How To Create A To-Do List In WordPress

If you are a business owner, time always seems to be in short supply.

There are just so many things to do and remember. You have so many deadlines to meet, urgent tasks to complete, meetings to attend, fires to extinguish, appointments to make, commitments to keep and so on. The “doing” never stops.

Now … add the extra workload of promoting and growing your business online and keeping your website or blog updated with fresh content and things can quickly start feeling unmanageable and out of control.

Whether you are running a business, website, blog, or managing a project, you need to be able to organize and prioritize your daily tasks, track your progress, and, if necessary, assign tasks and responsibilities to others effectively.

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

The Benefits Of Using To-Do Lists

A “to do” list can help to keep you on track and measure your progress when working towards certain goals. Your to do list can be quite detailed and specific, or serve as a concise reminder of what needs to be done today, tomorrow, this week, this month, etc.

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

Organization

A to-do list helps you create order, stay organized and achieve goals sooner.

Prioritize Your Time

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you manage your time more effectively. You can gain a clearer perspective on what’s more important vs what’s not, and what steps should be completed first.

Reschedule Quickly

To-do lists help you better cope with events. If an appointment gets cancelled at short notice or extra time has been made available when something gets completed sooner than expected, you can keep working with little to minimal loss of focus.

Eliminate Stress

Stress can come from feeling overwhelmed by the fact that there are so many things to do and so little time to do it all in. Creating to do lists let you prioritize urgent tasks that have to be completed immediately, and reschedule non-urgent items that can be worked on later. This can help reduce stress.

Better Delegation Of Work

Having to-do lists help you better assign tasks to other people. This is also important if you plan to work within a team (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 your business productivity and efficiency will surely increase.

What about adding to-do lists to your WordPress website or blog?

In this detailed step-by-step tutorial you are going to learn how to easily add a to-do list to a WordPress site to help get things done online  faster and more efficiently using a great little 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 plugin provides users with a to-do list feature.

Features

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

You can configure Cleverness To Do List 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 item completions.

The shared to-do list includes a number of different settings. You can delegate to-do items to a specific user (this includes emailing new to-do items to the assigned user) and optionally to have those items be viewable by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users based on user roles. There are also settings to display deadline and progress fields. Category support is also included in the front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the backend to help you manage your lists and the to-do list can also be displayed on the dashboard widget.

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

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

Installing The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

Log into your WP dashboard and in the menu click on 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 this plugin from the Plugins section …

When you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

Note: The plugin’s settings area can also be accessed by choosing To-Do List > Settings from the dashboard menu …

This takes you to the plugin ‘Settings’ screen …

Let’s go through the plugin setup process …

How To Set Up The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

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

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

Let’s configure each of these sections.

To-Do List Settings

To-Do List Categories

Choose ‘Enabled’ to organize 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 allows you to add categories that can help organize your lists (see ‘Plugin Usage’ section further below for more details) …

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

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

List View

List View allows you to specify how to-do lists are viewed. There are three list views:

• Individual – Select this option if you want each user to be able to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Choosing 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 completion of items. If using the ‘Master’ list view, make sure to configure the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (this is covered further below).

Sort Order

‘Sort Order’ lets you specify how to order 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

If enabled, you can 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 tasks.

Show Deadline

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

Show Progress

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

Show Admin Bar Menu

If enabled (‘Yes’), the ‘To-Do List’ menu will display in your WP Dashboard Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

If enabled (‘Yes’), you can add and edit items on your to-do list using the WordPress WYSIWYG Editor …

Use Auto Paragraphs

If enabled (‘Yes’), automatic paragraphs are used to display content in your to-do list items.

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 plugin developer that provides you with a complete WordPress editorial solution …

Go here for more information about using this plugin: WordPress Post Planner – Editorial Solution Plugin For WordPress

Once you have configured 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 …

This brings you to the plugin’s ‘Advanced Settings’ section …

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

This section of the ‘Advanced Settings’ screen allows you to 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 in 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

In this section you can customize your labels for highest, normal and low priority items …

Highest (important) priority items display in red in your lists and lowest priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

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

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) will show the date the items table was added …

To-Do List Advanced Settings > Assign To-Do Items Settings

If you have selected 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 options in this area:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enable this option (‘Yes’) to assign tasks 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

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you can display tasks only to users who have been assigned those items. Leave this option disabled (‘No’) to display items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this section Subscriber) to display the type of users that can be assigned todo items. If you do not want to assign to-do items to a role, then leave its check box unticked.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

When this option is enabled (‘Yes’), WordPress automatically sends an email to users with their assigned to-do items …

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

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 display to-do categories in the subject of your emails.

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

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 a number of 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 notifications to users. You can enter your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like in 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 automatically sent to users when a new item has been assigned to 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 area lets you carry out database maintenance operations associated with plugin data inside the plugin settings area itself …

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

The following tasks can be performed:

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

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

If you don’t want to back up your data yourself, then get professional assistance services, or use a WordPress backup plugin. Learn about a great WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to completely automate your file and data backups here:

• Backup, Clone And Keep Your WordPress Web Sites Protected With Backup Creator Plugin For WP

User Permissions

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

If you select the Individual List type, the only setting applicable for this section is the View To-Do List option …

If you are configuring user permissions and capabilities for Group or Master List types, select the highest level capabilities that you want users to have access to for each option …

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

Let’s go through the settings in this section:

View To-Do List

This option permits the selected 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 permits the chosen capability to mark to-do items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

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

Assign To-Do Item Capability

Here you can enable the chosen capability to delegate 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

Here you can enable the selected capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

Here you can enable the chosen capability to purge all the completed items.

Add Categories Capability

This option permits 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 want to copy over data from one site to another, or store the list data for backup or reporting purposes.

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

Use this section to export or import your list data 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 window allowing you to view or save the data as plain text to a storage device …

As well as exporting data from the ‘Import/Export’ tab, you can also export data by going to your admin 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 download your file to your storage device…

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 and click ‘Open’ …

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

Your file will be imported.

Now that you have configured all plugin settings, you are ready to start create and edit your lists.

How To Use Cleverness To-Do List

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 …

How To Add New To Do Items To Your List

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

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

You can also add new to-do items to your 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 already contains many items, as the link will simply send you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section further down the page) …

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

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

Configure the options you have enabled for your to-do items, add appropriate information into the relevant fields and click on the ‘Submit To-Do Item’ button to add the to-do item …

Note: If you are using a list type that lets you 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 you have added a new item item, it will be listed as an entry in the ‘To-Do Items’ table …

Repeat this process to keep adding items to your 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 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 an email notification in their inboxes …

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

When the user assigned with completing an item clicks on the item checkbox …

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

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

Additional Information

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

Using The Cleverness Plugin Widget

To add a to-do list 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 to-do list to appear …

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

The to-do list will display where the ‘to-do-list’ widget has been placed (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• Using WordPress Widget

Shortcodes

You can also create lists and checklists to your site by placing short codes into your content.

To access the plugin’s shortcode documentation, 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 entry to access the Shortcode Documentation section …

This documentation section explains different ways to configure and use shortcodes to display lists and checklists on your posts and pages.

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

After publishing your page or post, you should see the list showing exactly where you added the short code …

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

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you know how to add a to-do list in WordPress.

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