How To Create A To-Do List In WordPress

There are never enough hours in the day to get things done, especially if you run a fast-paced business or manage other people.

There is just so much to do and remember. You have so many deadlines to meet, projects to complete, meetings to attend, fires to extinguish, deliveries to make, commitments to keep and so on. The amount of things that need ”doing” never stops.

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 quickly start becoming unmanageable and out of control.

Whether you are running a business, website, blog, or managing a team, it’s important to be able to organize and prioritize your daily tasks, monitor your progress and daily accomplishments, and, if necessary, delegate tasks and responsibilities to others efficiently.

One simple “tried and true” tool that can help you save time, create a sense of order and manageability, and allow you to regain control is to use a “to do” list.

Benefits Of Using A To Do List

A “to do” list helps you monitor your progress as you work to achieve a certain objective. Your to-do list can be very detailed or specific, or serve as a concise reminder of what needs to be done over a given period of time.

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

Stay Organized

Having a to-do list helps you create order, keep things organized and reach goals sooner.

Strategize

By creating and organizing your to do list, you can see the larger picture and formulate a strategy for getting things done on time and on budget.

Document Your Work

A to-do list allows you to maintain documented logs of what has been done. You can use this as evidence of work done to clients or employers, or simply as a means of helping you monitor your own productivity and efficiency.

Accountability

With no 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 a to-do list gives you a feeling of accomplishment and allows you to stress less, as you can objectively see (or show) that the workload is being completed and that milestones are being reached.

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

What about using to do lists on your website?

In this detailed tutorial we are going to show you how to easily add to-do lists 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

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin URL

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

Description

This WordPress plugin lets you easily add a customizable to do list to WordPress.

Features

Note: the features described below are 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 offers a number of settings. You can assign 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 be seen by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users based on user roles. 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 lists and the 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 two shortcodes for front-end list administration. Management of categories is accessed via the back-end admin section.

If you plan to run a multi-author site you can use this to-do lists plugin to create custom to do lists for your post planners if you also own the Post Planner plugin.

How To Install The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

Log into your site’s dashboard and select 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 entry in the Search Results tab and click Install Now …

Click “Activate Plugin” …

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

Once the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

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

This brings you to the ‘Settings’ area …

Let’s go through the plugin configuration process …

Configuring The Plugin

The Settings area is divided into 4 tabs:

• To-Do List Settings – This area is where you specify the plugin’s main 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 – Here you can configure user permissions and capabilities for Master and Group List types.
• Import/Export – In this area you can import and export to-do plugin and list data settings.

Let’s now go through 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: When you enable this option, a ‘Categories’ item gets added to the To-Do List plugin menu …

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

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

Categories set to ‘private’ are not visible using the sidebar widgets or shortcodes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

List View lets you specify how your lists are viewed. There are 3 kinds of list views you can choose:

• Individual – Choose this option if you want each user to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Selecting this option lets all users share one to-do list.
• Master – Select this option to create a master list for all users, where users have their own individual items to complete. If using 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 choose Alphabetical, Category or ID options, items will be sorted first by priority.

Show Added By

If enabled, you can 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

If this option is enabled, completion dates will display for your to-do items.

Show Deadline

If enabled, you will be able to specify deadlines for 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 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 (‘Yes’) 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, developed by the same author that provides you with a complete WordPress editorial solution …

Go here to learn more this plugin: WordPress Post Planner – WordPress Plugin

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

Advanced Settings

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

This brings you to the ‘Advanced Settings’ area …

This section lets you customize your To Do lists, assign to-do items to other users and perform 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

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 in your todo lists (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

Note: To learn more about formatting 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 labels for important, middle and low priority items …

Items prioritized as “important” are shown in red in the lists and low priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

If enabled, the items’ IDs display on your list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) displays the date the table of items 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 settings in this section and assign to-do items to other users …

The following settings can be configured in this area:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

If this option is 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 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 Subscriber) 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 check box.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), WordPress will automatically send users an email with their assigned to-do items …

If you don’t want emails sent out to users, then leave this option disabled.

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

Leave this option disabled (‘No’) if you don’t want categories to show the email subject.

Leave this option disabled if you don’t want categories to appear the subject of your emails.

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

Enable this option (‘Yes’) to display the user who assigned the to-do item in the email. This is a useful option if your website has multiple 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. You can enter your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

Enter the email address that you would like to display 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 distributed to users when new items have been added in your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

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

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

You can perform the following tasks:

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

Any database operations you perform from this screen cannot be reversed. If you are sure that you want to carry out database maintenance in this section, then remember to backup your WordPress database first.

If you don’t want to back up your site yourself, then consider getting professional WordPress help, or use WordPress backup plugins. You can read about a great WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to automate backups here:

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

User Permissions

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

If you select the Individual List type, the only permission that is applicable for this section is the View To-Do List permission …

If you plan to set up user permissions and capabilities for Group and 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 non-admin users should only be authorized to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list.

Let’s review the settings for this section:

View To-Do List

Here you can permit 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 selected capability to mark to-do items as completed or uncompleted.

Add To-Do Item Capability

This setting enables the selected capability to add new to-do items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This permits the selected capability to modify existing to-do 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 setting 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 chosen capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

Here you can allow the selected capability to purge all the completed items.

Add Categories Capability

Here you can permit the chosen 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 decide to copy over data from an existing to-do list to another website, or export your 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 import or export your to-do list data and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

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

This will open up a new window allowing you to download and save your data in plain text format to a storage device (e.g. your hard drive) …

As well as exporting data from the ‘Import/Export’ section, you can also export data by going to your WordPress admin 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 just select ‘To-Do’ from the ‘Choose what to export’ section and click the ‘Download Export File’ button to save your file to your storage medium…

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 in your settings area, click on the ‘Import Settings’ button …

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

After configuring all plugin settings, you can begin create and edit to-do lists.

Plugin Usage

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

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

Adding New To-Do Items To Your List

There are several ways to add new to-do items.

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

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

All the methods shown above will bring you to the ‘Add New To-Do Item’ section.

Depending on the way you have set up your plugin, some options may not display when adding new items to your to-do list.

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

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 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 keep adding items to your list …

Editing And Deleting To Do Items

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 configured the plugin (discussed earlier), users assigned to tasks may also receive email notifications …

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

When a user assigned with completing an item clicks on the item check box …

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

And appears in the ‘Completed Items’ section located in the ’To-Do List’ plugin area …

Additional Plugin Information

The Cleverness plugin offers added functionality that lets you display a to-do list on your WordPress site using widgets, and add a list to any page or post using short codes.

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 location in your sidebar (or footer) menu where you would like the to-do list to show …

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

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

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

• How To Use WordPress Widget

Using The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Shortcodes

You can also display to-do lists to your site using shortcodes.

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

Click the ‘Help’ tab on the top right hand 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 to display lists on your pages and posts.

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

Publish your post or page and you should see the list displayed where you entered the shortcode …

Visit this site to learn more about this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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