Creating To-Do Lists In WordPress

Time is always in short supply, especially if you are a busy person trying to run a business or manage a team.

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 extinguish, deliveries to make, schedules to keep and so on. The amount of things that need ”doing” never seems to end.

Now … add the extra dimension of promoting and growing your business online and maintaining your website updated with regular content and everything can quickly start to become unmanageable and chaotic.

Whether you run a business, website, blog, or manage a project, you need to be able to organize and manage your daily tasks.

One simple proven tool that can help you save time, reduce stressful workloads, and allow you to gain some control is to use “to-do” lists.

To-Do Lists – Benefits

A “to-do” list can help you measure your progress when working towards a certain objective. Your to do list can be minutely detailed or specific, or serve as a concise reminder of the things that need doing today, tomorrow, this week, this month, etc.

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

Think Clearly

Creating a to-do list means you won’t have to try and remember stuff or clutter your head 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 things that are more important to you.

Strategize

By creating and organizing your to do list, you can break down larger projects into more doable tasks and formulate a strategy to get tasks completed efficiently.

Quickly Reschedule Or Reorganize

A to do list helps you better handle situations. If you find that an appointment gets cancelled at the last minute or extra time is made available when some aspect of the project gets completed sooner than expected, you can quickly reorganize or reschedule and continue moving forward with little to no disruption.

Stress Less

Stress can result from feeling overwhelmed by the fact that there is so much that needs to get done and so little time to do it in. Using a to-do list allows you to work on important tasks that need to get done within the time you have available, and reschedule non-urgent tasks that can be worked on at a later time. This can help reduce stress.

Feeling Of Accomplishment

Ticking items off to do lists 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 workload is being completed 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 focused way improves your business efficiency and productivity.

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

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

Cleverness To-Do List

Download The Plugin

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

Description

This plugin lets you easily add customizable to-do lists to a WordPress website or blog.

Features

Note: the plugin features described below are discussed in more detail in the tutorial section.

You can configure the plugin 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 includes different settings. You can delegate to do items to a specific user (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 using capabilities. 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 backend to manage your list and the to do lists 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 through the back-end.

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

Plugin Installation

Inside your WP dashboard, go to the menu and select Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Activate the plugin …

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

When the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

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

This takes you to the plugin ‘Settings’ area …

Let’s go through the plugin setup process …

How To Configure The Plugin

The Settings screen is divided into 4 tabs:

• To-Do List Settings – This area lets you specify the plugin’s main settings.
• Advanced Settings – In this section you can customize your to-do lists, assign tasks to other users and perform plugin database maintenance tasks.
• User Permissions – Here you can configure user permissions and capabilities for Group and Master List types.
• Import/Export – The options in this section let you export and import your 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 your lists into categories, otherwise leave this option set to ‘Disabled’.

Note: If you enable this option, a ‘Categories’ item will be 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 set to ‘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 lists are viewed. There are three 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 – Select this option if you want all users to share the same 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 you choose the ‘Master’ list view, make sure that you set the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (see further below).

Sort Order

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

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

Show Added By

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

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

Show Date Completed

Enabling this option displays completion dates for to-do items.

Show Deadline

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

Show Progress

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you specify task progress indicators for your to-do items …

Show Admin Bar Menu

If enabled, the ‘To-Do List’ menu displays in your WP Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) 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 list items using paragraphs.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you are running a multi-author 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 …

Visit this site to learn more this plugin: WordPress Post Planner – WordPress Editorial Solution Plugin

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

Advanced Settings

Once you have configured the general settings, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab …

This brings up the ‘Advanced Settings’ section …

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

Let’s go 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 settings 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 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 the labels for highest, normal and lowest (low) priority items …

Items prioritized as “important” are colour-coded in red and lowest priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

If enabled (‘Yes’), the items’ IDs display on your to-do list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If enabled (‘Yes’), the date the to-do list was added shows up on your 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 options 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 set this option to ‘Yes’ for the settings below it to work.

Show a User Only the To-Do Items Assigned to Them

If this option is enabled, you can display to-do items only to users who have been specifically 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 check box unticked for any roles that you do not want to assign to-do items.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

When you enable this option, WordPress automatically sends users an email with their assigned to-do items …

If you don’t want to send out emails to users, then leave this option disabled (‘No’).

Note: If this option is disabled, you can skip the remaining items 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 to show to-do categories in the subject of your emails.

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

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 option is useful if, for example, your site has several 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 notifications. Type the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

Type into this field the email address that you want to display as the “sent from” email 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 added to your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

In this field, 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

In this area of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab you can carry out database maintenance operations related to plugin data directly from the plugin settings area itself without the need to access your server …

This is useful if, for example, you see that previously deleted to-do items are still showing on your site.

The tasks below can be performed in this section:

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

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

If you don’t want to perform your own backups, then get professional WordPress support, or use backup plugins. You can read about a WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to automate WordPress file and database backups here:

• Back Up, Clone And Protect Your WP Site With Backup Creator WP Plugin

User Permissions

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

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

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 …

By default, general capabilities of 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 make sure that you only allow non-administrators to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list.

Let’s review the settings for this section:

View To-Do List

This option enables 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 permit the selected capability to mark items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This option enables the chosen capability to modify existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

Here you can permit the chosen capability to assign items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This option 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 option 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 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 need to transfer data from an existing list to another website, or export the data for backup or reporting purposes.

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

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

Exporting To-Do List Data

To export and download your data settings click on the ‘Download Export File’ …

This opens up a window allowing you to view or download the data in plain text format to an internal or external storage device …

In addition to exporting to-do list data from the ‘Import/Export’ section, you can also export data by going to your WordPress dashboard 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 – pages, posts, etc…), or just select ‘To-Do’ from the ‘Choose what to export’ section and click on the ‘Download Export File’ button to download your file to your 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’ …

Once uploading your data file, click on ‘Import Settings’ …

Your file will be imported.

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

How To Use The Plugin

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

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

How To Add New To Do Items To Your List

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

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

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 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 at the bottom of the screen) …

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

Depending on how you have configured the plugin’s settings, you may or may not see certain options displayed when adding new to-do items.

Select 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 selected a list type that lets you 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 an item has been added, it will be listed as an entry in the ‘To-Do List’ table …

Repeat this process to continue adding items to your list …

Edit And Delete To Do Items

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

Depending on your configuration settings (discussed in the previous section), users assigned to tasks may also receive an email notification in their inboxes …

After creating your to do list, users can view it inside their own dashboard …

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

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

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

Additional Plugin Information

The Cleverness plugin offers added functionality that lets you display a to-do list on your WordPress website using widgets, and insert lists into content inside a post or page using shortcodes.

Widgets

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 the list to display …

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

The list will display wherever the ‘to-do-list’ widget has been inserted (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• Using s

Using Plugin Short Codes

Cleverness To-Do List also lets you display lists to your site by placing short codes into your content.

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

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

Click on the ‘Shortcodes’ menu to access the Shortcode Documentation …

This documentation section explains different ways to configure and use short codes for displaying lists 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 page or post and either type or paste the shortcode into the content editor …

Publish your page or post and you should see the list showing exactly where you have added the shortcode …

To download this plugin, visit the plugin website:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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