete, priorities to attend to, fires to extinguish, deliveries to make, schedules to keep and so on. The stress of trying to get things done on time never seems to end.

Now … add the extra dimension of trying to promote and grow your business online and maintaining your website or blog updated with regular content and things can quickly start becoming unmanageable and chaotic.

Whether you run a business, website, blog, or manage a team, you need to be able to organize and manage your daily activities.

A simple proven tool that can help you save time, create a sense of order and manageability, and allow you to take control is to use “to-do” lists.

To-Do Lists – Benefits

A “to do” list helps you track your progress as you complete tasks. Your to do list can be very detailed and very specific, or serve as a concise reminder of the things that need doing over a given period of time.

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

Free Your Brain

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

Strategize

Creating and organizing to do lists helps you view the bigger picture and come up with a strategy to get everything completed efficiently.

Quickly Reorganize And Reschedule

A to-do list helps you better handle unforeseen situations. If you suddenly find that an appointment gets cancelled or extra time is made available when some task gets completed sooner than expected, you can quickly reorganize or reschedule and keep moving forward without loss of focus.

Ensures Accountability

Without accountability there’s no commitment to completion, and no motivation to act with a sense of purpose. Lack of accountability can also allow excuses to creep in and influence your productivity.

Sense Of Accomplishment

Ticking items off to do lists not only makes you feel more productive, motivated and in-control, it also allows you to stress less, as you can objectively see (or show) that work is indeed getting done and that milestones are being reached.

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 efficiency and productivity in your business.

What about adding to do lists to your WordPress website or blog?

In this detailed step-by-step tutorial we are going to show you how to easily create to do lists in WordPress to improve business efficiency and productivity using a great little plugin called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To-Do List

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin URL

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

Plugin Description

This plugin provides users with a to do list feature.

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Features

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

You can set up Cleverness To Do List to assign 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 has a variety of settings available. You can delegate to-do items to a specific user (this includes a setting to email new to do items to assigned users) and optionally to have assigned items only viewable by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users. There are also settings to show 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 list can also appear 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 list administration. Category management is restricted to the back-end.

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

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Installation

Log into your WordPress admin area scroll down the main menu click on 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 Cleverness To-Do List item in the Search Results section and click Install Now …

Click Activate Plugin …

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

When the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

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

This takes you to the ‘Settings’ section …

Let’s go through the plugin configuration process …

How To Configure The Plugin

The Settings screen is divided into 4 sections:

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

Let’s now review each of these sections.

To-Do List Settings

Categories

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

Note: If you enable this option, a ‘Categories’ item is added to the To-Do List plugin menu …

This lets you add categories that can help organize your to-do lists (see ‘Plugin Usage’ section further below for more details) …

You can set up ‘public’ and ‘private’ categories for your lists.

Private categories are not visible using 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. You can choose from three types of list views:

• Individual – Selecting this option allows each user to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Choosing this option lets all users share the same to-do list.
• Master – Choose this option to create one master list for all users, where users have their own individual completion of items. If you select the ‘Master’ list view, make sure to set 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 select Alphabetical, Category or ID options, items will be first sorted by priority.

Show Added By

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you display which users have 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 (‘Yes’), you will be able to specify deadlines for your to-do items …

Show Progress

If enabled, 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 WP Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

Enabling this 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 your to-do lists using paragraphs.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you are running a multi-author site or blog, you can integrate the Cleverness To-Do List plugin with a plugin called WordPress Post Planner, from the same developer that helps to make the process of managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

Visit this site to learn more about using this plugin: WordPress Post Planner – WordPress Editorial Solution Plugin

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

Advanced Settings

After configuring the general settings, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab …

This brings you to the ‘Advanced Settings’ screen …

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

The following options can be configured in this section:

Date Format

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

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

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

Here you can customize the labels for highest, normal and low priority items …

Highest (important) priority items are color-coded in red and lowest (low) priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option will display the items’ IDs on your to-do list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

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

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 …

The following options can be configured 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

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you can display tasks only to users who have been assigned those items. Leaving this option disabled (‘No’) will display items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Checking the boxes in this section (Administrator displays the type of users that can be assigned to-do items. If you do not want to assign to-do items to a specific role, then leave its check box unticked.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

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

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

Note: If this option is disabled, skip the 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 in the subject of emails sent to users …

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

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

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 website has various 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. Type your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like in this field …

From Email

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

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Type into this field a subject field for the email that will be distributed automatically to users when a new item has been added to 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 perform database maintenance tasks related to plugin data inside your plugin settings area without having to access your server …

This is useful if, for example, you see that todo items you have already deleted are still showing up on your site.

You can perform the tasks below in this section:

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

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

If you don’t want to back up your data manually, then get professional WordPress help, or use a WordPress backup plugin. You can learn more about a great WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your site backups here:

• Backup, Duplicate & Keep Your WP Site Protected With Backup Creator WordPress Plugin

User Permissions

In this area you can configure user permissions and capabilities for Group and Master List types …

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

If you are setting 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 …

The 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-administrator users to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list.

Let’s review the settings for this tab:

View To-Do List

This option permits 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

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

Add To-Do Item Capability

This setting allows the chosen capability to add new items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

Here you can permit the selected capability to modify existing items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This permits the selected capability to assign to-do items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This allows 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 permit the selected capability to delete individual to-do items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This permits the selected capability to purge all the completed items.

Add Categories Capability

This allows the selected capability to add new categories.

Import/Export

The ability to import and export to-do list data can be very useful. For example, you may want to transfer data from an existing list to another website, or export your list data for backup or archiving purposes.

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

Use this section to import or export your to-do 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 opens up a new window allowing you to view or download your data in a plain text file (e.g. Notepad) to a storage device (e.g. your hard drive) …

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

Importing To-Do List Data

Importing a list data file is easy. Just click on the ‘Browse’ button next to the ‘Choose File to Import’ field …

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

Once your data file has been uploaded in your settings area, click the ‘Import Settings’ button …

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

Once you have configured all of the plugin settings, you can start create and edit your to-do lists.

How To Use The Plugin

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

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

Adding A New Item To Your List

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

For example, you can add new to-do items from your dashboard toolbar …

You can also add new to-do items inside 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, since the link is only going to take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section further down the screen) …

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

Depending on how you have configured the plugin settings, 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, enter 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 have selected a list type that lets you assign items to specific 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 remove users) …

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

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

Edit And Remove Items From Your List

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

After creating your to-do list, users can view it inside their dashboard …

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

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

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

Additional Plugin Information

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

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 menu location where you want your to-do list to show …

Configure the widget settings and click ’Save’ …

The to-do list will display where you have inserted the widget (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use Widgets In WordPress

Plugin Shortcodes

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

To access the documentation on using shortcodes, 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’ tab to access the Shortcode Documentation screen …

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

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

After publishing your page or post, you should see the list displayed in the location where you added the shortcode …

To learn more about this plugin, go here:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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