How To Create A To-Do List In WordPress

If you are a business owner or busy project manager, there never seems to be enough hours in the day to get things done.

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 amount of things that need ”doing” never seems to end.

Now … on top of all this, add the extra dimension of trying to promote and grow your business online and keeping your website updated with regular content and everything can suddenly begin feeling unmanageable and out of control.

Whether you are running a business, website, blog, or managing a project, it’s important to be able to organize and prioritize your daily tasks, track your progress, and, if necessary, assign tasks to others efficiently.

One proven method that can help you save time, reduce stress, and allow you to take control is to use a “to-do” list.

To Do Lists – Benefits

A “to-do” list can help you measure your progress when trying to complete tasks. Your to-do list can be minutely detailed and specific, or act as a concise reminder of the things that need doing over a given period of time.

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

To Do Lists Create Order

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

Manage Your Time Better

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you save time and better manage your workload. You can develop a better perspective on what’s truly important vs what is not, and what steps need to be done first.

Reorganize Quickly

Using to do lists help you better handle new and unexpected situations. If a meeting suddenly gets cancelled or extra time becomes available because a task was completed sooner than expected, you can continue moving forward with minimal disruption.

Accountability

Without accountability there’s no commitment to completion, and no motivation to take meaningful action. Lack of accountability lets excuses creep in and influence your productivity.

Sense Of Accomplishment

Crossing items off a to-do list not only helps you feel more productive, motivated and in-control, it also allows you to relax more, as you can objectively see (or show) that work is indeed getting done and that things are moving forward.

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, prioritizing tasks and working in a systematic way increases efficiency and productivity in your business.

What about using a to do list on your website?

In this detailed tutorial you are going to learn how to easily add a to-do list to a WP website or blog to improve business efficiency and productivity using a customizable, multi-featured to-do list WordPress plugin called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To Do List

Download The Plugin

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

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 have private to-do lists for individual users, to have all users share your to do list, or to have a master list with individual item completions.

The shared to-do list has a variety of settings available. You can delegate to-do items to specific users (this includes a setting to email new to-do items to assigned users) and optionally to have those items only viewable 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 as front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the backend to manage your list and your to do lists can also be displayed 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 shortcodes for front-end administration of your list. Category management is accessed through the back-end admin section.

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 developer’s premium plugin, Post Planner.

Plugin Installation

In your WP admin, choose Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Activate the plugin …

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

When the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

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

This takes you to the ‘Settings’ screen …

Let’s go through the plugin configuration process …

Setting Up The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

The Settings area is divided into 4 tabs:

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

Let’s now take you through each of these sections.

To-Do List Settings

Categories

Choose ‘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 menu …

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

You can create ‘public’ and ‘private’ categories for your 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 allows you to specify how your to-do lists will be viewed. You can choose 3 kinds of to do list views:

• Individual – Choosing this option allows users to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Choosing this option lets users share one to-do list.
• Master – Use this option to have one master list for all users, where users have their own individual items to complete. If using the ‘Master’ list view, make sure that you adjust the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (this is covered further below).

Sort Order

‘Sort Order’ lets you specify how to sort your to-do list items.

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

Show Added By

If enabled (‘Yes’), you can display which of your members 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 (‘Yes’), completion dates will display for your to-do tasks.

Show Deadline

If enabled (‘Yes’), you will be able to specify deadlines for your to-do tasks …

Show Progress

If enabled (‘Yes’), you can specify task progress indicators for your to-do items …

Show Admin Bar Menu

If enabled, the ‘To-Do List’ menu displays in your WordPress 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 to-do lists.

Integrate with Post Planner

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

For more details about this WordPress plugin, go here: WordPress Post Planner

Once you have configured your options, remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button …

Advanced Settings

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

This brings you to the ‘Advanced Settings’ section …

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

Let’s step 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 options can be configured in this section:

Date Format

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

Note: To learn more about formatting dates in WordPress, visit the date section of the WordPress Codex below:

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

In this area you can customize your labels for highest (important), middle and low priority items …

Items given the highest (important) priority are shown in red and low priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), item IDs show up on the list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) will show the date your To-Do Items table was added …

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 options in this area and assign items to other users …

You can configure the following settings in this section:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enable this option (‘Yes’) to 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 (‘Yes’) to display items only to users who have been 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 Contributor displays the type of users that can be assigned to-do 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

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

Leave this option disabled if you don’t want emails sent out to users.

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 on the subject of your emails …

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

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

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 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. You can enter the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

Add the email address that you want to display as the “sent from” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

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

Text in Emails Sent to User

Type in 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 section allows you to perform database maintenance operations related to plugin data inside your plugin settings area itself without the need to access your server …

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

The following tasks can be performed in this section:

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

Any database operations carried out 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 WordPress database first.

If you don’t want to back up your site yourself, then consider getting assistance from a WordPress professional, or use a WordPress backup plugin. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your site backups here:

• Backup, Clone And Keep Your WordPress Websites And Blogs Protected With Backup Creator WordPress Plugin

User Permissions

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

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

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 have access to for each option …

By default, general capabilities of 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 non-administrators should only be allowed to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list.

Let’s go through the settings in the User Permissions tab:

View To-Do List

This allows 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 setting permits the selected capability to mark items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

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

Assign To-Do Item Capability

Here you can allow the selected capability to delegate items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This permits 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 permits the chosen capability to delete individual to-do items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

Here you can allow the chosen capability to purge all the completed to-do items.

Add Categories Capability

Here you can enable the selected capability to add new categories.

Import/Export

Being able to import and export to-do list data can be useful. For example, you may decide to copy over 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 …

Here you can easily import or export your list and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

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

This opens up a new window allowing you to download and save the data in a plain text file (e.g. Notepad) to an internal or external storage medium …

In addition to exporting to-do list data from the ‘Import/Export’ tab, you can also export data by going to your WordPress dashboard menu and choosing Tools > Export …

You can include to-do list data in an export file (in XML format), either by checking ‘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 hard drive…

Importing To-Do List Data

To import a previously saved to-do list data file, 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’ …

After uploading the data file, click on the ‘Import Settings’ button …

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

After configuring all plugin settings, you can start creating and editing to-do lists.

Plugin Usage

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

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

Adding New Items To Your To-Do List

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

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

You can also add a new item to your to-do list from 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 down the page) …

All the above methods will bring 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 new items to your to-do list.

Configure 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 item to your list …

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 remove users) …

Once 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 to-do list …

Editing And Deleting 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 how you have set up the plugin (discussed in the previous section), users assigned to completing tasks may also receive email notifications …

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

When users assigned with the item complete the task and tick the item checkbox …

… the item disappears from 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 To-Do List plugin offers added functionality that lets you display a to-do list on your site using widgets, and display a list on content inside a post or page 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 menu location where you want your list to display …

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

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

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

• Using WordPress Widget

Plugin Shortcodes

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

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

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

Click on the ‘Shortcodes’ tab to access the Shortcode Documentation screen …

The documentation section explains various ways to configure and use short codes for displaying lists and checklists on your posts and pages.

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

Publish your post or page and you will see the list displayed in the location where you added the short code …

Go here for more information about this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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