How To Create To-Do Lists In WordPress

Time is always in short supply, especially if you are a business owner or busy project manager.

There are just so many things to do and remember. You have clients to meet, tasks to complete, meetings to attend, fires to put out, calls and appointments to make, schedules to keep and so on. The amount of things that need to get done never ends.

Now … add the extra workload of promoting and growing your business online and maintaining your website or blog updated with regular content and everything can start becoming unmanageable and chaotic.

Whether you are running a business, website, blog, or managing a team, it’s important to be able to organize and manage your daily activities.

A ”tried and true” method that can help you save time, alleviate stress, and allow you to regain control is to use “to do” lists.

The Benefits Of Using To-Do Lists

A “to do” list helps you track your progress as you work towards completing projects. Your to do list can be minutely detailed and specific, or just serve as a reminder of the things that need to be done over a given period of time.

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

Think Clearly

Creating to do lists means that you don’t have to keep remembering things or clutter your brain with details. Once tasks are jotted down on a to do list, your head is free to process other information and you can focus on more important things.

Be More Strategic

Creating and organizing to do lists helps you view the larger picture and create a strategic plan for getting things done effectively.

Quickly Reschedule

A to-do list lets you better deal with changes in circumstances. If an appointment suddenly gets cancelled at short notice or extra time has been made available because something was completed sooner than expected, you can continue working with minimal disruption.

Accountability

Without accountability there is no commitment to completion, and no motivation to take meaningful action. Lack of accountability lets excuses creep in and take over your work day.

Working With Others

Creating to-do lists and other project management tools is essential for getting other people involved 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. Create a list, prioritize your list items and work towards completing the tasks on the list and efficiency and productivity in your business will surely increase.

What about using a to do list on your website or blog?

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

Cleverness To-Do List

Download The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

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

Description

This WordPress plugin lets you easily add a to do list to your WP website or blog.

Features

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

You can configure the plugin to assign 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 option has a variety of settings available. You can assign to do items to specific users (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. 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 backend to help you manage your list and your to-do list can also display on a dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is also available as short code to display the to-do list items on your site. There are 2 short codes for front-end list administration. Category management is accessible via the back-end.

If you plan to set up a multi-author blog you can use the to do lists plugin to create custom to-do lists for your post editors if you also install a copy of the developer’s premium plugin, Post Planner.

How To Install The Plugin

Log into your WP admin section and select Plugins > Add New …

In the Install Plugins screen, type in “cleverness” into the search field and click Enter …

Locate the Cleverness To-Do List item in the Search Results tab and click Install Now …

Click Activate Plugin …

Note: You can also activate this plugin from the Plugins screen …

When you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

Note: The ‘Settings’ section can also be accessed by selecting To-Do List > Settings from the admin menu …

This takes you to the ‘Settings’ page …

The section below shows you how to configure the plugin …

Setting Up The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

The plugin’s ‘Settings’ area is divided into four tabs:

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

Let’s now configure each of these tabs.

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 gets 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.

Private categories are not visible when using widgets or shortcodes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

List View lets you specify how your lists will be viewed. You can choose three list views:

• Individual – Selecting this option allows 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 – This option allows you to create one master list for all users, where users have their own individual completion of items. If you choose the ‘Master’ list view, make sure to set 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 select Alphabetical, Category or ID options, items will be first sorted by priority.

Show Added By

Enabling this option lets you display which of your users has added an item to the to-do list.

Note: This setting only applies when ‘List View’ is set to ‘Group’.

Show Date Completed

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) displays completion dates for to-do tasks.

Show Deadline

If this option is enabled, you will be able to specify deadlines for your to-do tasks …

Show Progress

If enabled (‘Yes’), you will be able to 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 Dashboard 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 to display content in your to-do list items using paragraphs.

Integrate with Post Planner

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

To learn more about using this WordPress plugin, visit this site: WordPress Post Planner – Plugin For WordPress

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

Advanced Settings

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

This brings up the plugin’s ‘Advanced Settings’ area …

This area lets you customize your To-Do lists, assign to-do tasks to users and carry out plugin database maintenance tasks.

