Creating To-Do Lists In WordPress

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

There are so many things to do and remember. You have deadlines to meet, projects to complete, priorities to attend to, fires to put out, deliveries to make, schedules to keep and so on. The “doing” never stops.

Now … add the extra workload of promoting and growing your business online and maintaining your website updated with new content and things can start becoming unmanageable and chaotic.

Whether you are running a business, website, blog, or managing a team, it’s important to be able to organize and prioritize your activities, keep track of your progress, and, if necessary, assign tasks and responsibilities to other people effectively.

A simple proven tool that can help you save time, create a sense of order and manageability, and allow you to gain some 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 trying to achieve a certain objective. Your to do list can be quite detailed and specific, or just serve as a concise reminder of tasks that need to be done today, tomorrow, this week, this month, etc.

Here are just a few of the benefits of using to-do lists:

Think Clearly

Creating a to-do list means that you don’t have to memorize stuff or store information inside your head. Once things are written down on a to-do list, your head is free to process other information and you can focus on other areas that could be more important.

Better Manage Your Time

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

Document Your Work

A to-do list lets you keep documented logs of what has been done. This can be used as evidence of work done to employers or clients, or just as a way of helping you assess your own productivity and efficiency.

Accountability

Without accountability there’s no commitment to getting things completed, and no motivation to take meaningful action. Lack of accountability lets excuses creep in and influence your productivity.

Improved Collaboration

Using to do lists and other project management tools is essential for getting other people involved on some of your larger or more complex projects.

As you can see, there are many benefits to using to-do lists, both in business and in your personal life. Creating to-do lists, then prioritizing tasks and working in a focused way increases efficiency and productivity in your business.

Let’s turn now to using to-do lists on your website. More specifically, adding to-do lists to WordPress.

In this detailed tutorial we are going to show you how to add a to do list to your WordPress site to help your team get things done faster and more efficiently using a great little WordPress plugin called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To-Do List

Plugin URL

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

Plugin Description

This 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 Cleverness To Do List to assign private to-do lists for individual users, 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 has a variety of settings available. You can delegate to-do items to a specific user (this includes a setting to email a new to-do item 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 to show deadline and progress fields. Category support is also included as front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the admin 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 site. There are two short codes for front-end administration of the list. Category management is accessible through the back-end admin section.

If you plan to run a multi-author site you can use the plugin to create custom to-do lists for your post planners if you also install the developer’s premium plugin, Post Planner.

Installing The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

Log into your site’s dashboard and click on Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Click Activate Plugin …

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

After you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

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

This brings you to the plugin ‘Settings’ screen …

The section below shows you how to set up the plugin …

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Configuration

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

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

Let’s take you through each of these tabs.

To-Do List Settings

List View

List View allows you to choose how lists are viewed. There are three kinds of to-do list views available:

Individual – Selecting this option lets users create and manage their own private to-do list.
Group – Select this option if you want all users to be able to share the same to-do list.
Master – This option allows you to create a master list for all users, where users have their own individual items to complete. If you select the ‘Master’ list view, make sure to set the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (this is covered further below).

Sort Order

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

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

Show Added By

If enabled (‘Yes’), you can 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 your to-do items.

Show Deadline

Enabling this option lets you specify deadlines for your 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 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 your to-do lists.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you plan to run 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 to help make the process of managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

To learn more about using this plugin, go here: WordPress Post Planner – WordPress Editorial Solution Plugin

After you have configured your plugin options in this section, remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button …

Advanced Settings

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

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

In this section you can customize your To-Do lists, assign to-do items to users and carry out plugin database maintenance.

Let’s go 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 …

You can configure the following settings in this section:

Date Format

Here you can specify how to display dates on your todo 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 highest (important), middle and lowest priority items …

Highest priority items are color-coded in red and lowest priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option will display the items’ IDs on your list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option will show the date your 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 settings in this area and assign to-do items to other users …

You can configure the following options in this section:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), 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 displays items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Checking the boxes in this area (Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, Subscriber) displays the type of users that can be assigned 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 …

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

Note: If this option is disabled, you can skip other 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-do categories to appear the subject of your emails.

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

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 is a useful option if you have 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 emails to users. You can enter your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like in this field …

From Email

Enter the email address that you want showing as the “sent from” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

In this field, type a subject field for the email that will be automatically distributed to users whenever a new item has been added 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 you can carry out database maintenance operations related to plugin data inside the plugin settings area without having to access your server …

This function is useful if, for example, you notice that previously deleted todo items are still showing up on your site.

You can perform the tasks below:

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.

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

If you don’t want to back up your files yourself, then consider using professional WordPress support services, or use a WordPress backup plugin. Learn about a great WordPress backup plugin that can automate your backup process here:

Backup, Duplicate And Protect Your WordPress Websites And Blogs With Backup Creator Plugin For WP

User Permissions

In this area you can configure user permissions and capabilities for Group or Master List types …

If you choose Individual List, the only item applicable in this section is the View To-Do List option …

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

The default general capabilities for each user role are set up 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-administrators should only be permitted to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list itself.

Here is a description of the settings for the User Permissions tab:

View To-Do List

This option 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

This permits the chosen capability to mark to-do items as completed or uncompleted.

Add To-Do Item Capability

This enables the chosen capability to add new items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This option enables the chosen capability to edit existing items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This option enables the selected capability to assign to-do items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

Here you can enable 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 permits the chosen capability to delete individual to-do items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

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

Add Categories Capability

This setting permits the selected 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 one website to another, or export the list 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 import or export your to-do list data 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 new window allowing you to download and save your data in plain text format to an internal or external storage device …

As well as exporting list data from the ‘Import/Export’ tab, 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 – posts, pages, etc…), or selecting ‘To-Do’ from the ‘Choose what to export’ section and clicking the ‘Download Export File’ button to download your file to an internal or external hard drive…

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

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

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

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

How To Use Cleverness To-Do List

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

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

How To Add New To Do Items

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

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

You can also add new to-do items in the 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 already contains many items, as the link is only going to take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section further down the screen) …

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

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

Configure 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 item to your list …

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 assign items to multiple users (click on ‘x’ to remove a user) …

Once After adding a new item, the item will be listed as an entry in the ‘To-Do Items’ table …

Repeat this process to continue adding items to your list …

Edit And Remove 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 configured the plugin (see previous section), users assigned to tasks may also receive email notifications …

Once you have created your to-do list, users can view it when logged into their user dashboard …

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

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

And gets added to the ‘Completed Items’ table located in the ’To-Do List’ plugin area …

Additional Information

The Cleverness To-Do List plugin provides added functionality that lets you display to-do lists on your site using widgets, and insert lists into content inside a post or page using shortcodes.

Using The Cleverness 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 location in your sidebar (or footer) menu where you would like the list to show …

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

The to-do list will display where you have placed the ‘to-do-list’ widget (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

To learn more about how to use WordPress widgets, see the tutorial below:

How To Use s

Using The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Shortcodes

The Cleverness plugin also lets you add lists to your site with short codes.

To access the plugin’s short code documentation, select To-Do List > To-Do List from the 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 …

The documentation section explains various ways to configure and use short codes for displaying lists on your pages and posts.

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 inside the content section …

After publishing your post or page, you should see the list showing where you have inserted the shortcode …

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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