How To Create To-Do Lists In WordPress

If you are running a fast-paced business or managing a team, 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, priorities to attend to, fires to put out, deliveries to make, commitments to keep and so on. The “doing” never seems to end.

Now … add the extra dimension of trying to promote and grow your business online and maintaining your website or blog updated with new content and things can start feeling unmanageable and out of control.

Whether you run a business, website, blog, or manage a team, you need to be able to organize and manage your day.

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

The Benefits Of Using A To-Do List

A “to-do” list can help you measure your progress as you to get tasks completed. Your to do list can be very detailed and specific, or just serve as a reminder of what needs to be done over a given period of time.

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

Organization

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

Better Manage Your Time

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you save time. You can gain a clearer perspective on what is truly important vs what is not, and what steps need to be completed first.

Quickly Reschedule

A to-do list lets you better cope with new and unforeseen situations. If a meeting gets cancelled or extra time becomes available when some aspect of the process gets completed sooner than expected, you can keep working with no disruption.

Ensures Accountability

Without accountability there is no commitment to getting things completed, and no motivation to take meaningful action. Lack of accountability can also let excuses creep in and influence your productivity.

Feeling Of Accomplishment

Crossing items off a to do list not only makes you feel more positive, motivated and in-control, it also allows you to stress less, as you can objectively see (or show) that the work is 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. Create a list, prioritize your list items and work in a focused way and productivity and efficiency in your business will increase.

What about adding to-do lists to your website?

In this step-by-step tutorial we are going to show you how to easily create to do lists in WordPress to help your business grow  faster and more efficiently using a customizable, multi-featured to-do list WordPress plugin called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To-Do List

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Download URL

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

Plugin Description

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

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 the same 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 specific users (this includes emailing a new to do item to assigned users) and optionally to have assigned items only viewable by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users based on user roles. There are also settings available 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 manage your list and your to do list is also listed on the dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is also available as short code to display the to-do list items on your blog. There are two shortcodes for front-end administration of your list. Category management is accessed via the back-end admin section.

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

How To Install The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

Log into your WP administration area scroll down the main menu select Plugins > Add New …

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

Locate the entry in the Search Results area and click Install Now …

Activate the plugin after installing it …

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

Once the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

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

This brings you to the ‘Settings’ section …

The section below shows you how to configure the plugin …

Configuring The Plugin

The plugin’s ‘Settings’ area is divided into 4 tabs:

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

Let’s now go through each of these sections.

To-Do List Settings

To-Do List Categories

Select ‘Enabled’ to organize your to-do list 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 lets you add categories that you can use to organize your to-do lists (see ‘Plugin Usage’ section further below for more details) …

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

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

List View

List View lets you choose how your to-do lists will be viewed. You can choose from three types 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 – Select this option if you want all users to be able to share one to-do list.
• Master – This option allows you to have one master list for all users, where users have their own individual completion of items. If using the ‘Master’ list view, make sure that you configure the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (this is covered further below).

Sort Order

‘Sort Order’ lets you specify how to-do list items will be sorted.

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

Show Added By

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

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

Show Date Completed

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

Show Deadline

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

Show Progress

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you will be able to specify task progress indicators for your to-do items …

Show Admin Bar Menu

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) displays the ‘To-Do List’ menu in your WP 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 to-do list items using paragraphs.

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, developed by the same author that provides you with a complete WordPress editorial solution …

To learn more this handy plugin, visit this site: WordPress Post Planner

When you have configured your plugin options in this section, click the ‘Save Changes’ button to update your settings …

Advanced Settings

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

This brings up the ‘Advanced Settings’ screen …

In this area you can customize your To-Do lists, assign to-do tasks to users and perform plugin 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

Here 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 lists (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

Note: To learn more about how to format dates in WordPress, visit the relevant section of the WordPress Codex below:

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

This section lets you customize labels for highest (important), normal and lowest (low) priority items …

Highest (important) priority items are colour-coded in red and low priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option displays the items’ IDs on the to-do list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If enabled, the date your to-do list was added shows up on your To-Do 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 to-do items to other users …

You can configure the following options in this area:

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 tasks only to users who have been assigned those items. Leaving this option disabled (‘No’) will display to-do items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Checking the boxes in this area Contributor displays the type of users that can be assigned to-do items. Leave the checkbox 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 an email to users with their assigned to-do items …

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

Note: If you disable this option, you can skip 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 categories added to the subject of your emails.

Leave this option disabled if you don’t want to show to-do categories in the subject of your emails.

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 various 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 email notices. You can enter your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like in this field …

From Email

Add the email address that you would like displayed as the “sent from” email address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Enter a subject field for the email that will be automatically sent to users whenever new items have been added in your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

Add into this field 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 operations associated with plugin data inside the plugin settings area …

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

The following tasks can be performed in this section:

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

Any database operations performed from this screen cannot be undone. If you are comfortable to carry out database maintenance in this section, then remember to backup your database first.

If you don’t want to do your own backups, then consider getting professional help, or use backup plugins. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to automate WordPress file and database backups here:

• Back Up, Clone & Keep Your WP Web Site Protected With Backup Creator Plugin For WP

User Permissions

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

If you have chosen the Individual List type, the only item that applies in 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 …

The 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 non-admin users should only be permitted to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list.

Let’s review the settings in the User Permissions 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

This option enables the selected capability to mark to-do items as completed or uncompleted.

Add To-Do Item Capability

Here you can permit the chosen capability to add new items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This enables the chosen capability to modify existing items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

Here you can enable the selected capability to assign to-do items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This permits 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

Here you can allow 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 allow the chosen 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 want to copy over data from an existing list to another website, or store the list data for backup or archiving purposes.

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

Use this section to easily import and export your 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 opens up a window allowing you to view or save your data in plain text format to a storage device …

In addition to exporting to-do list data from the ‘Import/Export’ section, you can also export data by going to your admin menu and selecting 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 download your file to a storage device…

Importing To-Do List Data

Importing a previously saved to-do list data file is easy. Just 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’ …

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

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

After configuring all plugin settings, you are ready to start create and edit to do lists.

How To Use The Plugin

To create a new to-do list, log into your WordPress dashboard, then go to the menu and click on To-Do List > To-Do List …

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

Add New Items To Your To-Do List

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

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

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

Set up 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 have chosen a list type that allows you to assign tasks to users, select a user from the drop-down list and assign them the item …

You can also assign items to multiple users (click on ‘x’ to delete a user) …

After you have added the item, it will be listed as an entry in the ‘To-Do Items’ table …

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

Editing And Removing Items From Your List

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 set up the plugin (see previous section), users assigned to completing tasks may also receive email notifications …

Once you have created your to do list, users can view the list from their WordPress user dashboard …

When the user assigned with the item completes the task and ticks the item check box …

… the item is removed from the “To-Do” list …

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

Additional Plugin 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 insert lists into any page or post 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 menu location where you would like your to-do list to display …

Configure the widget settings and click the ‘Save’ button …

The list will appear where you have placed the widget (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use s

Using The Cleverness Plugin Shortcodes

The Cleverness plugin also lets you add to-do lists on your site with shortcodes.

To access the plugin’s shortcode documentation, select To-Do List > To-Do List from your 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 screen …

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

Once you know what type of information you would like to add to your site, create or edit a new or existing post or page and either type or paste the shortcode into the content section …

After publishing your post or page, you will see the list showing where you entered the short code …

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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