Creating To-Do Lists In WordPress

If you plan to run a hectic business or manage any kind of project that requires people to work as a group, there never seems to be enough hours in the day to get things done.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have so many deadlines to meet, urgent tasks to complete, meetings to attend, fires to put out, deliveries to make, schedules to keep and so on. The amount of things that need ”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 regular content and things suddently begin to feel unmanageable and chaotic.

Whether you are running a business, website, blog, or managing a team, it’s important to be able to organize and manage your daily tasks.

One simple proven tool that can help you save time, reduce stressful workloads, and allow you to gain some control is to use a “to-do” list.

To-Do Lists – Benefits

A “to-do” list helps you measure your progress when working towards your goals. Your to-do list can be quite detailed or specific, or act as a reminder of tasks that need doing today, tomorrow, this week, this month, etc.

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

Free Up Resources

Writing a to do list means you don’t have to try and remember stuff or store additional information inside your mind. Once things are recorded on a to do list, your brain is free to process information and you can focus on other important things.

Time Prioritization

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you save time and better manage your workload. You can gain a clearer perspective on what is more important vs what is not, and what tasks should be completed first.

Keep Work Logs

A to do list lets you maintain documented logs of what you have done. You can use this as evidence of work done to employers or clients, or simply as a method of helping you assess your own productivity and efficiency.

Accountability

With no accountability there is no commitment to completion, and no motivation to act with a sense of purpose. Lack of accountability can also allow excuses to creep in and take over your productivity.

Collaboration

Creating to do lists and other project management tools is essential for working with others 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. Create a list, prioritize your list items and work towards completing the tasks you have listed and efficiency and productivity in your business is sure to increase.

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 create a to do list in WordPress to help get things done online  faster and more efficiently using a great little 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/

Description

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

Features

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

You can configure 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 a specific user (this includes a setting to email a new to do item to users) and optionally to have assigned items be viewable 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 in the front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the backend to manage your lists and your to do list can also display 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 2 shortcodes for front-end list administration. Category management is restricted to the back-end.

If you plan to set up a multi-author site you can use the to do lists plugin to create custom to do lists for your post editors if you also install the Post Planner plugin from the same developer.

How To Install The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

In your WP administration section, select Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Activate the plugin …

Note: You can also activate this plugin in the Plugins area …

When the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

Note: You can also get to the plugin’s ‘Settings’ screen by choosing To-Do List > Settings from your dashboard menu …

This brings you to the plugin ‘Settings’ page …

Let’s go through the plugin setup process …

How To Configure The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

The Settings area is divided into 4 sections:

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

Let’s configure each of these sections.

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 will be added to the To-Do List plugin menu …

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

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

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

List View

List View allows you to choose how your lists are viewed. You can choose from 3 list views:

• Individual – Use 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 users share one to-do list.
• Master – This option allows you to have one 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 (see 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, you can display which users have added an item to the to-do list.

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

Show Date Completed

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

Show Deadline

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

Show Progress

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

Show Admin Bar Menu

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

Use WYSIWYG Editor

If enabled, you will be able to 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 are running 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 to help make the process of managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

Visit this site for more information about this handy plugin: WordPress Post Planner

Once you are done configuring 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 to proceed …

This brings you to the ‘Advanced Settings’ area …

In this area you can customize your To-Do lists, assign to-do items to users and perform database maintenance tasks.

Let’s step through how to configure the plugin’s ‘Advanced Settings’ section …

To-Do List Advanced Settings > Customize The To-Do List

Here you can 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 list (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

Note: To learn more about formatting dates in WordPress, visit 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 prioritizing highest, middle and lowest (low) items …

Highest priority items are colour-coded in red and lowest (low) priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

If enabled, the item’s ID appear 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 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 settings can be configured in this area:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enable this option (‘Yes’) to assign tasks 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

Enable this option (‘Yes’) to display tasks only to users who have been specifically assigned those items. Leave this option disabled to display items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this section Author to display the type of users that can be assigned todo items. Leave the check box unticked for any roles that you do not want to assign to-do items.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

When this option is enabled, WordPress will automatically send users an email with their assigned to-do items …

If you don’t want emails sent out to users, then leave this option disabled.

Note: If this option is disabled, skip other 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 on the subject of your emails …

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

If you don’t want to-do categories added to the email subject, then leave this option disabled (‘No’).

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

Enabling this option 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 notifications. You can enter your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

Add the email address that you want to display as the “sent from” 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 whenever a new item has been added in your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

Enter 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 lets you carry out database maintenance tasks related to plugin data inside your plugin settings area …

This is useful if, for example, you see that todo items you have already deleted are still showing up on your site.

The following tasks can be performed in this section:

• 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 actions that you perform on your database from this screen cannot be reversed. If you are sure that you want to carry out database operations in this section, then make sure to backup your database first.

If you don’t want to perform your own site backups, then use a professional, or use a WordPress backup plugin. You can learn more about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your site backups here:

• Back Up, Clone And Keep Your WP Websites Protected With Backup Creator WP Plugin

User Permissions

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

If you select the Individual List type, the only permission that applies in this section is the View To-Do List permission …

If you plan to configure 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 …

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 working with the Master list type make sure that you only allow non-administrators to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list itself.

Let’s go through the settings for the User Permissions section:

View To-Do List

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

Add To-Do Item Capability

This setting enables the selected capability to add new items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

Here you can permit the chosen capability to modify existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

Here you can allow the chosen capability to assign items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This setting enables 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

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

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

Here you can permit the selected capability to purge all the completed items.

Add Categories Capability

Here you can permit 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 copy over data from an existing to-do list to another website, or export your data for backup or archiving purposes.

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

Use this section to easily export or import your 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 list data from the ‘Import/Export’ tab, you can also export data by going to your WordPress admin 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 – posts, pages, etc…), or selecting ‘To-Do’ from the ‘Choose what to export’ section and clicking on the ‘Download Export File’ button to download your file to your storage medium…

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 file and click ‘Open’ …

After your data file has been uploaded in your settings area, click the ‘Import Settings’ button …

Your file will be imported.

Now that you have configured all plugin settings, you are ready to start 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 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 new to-do items from your admin 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 at the bottom of the screen) …

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

Depending on the way you have set up your plugin, you may or may not see certain options displayed when adding 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 to-do item …

Note: If you are using a list type that allows you to assign tasks 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 delete a user) …

After an item has been added, 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 …

Edit And Delete Items

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 …

Once you have created your to do list, users can view the list inside their own dashboard …

When users responsible for completing an item tick the item check box …

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

And displays in the ‘Completed Items’ table located in the ’To-Do List’ page …

Additional Plugin 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 page or post using short codes.

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 your list to appear …

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

The to-do list will display where the widget was added (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• Using s

Shortcodes

You can also create lists and checklists to your site using shortcodes.

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

This documentation section explains various ways to configure and use short codes to display lists and checklists on your content.

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

After publishing your post or page, you should see the list displayed in the location where you entered the short code …

For more information about this plugin, visit the plugin website here:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

***

***