Creating A To Do List In WordPress

There are never enough hours in the day to get things done, especially if you run a hectic business or manage a team.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have so many deadlines to meet, urgent tasks to complete, priorities to attend to, fires to put out, deliveries to make, schedules to keep and so on. The stress of trying to get things done on time never stops.

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

Whether you are running a business, website, blog, or managing a project, it’s important to be able to organize and prioritize your daily activities, track your progress and daily accomplishments, and, if necessary, assign tasks and responsibilities to team members efficiently.

One proven tool 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.

To-Do Lists – Benefits

A “to-do” list helps you keep track of your progress when trying to complete projects. Your to do list can be detailed and very specific, or just serve as a concise reminder of tasks that need doing over a given period of time.

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

Free Your Brain

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

Strategize

Creating and organizing to-do lists helps you see the bigger picture and formulate a strategic plan to get everything done efficiently.

Document Your Work

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

Stress Less

Stress can result from feeling overwhelmed by so much to do and very little time to do it in. Creating to do lists let you prioritize urgent things that have to be completed immediately, and push out tasks that can be addressed at a later time. This can help you stress less.

Feeling Of Accomplishment

Crossing items off a to do list not only helps you feel more productive, motivated and in-control, it also allows you to relax more, as you can objectively see (or show) that the workload is being completed and that progress is being made.

As you can see, there are many benefits to using a to do list, both in business and in your personal life. Creating to-do lists, prioritizing tasks and working towards completing the items on your list improves productivity and efficiency in your business.

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

In this detailed tutorial we are going to show you how to easily create to-do lists in WordPress to improve business efficiency and productivity using a customizable, multi-featured to do list plugin for WordPress called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To-Do List

Plugin Download URL

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

Description

This WordPress plugin provides users with a to do list feature.

Features

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

You can configure the plugin 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 completion of items.

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 assigned users) and optionally to have those items be viewable by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users. There are also settings to enable the display of deadline and progress fields. Category support is also included in the front-end administration.

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

A sidebar widget is available as well as short code to display the to-do list items on your blog. There are 2 shortcodes 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 site you can use this to do lists plugin to create custom to do lists for your post editors if you also own the developer’s premium plugin, Post Planner.

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Installation

Log into your WordPress admin scroll down the menu click on Plugins > Add New …

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

Locate the Cleverness To-Do List entry in the Search Results tab and click Install Now …

Activate the plugin …

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

When 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 your dashboard menu …

This takes you to the ‘Settings’ page …

Let’s set up the plugin …

Configuring The Plugin

The plugin’s ‘Settings’ screen is divided into four tabs:

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

Let’s now review each of these tabs.

To-Do List Settings

To-Do List Categories

Select ‘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 to your lists (see ‘Plugin Usage’ section further below for more details) …

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

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

List View

List View lets you specify how your to-do lists are viewed. You can choose from three list views:

• Individual – Choosing this option lets each user create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Selecting this option allows users to share one to-do list.
• Master – This option allows you to create one master list for all users, where users have their own individual completion of items. If you select the ‘Master’ list view, make sure that you configure 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 Alphabetical, Category or ID 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 your to-do list.

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

Show Date Completed

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) displays completion dates for to-do items.

Show Deadline

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you specify deadlines for your to-do tasks …

Show Progress

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you can specify task progress indicators for your to-do items …

Show Admin Bar Menu

If this option is enabled, the ‘To-Do List’ menu displays in your WP 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 lists.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you plan to run a collaborative website or blog, you can integrate the Cleverness To-Do List plugin with a plugin called WordPress Post Planner, from the same plugin developer that helps to make managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

To learn more this plugin, visit this site: WordPress Post Planner – Plugin For WordPress

Once you are done configuring your plugin options, remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button …

Advanced Settings

After configuring the general settings, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab …

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

This section lets you customize your To Do lists, assign to-do items to other users and perform plugin database maintenance.

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 lets you customize your To Do List …

You can configure the following options in this section:

Date Format

In this section you can specify how to display dates in 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

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

Items given the highest (important) priority are colour-coded in red in the lists and low priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option shows item IDs on your list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) displays the date your To-Do Items table was added …

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 options in this area and assign 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 items only to users who have been assigned those items. Leave this option disabled to display to-do items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Checking the boxes in this section Subscriber) displays the type of users that can be assigned to-do items. Leave the check box unticked for any roles that you don’t 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 you disable this option, 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 in the subject of emails sent to users …

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

If you don’t want to-do categories displayed in the subject of your emails, then leave this option disabled.

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) displays the user who assigned the to-do item in the email. This is a useful option if your website has multiple 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 notices. Enter 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 would like showing as the “sent from” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Enter a subject field for the email that will be automatically sent out to users whenever new items have been added to your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

Add 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 carry out database maintenance operations associated with plugin data directly from the plugin settings area without having to log into your server …

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

The following tasks can be performed:

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

Any actions that you perform on the database from this screen cannot be undone. If you are comfortable to carry out database operations in this section, then remember to backup your WP database first.

If you don’t want to do your own backups, then get professional WordPress assistance services, or use a backup plugin. You can learn more about a WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to completely automate your backups here:

• Back Up, Duplicate & Keep Your WordPress Websites Protected With Backup Creator WP Plugin

User Permissions

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

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

If you plan to configure user permissions and capabilities for Group and Master List types, select the highest level capabilities that you would like users to be able to perform for each option …

The 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 using the Master list type make sure that you only authorize non-administrator users to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list itself.

Let’s now review the settings for this section:

View To-Do List

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

Add To-Do Item Capability

This setting enables the selected capability to add new items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This option enables the chosen capability to modify existing items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

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

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This option enables 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 option allows the selected capability to delete individual to-do items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

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

Add Categories Capability

Here you can enable the chosen capability to add new categories.

Import/Export

Being able to import and export to-do list data can be useful. For example, you may decide to transfer data from an existing list to another website, 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 …

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

Exporting To-Do List Data

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

This will open up a window allowing you to download and save your data in a plain text file (e.g. Notepad) to an internal or external hard drive …

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

You can include to-do list data in a WordPress export file (in XML format), either by checking ‘All content’ (includes everything – pages, posts, etc…), or selecting ‘To-Do’ from the ‘Choose what to export’ section and clicking on the ‘Download Export File’ button to save your file to an internal or external 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 …

Locate the previously saved to-do list data file and click ‘Open’ …

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

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

Once you have configured all plugin settings, you are ready to begin create and edit your lists.

Plugin Usage

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 …

Adding A New Item 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 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 already contains many items, as the link will simply send you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section further down the screen) …

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

Depending on the way you have set up your plugin, 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 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 make multiple users responsible for 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 Items’ 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 associated with each item under the ‘Action’ column …

Depending on how you have set up the plugin (discussed earlier), 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 when logged into their WP dashboard …

When users assigned with completing an item tick the item checkbox …

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

And displays in 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 to-do lists on your website using widgets, and add a list to any post or page using shortcodes.

Using The Cleverness To-Do List 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 list to appear …

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

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

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

• How To Use s

Using The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Shortcodes

The plugin also lets you add lists and checklists to your site by placing shortcodes into your content.

To access the documentation on using short codes, select To-Do List > To-Do List from your admin menu …

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

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

This section explains different ways to configure and use shortcodes for displaying lists on your content.

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

Publish your page or post and you will see the list showing in the location where you entered the shortcode …

Visit the plugin website here to learn more about this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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