Creating A To Do List In WordPress

Time is always 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, tasks to complete, priorities to attend to, fires to extinguish, calls and appointments to make, schedules to keep and so on. The amount of things that need ”doing” 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 things suddently begin feeling unmanageable and chaotic.

Whether you are running a business, website, blog, or managing a project, you need to be able to organize and manage your daily activities.

One simple proven method that can help you save time, alleviate stress, and allow you to gain some control is to use “to do” lists.

Benefits Of Using A To-Do List

A “to do” list helps you measure your progress as you to get tasks completed. Your to do list can be very detailed and very specific, or just serve as a reminder of what needs to be done over a given period of time.

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

Free Your Brain

Creating a to do list means you don’t have to keep remembering things or clutter your head with details. Once tasks are recorded on a to-do list, your mind is free to process other information and you can focus on things that are more important to you.

Strategize

Creating and organizing to do lists helps you view the bigger picture and create a strategy to get everything completed on time and on budget.

Log Your Work

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

Stress Less

Stress can come from feeling overwhelmed by the thought that there is so much to do and so little time to do it all in. Creating a to do list lets you prioritize important tasks that have to be completed immediately, and push out items that can be worked on at a later time. This can help reduce stress.

Sense Of Accomplishment

Ticking items off a to do list gives you a sense of accomplishment and allows you to relax more, as you can objectively see (or show) that work is indeed being completed and that progress is being made.

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 way and productivity and efficiency in your business will improve.

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

In this step-by-step tutorial we are going to show you how to create to do lists in WordPress 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

Download URL

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

Description

This WordPress plugin lets you easily add to do lists to your WordPress website or blog.

Features

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

You can set up Cleverness To Do List with private to-do lists for each user, 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 has a variety of settings available. You can assign to do items to specific users (this includes emailing a new to-do item to the assigned 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 available to display deadline and progress fields. Category support is included as well as front-end administration.

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

A sidebar widget is also available as shortcode to display the to do list items on your blog. There are two short codes for front-end administration of the 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 planners if you also download a copy of the developer’s premium plugin, Post Planner.

Installing The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

Log into your site’s dashboard area, and select Plugins > Add New …

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

Once the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

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

This brings you to the ‘Settings’ page …

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

Configuring The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

The Settings area is divided into 4 tabs:

• To-Do List Settings – This area is where you specify the main plugin settings.
• Advanced Settings – This area lets you customize your 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 – This section is where you export and import to-do list data and plugin settings.

Let’s take you 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: When you enable this option, a ‘Categories’ item gets added to the To-Do List menu …

This lets you 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 when using widgets or shortcodes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

List View lets you specify how your lists will be viewed. There are 3 list views available:

• Individual – Choosing this option allows users to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Select this option if you want all users to be able to 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 using the ‘Master’ list view, make sure that you set the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (this is covered further below).

Sort Order

‘Sort Order’ lets you specify how to order list items.

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

Show Added By

If enabled (‘Yes’), you can display which of your users has added an item to your to-do list.

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

Show Date Completed

If this option is enabled, completion dates will display for to-do items.

Show Deadline

If this option is enabled, you can specify deadlines for your to-do tasks …

Show Progress

Enabling this option lets you specify task progress indicators for your to-do items …

Show Admin Bar Menu

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you display the ‘To-Do List’ menu in your WordPress Dashboard Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

This 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 list items.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you are running a multi-author website 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 helps to make managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

Go here to learn more about using this handy plugin: WordPress Post Planner – Editorial Solution Plugin For WordPress

When you are done configuring your plugin options in this section, click the ‘Save Changes’ button to update your settings …

Advanced Settings

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

This brings up the ‘Advanced Settings’ area …

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

This section of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab allows you to customize your To Do List …

The following options can be configured in this section:

Date Format

This section lets you specify how to display dates in your todo list (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, middle (normal) and lowest items …

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

Show To-Do Item ID

If this option is enabled, the item’s ID show on your list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option displays 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 options in this section and assign items to other users …

You can configure the following options in this section:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you 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

Enable this option to display to-do 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 area (Administrator displays the type of users that can be assigned 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 will automatically send an email to users with their assigned to-do items …

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

Note: If this option is disabled, skip the remaining 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 to show to-do categories in the email subject.

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

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you can 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

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

From Email

Add the email address that you would like to display as the “sent from” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Type into this field 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

In this section you can carry out database maintenance tasks associated with plugin data directly from the plugin settings area itself without the need to log into your server …

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

You can perform the tasks below:

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

Actions that you perform on your database from this screen cannot be reversed. If you are sure that you want to proceed with any of the database operations available in this section, then we recommend backing up your WordPress database first.

If you don’t want to perform manual backups, then get professional assistance services, or use a WordPress backup plugin. You can read about a great WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to automate WordPress file and database backups here:

• Back Up, Copy And Protect Your WordPress Web Sites 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 chosen the Individual List type, the only configurable item that applies 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 be able to perform for each option …

The default general capabilities of 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-administrator users should only be allowed to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list.

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

View To-Do List

This option enables 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 chosen capability to mark items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This option permits the chosen capability to edit existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

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

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

Here you can permit the selected 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 enables the chosen capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This allows the selected capability to purge all the completed items.

Add Categories Capability

This setting enables the chosen 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 site to another, or export your list data for backup or reporting purposes.

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

Now you can easily import or export 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 in a plain text file (e.g. Notepad) to an internal or external storage device …

As well as exporting to-do list data from the ‘Import/Export’ section, you can also export data by going to your dashboard menu and selecting 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 selecting ‘To-Do’ from the ‘Choose what to export’ section and clicking the ‘Download Export File’ button to save your file to an internal or external hard drive…

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 previously saved to-do list data file in your hard drive or external drive and click ‘Open’ …

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

Your file data will be imported.

Now that you have configured all plugin settings, you can begin creating and editing to do lists.

How To Use Cleverness To-Do List

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

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

Add New To-Do Items

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

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

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 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 take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section at the bottom of the screen) …

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

Depending on how you have configured the plugin 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 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 make multiple users responsible for the same item (click on ‘x’ to remove users) …

After you have added the new item, it will display as an entry in the ‘To-Do Items’ table …

Repeat the above process to add new items to your list …

Edit And Delete 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 (discussed in the previous section), users assigned to tasks may also receive email notifications …

After creating your to-do list, users can view it when logged into their own user dashboard …

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

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

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

Additional Plugin Information

The Cleverness plugin offers added functionality that lets you display a to-do list on your website using widgets, and add a list to content inside a page or post using shortcodes.

Plugin Widget

To add to-do lists 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 want your to-do list to show …

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

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

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

• How To Use s

Using Plugin Short Codes

The Cleverness plugin also lets you add to-do lists and checklists to your site by inserting short codes into your content.

To access the plugin’s shortcode documentation, select To-Do List > To-Do List from your admin menu …

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

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

This section explains various ways to configure and use short codes to display lists on your pages and posts.

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

Publish your page or post and you should see the list showing where you added the short code …

Visit the plugin website to download this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you can add a to-do list to your WordPress site or blog.

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