Creating A To Do List In WordPress

When you run a hectic business or manage other people, time is always in short supply.

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, appointments to make, commitments to keep and so on. The stress of trying to get things done on time never ends.

Now … add the extra dimension of trying to promote and grow your business online and maintaining your website or blog updated with regular content and everything can suddenly begin feeling unmanageable and chaotic.

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, keep track of your progress, and, if necessary, delegate responsibilities to members of your team or staff efficiently.

One proven method that can help you save time, create a sense of order and manageability, and allow you to take control is to use “to-do” lists.

Benefits Of Using To-Do Lists

A “to-do” list helps you measure your progress as you work towards certain goals. Your to-do list can be very detailed or specific, or just serve as a reminder of the things that need doing over a given period of time.

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

Clearer Thinking

Creating a to-do list means you won’t have to keep remembering stuff or store excessive information inside your head. Once tasks are written down on a to-do list, your brain is free to process information and you can focus on other areas that are more important.

Manage Your Time Better

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you save time and better manage your workload. You can gain a clearer perspective on what’s more urgent vs what isn’t, and what steps should be completed first.

Quickly Reorganize

Having a to do list lets you better handle situations. If an appointment gets cancelled or extra time becomes available because some part of the process was completed sooner than expected, you can quickly reorganize or reschedule and continue moving forward with no disruption.

Accountability

With no accountability there is no commitment to getting things completed, and no motivation to act with a sense of purpose. Lack of accountability allows excuses to creep in and influence your productivity.

Better Work Delegation

A to-do list helps you better assign work to others. This is also important if you plan to collaborate with others (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 focused manner and efficiency and productivity in your business will surely increase.

What about adding a to-do list to your WordPress website?

In this detailed tutorial you are going to learn how to create to do lists in WordPress to help your team get things done  faster and more efficiently using a great little 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.

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Features

Note: the plugin features listed below will be 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 your to do list, or to have a master list with individual item completions.

The shared to-do list option includes different settings. You can assign to-do items to a specific user (this includes emailing a new to-do item to the user) and optionally to have those items be seen by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users. There are also settings to show deadline and progress fields. Category support is included as well in the front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the admin backend to manage your lists and your to do lists can also display on the dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is available as well as shortcode to display the to do list items on your site. There are 2 short codes for front-end list administration. Category management is accessed via the back-end.

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

Plugin Installation

From your WP administration area, choose 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 Cleverness To-Do List plugin in the Search Results tab and click Install Now …

Activate the plugin after installing it …

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

When the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

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

This takes you to the plugin ‘Settings’ page …

The section below shows you how to configure the plugin …

How To Configure The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

The “To-Do List” plugin ‘Settings’ area is divided into 4 tabs:

• To-Do List Settings – In this tab you can specify the plugin’s main settings.
• Advanced Settings – Here you can customize 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 – Here you can export and import to-do list data and plugin settings.

Let’s now go through each of these tabs.

To-Do List Settings

To-Do List Categories

Choose ‘Enabled’ to organize your to-do lists into categories, otherwise leave this option set to ‘Disabled’.

Note: If 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 lists (see ‘Plugin Usage’ section further below for more details) …

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

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

List View

List View allows you to choose how lists are viewed. There are 3 kinds of to do list views you can select:

• Individual – Selecting this option lets each user create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Choosing this option allows users to share one to-do list.
• Master – Choose this option 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 adjust 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 select 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 members has added an item to the to-do list.

Note: This setting only works if ‘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 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 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 this option is enabled (‘Yes’), automatic paragraphs are used to display content in to-do list items.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you are running a collaborative site or blog, you can integrate the Cleverness To Do List plugin with a plugin called WordPress Post Planner, developed by the same plugin author that provides you with a complete WordPress editorial solution …

To learn more about using this WordPress plugin, visit this site: WordPress Post Planner – Editorial Solution Plugin For WordPress

Once you have finished configuring your plugin options in this section, click the ‘Save Changes’ button …

Advanced Settings

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

This brings up the plugin’s ‘Advanced Settings’ section …

This screen lets you customize your To-Do lists, assign to-do tasks to users and perform plugin 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

In this area 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 formatting dates in WordPress, visit the date 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 given the highest (important) priority are color-coded in red and lowest priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option displays item IDs on the list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) shows 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 options in this section and assign to-do items to other users …

The following options can be configured in this section:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

If 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

Enabling this option displays tasks 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 (Administrator displays the type of users that can be assigned items. Leave the checkbox 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 will automatically send users an email with their assigned to-do items …

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

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 displayed in the email subject.

If you don’t want to-do categories displayed in the subject of your emails, then leave this option disabled (‘No’).

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

Enabling this option displays 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

Use this field to customize the “From” field when sending out email notices. Type your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

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

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Add a subject field for the email that will be automatically sent out to users whenever new items have been assigned in 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 area of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab you can perform database maintenance tasks related to plugin data directly from your plugin settings area without the need to access your server …

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

You can perform the following tasks in this section:

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

Any actions that you perform on your database from this screen cannot be reversed. If you are comfortable to perform database maintenance in this section, then we recommend backing up your database first.

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

• Backup, Clone & Protect Your WP Website With Backup Creator WP Plugin

User Permissions

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

If you are using Individual List, the only configurable option 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 or Master List types, select the highest level capabilities that you would like 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 non-administrator users should only be permitted to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list.

Let’s review the settings for the User Permissions section:

View To-Do List

Here you can enable 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 permits the chosen capability to mark items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

Here you can permit the chosen capability to modify existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

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

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This option 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 selected capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This setting permits the chosen capability to purge all the completed to-do items.

Add Categories Capability

This permits 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 need to transfer data from an existing to-do list to another website, or export your data for backup or archiving purposes.

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

Use this section to export or import your data and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

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

This opens up a new window allowing you to download and save the data as plain text to an internal or external storage medium …

As well as exporting list data from the ‘Import/Export’ section, you can also export data by going to your WordPress main menu and choosing 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 a 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 …

Locate the file in your hard drive or external drive and click ‘Open’ …

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

Your file data will be imported.

Now that you have configured all of the plugin settings, you can start create and edit your lists.

Plugin Usage

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

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

Adding New To-Do Items

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

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

You can also add new items to your to-do list using the ‘To-Do List’ dashboard section 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, as the link will simply take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section further down the screen) …

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

Depending on the way you have configured your plugin’s settings, some options may not display when new items to your to-do list.

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 are using a list type that allows you to assign responsibilities over items to specific 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, it will be listed as an entry in the ‘To-Do List’ table …

Repeat the above process to continue adding new items to your to-do list …

Editing And Deleting 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 set up the plugin (discussed earlier), users assigned to tasks may also receive an email notification in their inboxes …

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

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

… the item no longer appears in the “To-Do” list …

And appears in the ‘Completed Items’ table located in the ’To-Do List’ screen …

Additional Information

The Cleverness To-Do List plugin provides additional functions that let you display a to-do list on your WordPress website using widgets, and add lists to any page or post using shortcodes.

Using The 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 the list to appear …

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

Your to-do list will display on your site where you have added the ‘to-do-list’ widget (e.g. 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

Cleverness To-Do List also lets you create to-do lists to your site with short codes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

To download this plugin, visit this site:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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