Creating A To Do List In WordPress

Time always seems to be in short supply, especially if you are a business owner or busy project manager.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have deadlines to meet, project tasks to complete, priorities to attend to, fires to extinguish, appointments to make, schedules to keep and so on. The “doing” never ends.

Now … add the extra dimension of promoting and growing your business online and keeping your website or blog updated with fresh content and things can start to feel unmanageable and chaotic.

Whether you run a business, website, blog, or manage a team, you need to be able to organize and prioritize your activities, monitor your progress and daily accomplishments, and, if necessary, assign tasks to others effectively.

One simple “tried and true” tool that can help you save time, alleviate stress, and allow you to take control is to use “to do” lists.

To-Do Lists – Benefits

A “to do” list helps you keep track of your progress when working towards certain goals. Your to-do list can be detailed and very specific, or act as a reminder of the things that need to be done over a given period of time.

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

Free Your Brain

Writing to-do lists means you don’t have to try and remember stuff or clutter your mind with details. Once things are written down on a to-do list, your mind is free to process information and you can focus on more important things.

Prioritize Your Time

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you save time and better manage your workload. You can gain a clearer perspective on what’s truly urgent vs what’s not, and what steps have to be done first.

Keep Work Logs

To-do lists let you maintain documented logs of what has been done. This can be used as evidence of work done to employers or clients, or just as a means of helping you assess your own productivity and efficiency.

Stress Relief

Stress can result from feeling overwhelmed by so much to do and very little time to do it in. Using a to do list allows you to work on important items that have to be completed immediately, and reschedule non-urgent items that can be addressed at a later time. This can help you stress less.

Better Work Delegation

A to-do list helps you better delegate work to others. This is also important when collaborating on a team-based project (see further below).

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 systematically and efficiency and productivity in your business will improve.

What about using to do lists on your website or blog?

In this detailed step-by-step tutorial you are going to learn how to easily add a to do list to your WordPress site to improve business efficiency and productivity using a great little WordPress plugin called 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 to-do lists to your WordPress website or blog.

Features

Note: the features described below will be discussed in more detail in the tutorial section.

You can set up the plugin 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 offers a number of different settings. You can assign to do items to specific users (this includes emailing new to-do items to assigned users) and optionally to have assigned items only viewable by that user. You can also assign different permission levels using capabilities. There are also settings available to show 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 lists and your to-do lists can also appear on a 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 administration of your list. Management of categories is accessed via the back-end admin section.

If you plan to run a multi-author blog you can use this plugin to create custom to-do lists for your post editors if you also own the Post Planner plugin from the same developer.

Installing The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

In your site’s dashboard, choose Plugins > Add New …

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

Locate the item in the Search Results section and click Install Now …

Click “Activate Plugin” …

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

When you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

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

This takes you to the ‘Settings’ area …

The section below shows you how to go through the plugin configuration process …

Plugin Setup

The Settings area is divided into 4 tabs:

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

Let’s now review each of these sections.

To-Do List Settings

Categories

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

Note: When you enable this option, a ‘Categories’ item will be added to the To-Do List plugin 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 sidebar widgets or shortcodes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

List View allows you to choose how your lists are viewed. You can choose from 3 to do list views:

• Individual – Selecting this option lets each user create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Selecting this option lets all users share one to-do list.
• Master – This option allows you to have 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-do list items will be sorted.

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

Show Added By

Enabling this option lets you display which members have 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

If enabled, you will be able to specify deadlines for to-do items …

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

If enabled, the ‘To-Do List’ menu will display in your WordPress Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

Enabling 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 your to-do list items using paragraphs.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you are running 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 developer to help make the task of managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

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

After you are done configuring 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 to continue …

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

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

In this area you can customize your To-Do List …

The following settings can be configured in this section:

Date Format

In this area you can specify how to display dates in your to-do lists (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

Note: To learn more about formatting dates in WordPress, refer to 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, normal and lowest (low) items …

Highest priority items display in red in your lists and low priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

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

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) will display the date the table of items 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 items to other users …

The following settings can be configured in this section:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

If enabled (‘Yes’), you can 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. Leaving this option disabled (‘No’) displays items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this section (Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, Subscriber) to display the type of users that can be assigned to-do items. If you don’t want to assign to-do items to a particular role, then leave its checkbox unticked.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

If you enable this option, WordPress will automatically send users an email with their assigned to-do items …

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

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

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

If you don’t want to-do categories to appear the email subject, then leave this option disabled.

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

Enable this option (‘Yes’) to display the user who assigned the to-do item in the email. This option is useful if, for example, you have 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 emails to users. You can enter your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like in this field …

From Email

Type in the email address that you would like showing 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 distributed automatically to users when new items have been added in your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

Type 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

This section of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab allows you to perform database maintenance tasks related to plugin data directly from the plugin settings area without having to log into your server …

This function is useful if, for example, you notice that old to-do items are still appearing on your site.

The following tasks can be performed:

• Delete Tables – Remove any custom database tables that you no longer use.
• Delete All To-Do Items – Remove 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 proceed with any of the database operations available in this section, then remember to backup your database first.

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

• Backup, Duplicate & Protect Your WordPress Website 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 selected the Individual List type, the only configurable option applicable for this section is the View To-Do List permission …

If you are setting up 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 configured 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 authorized to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list.

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

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

Here you can enable the selected capability to mark to-do items as completed or uncompleted.

Add To-Do Item Capability

Here you can allow the selected capability to add new to-do items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

Here you can allow the selected capability to modify existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This allows the selected capability to delegate to-do items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

Here you can permit 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

This setting allows the selected capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This option permits the selected 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 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 …

Here you can easily export or import your to-do list 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 view or download the data in a plain text file (e.g. Notepad) to a storage medium (e.g. your hard drive) …

In addition to exporting data from the ‘Import/Export’ tab, 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 selecting ‘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 your storage medium…

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 …

Locate 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 ‘Import Settings’ …

The data from the existing to-do 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 Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

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

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

Adding 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 a new item to your to-do list from your WP dashboard bar …

You can also add a new item to your to-do 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 will simply take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section down 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 new items to your to-do list.

Select the options you have enabled for your to-do items, add 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 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 delete users) …

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

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

Edit And Delete 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 completing tasks may also receive email notifications …

Once you have created your to-do list, users can view it inside their own WP user dashboard …

When the user assigned with an item completes the task and ticks the item checkbox …

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

And appears in the ‘Completed Items’ section located in the ’To-Do List’ plugin page …

Additional Plugin Information

The Cleverness plugin provides additional functions that let you display to-do lists on your website using widgets, and display lists on content inside a page or post using short codes.

Using The 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 ’Save’ to update your settings …

Your to-do list will appear on your site where you have added the ‘to-do-list’ widget (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use WordPress Widget

Using The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Shortcodes

You can also add to-do lists to your site with shortcodes.

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

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

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

This section explains various ways to configure and use shortcodes for displaying lists on your posts and pages.

Once you know what information you would like to display on your site, open up a new post or page and either type or paste the short code inside the content section …

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

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

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you can create and add to-do lists in WordPress.

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