Creating To-Do Lists In WordPress

As a business owner, time always seems to be in short supply.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have clients to meet, tasks to complete, meetings to attend, fires to put out, appointments to make, schedules to keep and so on. The stress of trying to get things done on time never stops.

Now … on top of all this, add the extra dimension of promoting and growing your business online and keeping your website or blog updated with new content and everything can quickly start to feel 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 tasks.

A proven tool that can help you save time, reduce stress, and allow you to gain some control is to use “to do” lists.

Benefits Of Using A To Do List

A “to do” list helps you measure your progress as you work towards completing projects. Your to do list can be very detailed and very specific, or serve as a reminder of what needs to be done today, tomorrow, next week, next month, etc.

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

Keep Things Organized

To-do lists help you create order, stay organized and achieve your goals faster.

Prioritize Your Time

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you save time. You can develop a clearer perspective on what is more important vs what is not, and what steps should be completed first.

Quickly Reschedule

To-do lists help you better deal with new situations. If you suddenly find that a meeting gets cancelled at short notice or extra time becomes available because some task was completed sooner than expected, you can keep working with little to minimal disruption.

Accountability

With no accountability there’s no commitment to getting things completed, and no motivation to take meaningful action. Lack of accountability can also allow excuses to creep in and impact your productivity.

Delegate Better

Having a to do list helps you delegate work to other people better. This is also important if you plan to work within a team (see further below).

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, prioritizing tasks and working in a focused way improves your business efficiency and productivity.

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

In this tutorial we are going to show you how to add a to-do list to WordPress to help your business grow online  faster and more efficiently using a great little plugin called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To Do List

Plugin URL

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

Plugin Description

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

Features

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

You can configure Cleverness To Do List to have private to-do lists for each user, 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 has a variety of settings available. 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 be seen by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users based on user roles. 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 admin backend to help you manage your lists and your to do list can also be displayed on the 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 list administration. Management of categories is accessible via the back-end.

If you plan to run a multi-author site you can use the plugin to create custom to do lists for your post editors if you also install a copy of the Post Planner plugin from the same developer.

Installing The Plugin

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

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

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

Click Activate Plugin …

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

Once you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

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

This takes you to the ‘Settings’ screen …

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

How To Configure The Plugin

The Settings area is divided into 4 sections:

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

Let’s now review each of these tabs.

To-Do List Settings

Categories

Select ‘Enabled’ to organize your to-do lists into categories, otherwise leave this option set to ‘Disabled’.

Note: When 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 to-do lists (see ‘Plugin Usage’ section further below for more details) …

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

Categories set to ‘private’ will not be visible when using 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 select three kinds of list views:

• Individual – Choosing this option lets users create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Selecting this option lets users 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 (see 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 sorted first by priority.

Show Added By

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you can display which of your members has added an item to your to-do list.

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

Show Date Completed

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), 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

Enabling this option lets you 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

If this option is 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 to-do lists using paragraphs.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you plan to run 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 author that helps to make the task of managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

Go here to learn more about using this plugin: WordPress Post Planner

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

Advanced Settings

After you have configured the general settings, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab to continue …

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

In this area you can customize your To-Do lists, assign to-do items 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

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

In this section you can specify how to display dates on your to-do lists (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 (normal) and lowest (low) items …

Items given the highest priority are colour-coded in red in your lists and lowest priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option displays the items’ IDs on the list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option shows the date the items table was added …

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

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

You can configure the following settings in this area:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enable this option 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 items 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

Checking the boxes in this section Author displays the type of users that can be assigned todo items. If you don’t want to assign to-do items to a particular role, then don’t tick its check box.

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 to send out emails to users, then leave this option disabled (‘No’).

Note: If this option is disabled, you can skip the other settings 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 show categories in the subject of your emails.

Leave this option disabled if you don’t want to-do categories to show the email subject.

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

From Email

Add into this field the email address that you want 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 automatically sent out to users when new items have been assigned in your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

Add 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 you can carry out database maintenance operations associated with plugin data inside your plugin settings area itself without the need to log into your web server …

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

You can perform the tasks below:

• Delete Tables – Remove 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 the database 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 we recommend backing up your database first.

If you don’t want to do site backups, then get professional WordPress help services, or use a backup plugin. You can read about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your site backups here:

• Backup, Copy And Protect Your WP Web Site With Backup Creator WP Plugin

User Permissions

Here you can configure user permissions and capabilities for Group and Master List types …

If you have chosen the Individual List type, the only permission 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 would like users to be able to perform for each option …

By default, general capabilities for each user role are configured 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-admin users to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list.

Below is a description of the settings for this section:

View To-Do List

Here you can allow the chosen 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 to-do items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

This option enables the chosen capability to add new to-do items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

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

Assign To-Do Item Capability

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

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This option allows 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 allows 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

Here you can permit 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 decide to copy over data from one site to another, or export your list data for backup or reporting 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 data and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

You can export and download your to-do list data settings by clicking on the ‘Download Export File’ …

This will open up a new window allowing you to download and save the data in plain text format to a storage device …

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

You can include to-do list data in a WordPress 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 download your file to a storage device…

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 …

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

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

Your file will be imported.

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

How To Use Cleverness To-Do List

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

This brings up the ‘To-Do List’ screen …

Adding New To Do 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 from your dashboard toolbar …

You can also add new items to your to-do list 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 already contains many items, as the link is only going to send you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section at the bottom of the screen) …

The above methods will take 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 when you add new to-do items.

Select 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 new to-do item …

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

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

Repeat this process to continue adding items to your to-do list …

Edit And Delete Items

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

After creating your to do list, users can view the list from their own user dashboard …

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

… the item no longer appears in the “To-Do” list …

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

Additional Plugin Information

The Cleverness plugin offers added functionality that lets you display to-do lists on your website using widgets, and insert a list into any post or page using shortcodes.

Using The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Widget

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

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

The to-do list will now display wherever you have placed the ‘to-do-list’ widget (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use Widgets In WordPress

Shortcodes

You can also add to-do lists on your site with short codes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Visit this site for more details about this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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