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 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 put out, deliveries to make, commitments to keep and so on. The “doing” never stops.

Now … on top of all this, add the extra workload of trying to promote and grow your business online and maintaining your website updated with new content and everything suddenly begins feeling unmanageable and chaotic.

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, keep track of your progress, and, if necessary, assign tasks to members of your team efficiently.

One simple proven method 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.

The Benefits Of Using A To Do List

A “to-do” list can help you measure your progress when trying to get tasks completed. Your to do list can be quite detailed and specific, or just serve as a reminder of tasks that need doing today, tomorrow, this week, this month, etc.

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

A To Do List Helps Keep Things Organized

Having to-do lists help you create order, keep things organized and achieve goals faster.

Time Prioritization

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

Quickly Reschedule

A to do list helps you better handle events. If a meeting suddenly gets cancelled at short notice or extra time has been made available when something gets completed sooner than expected, you can continue moving forward with minimal loss of focus.

Accountability

With no accountability there’s no commitment to getting things completed, and no motivation to take meaningful action. Lack of accountability can also let excuses creep in and influence your productivity.

Delegate Better

To-do lists help you better delegate tasks to other people. This is also important when collaborating within a team (see further below).

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 systematic way and productivity and efficiency in your business will improve.

What about adding a to do list to your WordPress website or blog?

In this detailed tutorial you are going to learn how to easily add a to do list to your WordPress site to help get things done online  faster and more efficiently using a customizable, multi-featured to do list WordPress plugin called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To-Do List

Download URL

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

Description

This plugin lets you easily add to do lists to WordPress.

Plugin Features

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

You can configure Cleverness To Do List to have private to do lists for individual users, to have all users share a to-do list, or to have a master list with individual item completions.

The shared to do list option provides a number of settings. You can delegate to-do items to specific users (this includes a setting to email new to do items to the user) and optionally to have assigned items only seen by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users. 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 admin backend to help you manage your list and the to-do list can also display on the dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is available as well as short code to display the to-do list items on your site. There are 2 short codes for front-end list administration. Category management is accessible via the back-end admin section.

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

Installing The Plugin

Log into your WP dashboard and choose Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Click “Activate Plugin” …

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

After the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

Note: The settings area can also be accessed by selecting To-Do List > Settings from your admin menu …

This takes you to the plugin ‘Settings’ screen …

Let’s go through the plugin configuration process …

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Configuration

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

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

Let’s now go through each of these tabs.

To-Do List Settings

To-Do List Categories

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

Note: If you enable this option, a ‘Categories’ item will be 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 to-do lists.

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

List View

List View allows you to choose how to-do lists will be viewed. You can choose from 3 kinds of to do list views:

• Individual – Choosing this option lets users create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Selecting this option allows all users to share one to-do list.
• Master – Use this option 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 that you adjust the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (this is covered further below).

Sort Order

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

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

Show Added By

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you display which of your members has 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 displays completion dates for to-do tasks.

Show Deadline

If enabled, you will be able to 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, 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

Enable this option (‘Yes’) to display content in to-do lists using paragraphs.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you are running a collaborative site or blog, you can integrate the Cleverness To-Do List plugin with a plugin called WordPress Post Planner, developed by the same author that provides you with a complete WordPress editorial solution …

Go here for more information about using this handy plugin: WordPress Post Planner – WordPress Plugin

When you have finished configuring your plugin options, remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button …

Advanced Settings

After you have configured the settings in the To-Do List Settings tab, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab to proceed …

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

This section lets you customize your To-Do lists, assign to-do items to other users and carry out 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’ screen allows you to customize your To Do List …

You can configure the following settings in this section:

Date Format

This section lets you specify how to display dates on your to-do list (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

Note: To learn more about how to format dates in WordPress, visit 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 low items …

high priority items display in red and low priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

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

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option displays 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 settings in this area:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enabling this option lets you 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 to display tasks only to users who have been assigned those items. Leaving this option disabled displays 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 todo items. Leave the checkbox unticked for any roles that you don’t want to assign to-do items.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

If you enable this option, WordPress automatically sends an email to users 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 this option is disabled, skip the other settings 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 show categories in the subject of your emails.

If you don’t want categories added to 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 your site 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. You can enter the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

Add into this field the email address that you want 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 automatically sent to users when a new item has been assigned in your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

Add 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 perform database maintenance tasks related to plugin data inside the plugin settings area itself …

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

The following tasks can be performed in this section:

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

Any database operations you perform from this screen cannot be reversed. If you are comfortable to proceed with any of the database operations available in this section, then make sure to backup your WordPress database first.

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

• Back Up, Clone & Keep Your WordPress Websites 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 item that applies in this section is the View To-Do List option …

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

By default, general capabilities for each user role are 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-admin users should only be authorized to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list.

Let’s now review the settings for the User Permissions tab:

View To-Do List

Here you can permit 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 setting enables the chosen capability to mark to-do items as completed or uncompleted.

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

Here you can allow the chosen capability to edit existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

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

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

Here you can allow 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 enables the chosen capability to delete individual to-do items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

Here you can allow the selected capability to purge all the completed to-do items.

Add Categories Capability

This option allows 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 want to transfer data from an existing to-do list to another website, or store the data for backup or reporting purposes.

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

Here you can import or export your data and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

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

This opens up a new window allowing you to view or save your data in plain text format to an internal or external storage medium …

In addition to exporting to-do list data from the ‘Import/Export’ section, you can also export data by going to your WordPress dashboard menu and choosing Tools > Export …

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

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’ …

Once your data file has been uploaded to your settings area, 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 begin create and edit 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 up the ‘To-Do List’ page …

How To Add New To Do Items

There are a number of ways to add new items to your to-do list.

For example, you can add new to-do items to your list from your admin bar …

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 also 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 is only going to send you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section at the bottom of the screen) …

All 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 adding 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 to-do item …

Note: If you are using a list type that allows you to assign 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 users) …

After an item has been added, the item will be listed as an entry in the ‘To-Do Items’ table …

Repeat the above process to keep adding items to your to-do list …

Editing And Deleting To Do Items

To edit or delete an item, click on the ‘Edit’ or ‘Delete’ buttons associated with items under the ‘Action’ column …

Depending on how you have set up the plugin (discussed in the previous section), users assigned to tasks may also receive an email notification in their inboxes …

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

When a user assigned with an item completes the task and clicks on the item check box …

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

And displays in the ‘Completed Items’ section located in the ’To-Do List’ plugin area …

Additional Information

The Cleverness plugin offers added functionality that lets you display a to-do list on your website using widgets, and insert a list into any page or post using short codes.

Using The 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 menu location where you would like the to-do list to appear …

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

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

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

• Using s

Plugin Short Codes

You can also display to-do lists and checklists to your site by inserting short codes into your content.

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

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

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

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

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

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

To download this plugin, visit this site:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you know how to create and add a to-do list to your WordPress site or blog.

***

***