How To Create To-Do Lists In WordPress

As a busy person trying to run a business or manage a team, time always seems to be in short supply.

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

Now … add the extra workload of trying to promote and grow your business online and keeping your website updated with regular content and everything suddenly begins feeling 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 activities, monitor your progress and daily accomplishments, and, if necessary, assign tasks and responsibilities to others efficiently.

A proven 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 To-Do Lists

A “to-do” list can help to keep you on track and monitor your progress as you complete tasks. Your to do list can be minutely detailed or specific, or just serve as a reminder of tasks that need doing today, tomorrow, this week, this month, etc.

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

Free Up Resources

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

Manage Your Time Better

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you manage your time more effectively. You can develop a better perspective on what is truly urgent vs what isn’t, and what steps have to be completed first.

Log Your Work

To-do lists let you keep documented logs of what work has been done. You can use this to provide evidence of work done to clients or employers, or just as a way of helping you track your own productivity and efficiency.

Reduce Stress

Stress can come from feeling overwhelmed by so much to do and so little time to do it all in. Using to do lists let you work on urgent things that have to be completed immediately, and push out items that can be worked on at a later time. This can help reduce stress.

Better Delegation Of Work

To-do lists help you better assign work to others. 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. Create a list, prioritize your list items and work in a systematic way and efficiency and productivity in your business is sure to improve.

Let’s turn now to using to-do lists on your website or blog. More specifically, adding a to-do list to WordPress.

In this detailed step-by-step tutorial you are going to learn how to create a to-do list in WordPress to help get things done online  faster and more efficiently using a great little WordPress plugin called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To Do List

Plugin URL

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

Description

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

Features

Note: the features listed below are 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 your to-do list, or to have a master list with individual completion of items.

The shared to-do list option includes a number of different settings. You can delegate to-do items to specific users (this includes emailing new to do items to assigned users) and optionally to have those items only seen by that user. You can also assign different permission levels using capabilities. There are also settings to enable the display of 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 manage your lists and the to do lists are also displayed on the dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is available as well as short code to display the to-do list items on your site. There are two short codes for front-end list administration. Management of categories is accessible through the back-end admin section.

If you plan to set up a multi-author site you can use the to do lists plugin to create custom to do lists for your post editors if you also install the Post Planner plugin.

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Installation

Log into your WordPress dashboard and in the main menu select Plugins > Add New …

In the Install Plugins section, 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 …

Activate the plugin after installing it …

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

After the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

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

This takes you to the ‘Settings’ area …

Let’s go through the plugin setup process …

Configuring The Plugin

The “To-Do List” plugin ‘Settings’ screen is divided into four sections:

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

Let’s configure each of these tabs.

To-Do List Settings

To-Do List Categories

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

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

This lets you 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.

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

List View

List View lets you specify how to-do lists are viewed. There are three kinds of to-do list views:

• Individual – Select this option if you want each user to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Choosing this option allows all users to share one 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 using 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 to sort to-do list items.

If you choose ID, Alphabetical, or Category options, items will be sorted first by priority.

Show Added By

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

Show Deadline

Enabling this option lets you specify deadlines for your to-do items …

Show Progress

If enabled (‘Yes’), 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 Dashboard Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

This menu option lets you add and edit items on your to-do list using the WordPress WYSIWYG Editor …

Use Auto Paragraphs

If enabled, automatic paragraphs are used to display content in your to-do lists.

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 provides you with a complete WordPress editorial solution …

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

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

Advanced Settings

Once you have configured the settings in the To-Do List Settings tab, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab to continue …

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

In this section you can customize your To Do lists, assign to-do tasks to users and perform database maintenance tasks.

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’ tab lets you 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 to-do 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

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

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

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) displays the items’ IDs on your list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) will display the date your 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 settings in this section and assign to-do items to other users …

You can configure the following settings in this section:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enable this option to assign to-do items 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. Leaving this option disabled displays items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Checking the boxes in this area (Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, Subscriber) displays the type of users that can be assigned items. Leave the check box unticked for any roles that you don’t want to assign to-do items.

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 if you don’t want to send out emails to users.

Note: If you disable this option, 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 in the subject of emails sent to users …

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

Leave this option disabled if you don’t want to display categories in the email subject.

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

If enabled (‘Yes’), you can display the user who assigned the to-do item in the email. This is a useful option if your site has multiple 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 notices to users. Type the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

In this field, enter the email address that you would like showing as the “sent from” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Add into this field a subject field for the email that will be sent automatically to users when new items have been assigned to your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

In this field, type 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 tasks related to plugin data directly from your plugin settings area …

This is useful if, for example, you notice that old todo items are still listed on your site.

You can perform the following tasks 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 the database from this screen cannot be reversed. If you are comfortable to perform database maintenance in this section, then make sure to backup your database first.

If you don’t want to perform your own site backups, then consider using professional WordPress support services, or use WordPress backup plugins. You can learn more about a WordPress backup plugin that can automate your backup process here:

• Backup, Clone And Protect Your WP Website With Backup Creator Plugin For WP

User Permissions

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

If you have selected Individual List, the only permission applicable in this section is the View To-Do List option …

If you are configuring 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 working with the Master list type make sure that you only authorize non-admin users 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

This option permits 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 enable the chosen capability to mark to-do items as completed or uncompleted.

Add To-Do Item Capability

This setting enables the selected capability to add new items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

Here you can enable the selected capability to edit existing items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

Here you can enable the selected 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

This setting enables the chosen capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

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

Add Categories Capability

Here you can allow the selected 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 want to copy over 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 …

Now you can import or export 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 window allowing you to download and save your data in plain text format to a storage medium (e.g. your hard drive) …

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

You can include to-do list data in an 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 the ‘Download Export File’ button to save 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 in your hard drive or external drive and click ‘Open’ …

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

Your file will be imported.

After configuring all of the plugin settings, you can start creating and editing your lists.

Plugin Usage

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 …

Add 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 to your list inside your 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, since the link is only going to take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section at the bottom of the page) …

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

Depending on how you have set up your plugin, 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 new to-do item …

Note: If you have chosen 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 remove a user) …

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

Repeat this process to keep adding new items to your to-do list …

Editing And Removing To-Do Items From Your List

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 the plugin (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 the list from their user dashboard …

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

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

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

Additional Information

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

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 menu where you want the list to display …

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

Your list will now display where you have inserted the widget (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• Using s

Using Plugin Shortcodes

The plugin also lets you add lists on 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 your admin menu …

Click on 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 shortcodes to display lists and checklists on your content.

Once you know what 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 shortcode into the content area …

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

Visit the plugin website here for more details about this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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