Let’s step 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 …

The following options can be configured in this section:

Date Format

This section lets you specify how to display dates on your todo list (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

Note: To learn more about formatting dates in WordPress, refer to the relevant section of the WordPress Codex below:

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

In this section you can customize labels for important, normal and lowest priority 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 (‘Yes’) will show item IDs on the list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), the date the to-do list was added shows up 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 …

You can configure the following settings in this section:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

If enabled, you can 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

Enable this option to display tasks only to users who have been specifically assigned those items. Leaving this option disabled will display to-do items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Checking the boxes in this area Editor displays the type of users that can be assigned to-do items. If you do not want to assign to-do items to a role, then don’t tick its checkbox.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

If you enable this option, WordPress automatically sends 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 you disable this option, you can 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 show categories in the email subject.

If you don’t want to display to-do categories in the email subject, then leave this option disabled.

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 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 emails to users. Add the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

In this field, type the email address that you want displayed as the “sent from” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Type into this field a subject field for the email that will be automatically sent to users whenever a new item has been assigned to 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

This area of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab allows you to carry out database maintenance operations related to plugin data inside the plugin settings area itself …

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

The tasks below can be performed in this section:

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

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

If you don’t want to back up your files manually, then use a professional, or use a WordPress backup plugin. Learn about a great WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your backup process here:

• Back Up, Duplicate And Protect Your WordPress Sites With Backup Creator WP Plugin

User Permissions

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

If you are using Individual List, the only permission applicable for this section is the View To-Do List option …

If you are setting up user permissions and capabilities for Group and Master List types, select the highest level capabilities that you want users to perform for each option …

The default general capabilities of each user role are as follows:

• Subscribers: Read
• Contributors: Edit Posts
• Authors: Publish Posts
• Editors: Edit Others Posts
• Administrators: Manage Options

Note: When using the Master list type non-administrator users should only be permitted to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list.

Here is a description of the settings in the User Permissions section:

View To-Do List

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

Add To-Do Item Capability

Here you can allow the selected capability to add new to-do items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

Here you can permit the chosen capability to edit existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

Here you can enable the selected 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 setting permits the chosen capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This option permits the selected capability to purge all the completed to-do 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 useful. For example, you may decide to transfer data from one website to another, or export the list data for backup or reporting purposes.

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

Use this section to export or import your list 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 opens up a window allowing you to download and save the data in plain text format to a storage device (e.g. your hard drive) …

In addition to exporting list data from the ‘Import/Export’ tab, you can also export data by going to your main 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 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 …

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

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

Your file data will be imported.

Now that you have configured all plugin settings, you can start create and edit to-do lists.

How To Use The Plugin

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

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

Add New Items To Your List

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

For example, you can add new items to your to-do list from your WP 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 also 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 send you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section down the page) …

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

Depending on how you have set up your plugin, you may or may not see certain options displayed when adding new to-do items.

Configure the options you have enabled for your to-do items, enter appropriate information into the relevant fields and click on the ‘Submit To-Do Item’ button to add the new to-do item …

Note: If you are using a list type that lets you assign tasks 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 you have added an item, the item will be listed as an entry in the ‘To-Do List’ table …

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

Edit And Delete Items

To edit or delete an item, click on the ‘Edit’ or ‘Delete’ buttons next to each item under the ‘Action’ column …

Depending on how you have configured your plugin settings (discussed in the previous section), users assigned to completing tasks may also receive an email notification in their inboxes …

Once you have created your to-do list, users can view it from their own dashboard …

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

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

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

Additional Information

The Cleverness To-Do List plugin provides added functionality that lets you display a to-do list on your WordPress site using widgets, and add a list to content inside a post or page using shortcodes.

Using The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Widget

To add a to-do list to your site using widgets, go to the ‘Widgets’ page (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 appear …

Configure the widget settings and click ’Save’ …

The list will appear where the ‘to-do-list’ widget was placed (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• Using WordPress Widget

Using Plugin Short Codes

Cleverness To-Do List also lets you add lists to your site by inserting shortcodes into your content.

To access the documentation on using short codes, click on To-Do List > To-Do List from the admin menu …

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

Click on the ‘Shortcodes’ menu 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 information you would like to add to your site, create a new page or post and either type or paste the short code into the content area …

Publish your post or page and you should see the list displayed where you have added the short code …

Visit this site for more information about this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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