Creating A To Do List In WordPress

If you plan to run a hectic business, time always seems to be in short supply.

There is just too much to do and remember. You have clients to meet, projects to complete, meetings to attend, fires to extinguish, appointments to make, commitments 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 promoting and growing your business online and maintaining your website updated with new content and things can start to become unmanageable and chaotic.

Whether you run a business, website, blog, or manage a team, you need to be able to organize and prioritize your daily tasks, monitor your progress and daily accomplishments, and, if necessary, delegate tasks to team members efficiently.

A simple proven tool that can help you save time, create a sense of order and manageability, and allow you to regain control is to use a “to-do” list.

To-Do Lists – Benefits

A “to do” list helps you monitor your progress as you work towards your goals. Your to do list can be minutely detailed and specific, or serve as a concise reminder of tasks that need to be done today, tomorrow, this week, this month, etc.

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

A To-Do List Helps You Keep Things Organized

To-do lists help you create order, keep things organized and achieve your goals sooner.

Manage Your Time Better

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

Keep Work Logs

A to do list allows you to maintain documented logs of the work you have done. This can be used as evidence of work done to clients or employers, or just as a method of helping you measure your own productivity and efficiency.

Accountability

Without accountability there is no commitment to getting things completed, and no motivation to act with a sense of purpose. Lack of accountability can also allow excuses to creep in and impact your productivity.

Collaboration

Using to do lists and other project management tools is essential for collaborating with other people 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 a to-do list, then prioritizing tasks and working in a focused manner improves productivity and efficiency in your business.

What about adding a to-do list to your website?

In this detailed step-by-step tutorial you are going to learn how to easily create a to-do list in WordPress to help your business grow online  faster and more efficiently using a customizable, multi-featured to do list plugin for WordPress called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To-Do List

Download The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

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

Plugin Description

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

Features

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

You can configure the plugin with 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 offers different settings. You can delegate to do items to a specific user (this includes emailing a new to do item to users) and optionally to have assigned items only viewable 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 backend to manage your list and your to do list can also appear on a dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is also available as shortcode to display the to-do list items on your blog. There are 2 shortcodes for front-end administration of your list. Category management is accessible through the back-end.

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 Post Planner plugin.

Plugin Installation

In your WP administration area, go to the menu and click on Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Activate the plugin …

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

When the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

Note: You can also get to the settings section by choosing To-Do List > Settings from the admin menu …

This brings you to the plugin ‘Settings’ section …

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

How To Set Up The Plugin

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

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

Let’s now configure each of these tabs.

To-Do List Settings

Categories

Select ‘Enabled’ to organize lists into categories, otherwise leave this option set to ‘Disabled’.

Note: If you enable this option, a ‘Categories’ item is added to the To-Do List plugin menu …

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

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

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

List View

List View lets you specify how your to-do lists will be viewed. There are 3 kinds of to do list views:

• Individual – Choosing this option allows each user to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Choosing this option allows users to share one to-do list.
• Master – Use this option to have one master list for all users, where users have their own individual items to complete. If using the ‘Master’ list view, make sure to configure the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (this is covered further below).

Sort Order

‘Sort Order’ lets you specify how your to-do list items will be sorted.

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

Show Added By

Enabling this option lets you display which members have added an item to the 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 tasks.

Show Deadline

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

Show Progress

If this option is enabled, you can 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

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) 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 list items using paragraphs.

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 developer that provides you with a complete WordPress editorial solution …

Visit this site to learn more about using this handy plugin: WordPress Post Planner – Multi-Author Publishing Plugin For WordPress

Once you have finished configuring your plugin options in this section, remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button to update your settings …

Advanced Settings

After you have configured the general settings, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab …

This brings up the ‘Advanced Settings’ screen …

This section lets you customize your To Do lists, assign to-do tasks to other users and carry out plugin 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

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 in your todo list (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

Note: To learn more about formatting dates in WordPress, see the relevant section of the WordPress Codex below:

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

In this area you can customize your labels for important, middle and low priority items …

high priority items are colour-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 item’s ID on your to-do list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) displays the date the To-Do 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 to-do items to other users …

The following options can be configured in this area:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enable this option (‘Yes’) to 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 (‘Yes’) lets you display items only to users who have been assigned those items. Leaving this option disabled displays items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Checking the boxes in this area Author displays the type of users that can be assigned todo items. If you do not want to assign to-do items to a particular role, then leave its checkbox unticked.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

If this option is enabled, 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.

Note: If you disable this option, 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 to-do categories in the email subject.

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

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

If enabled (‘Yes’), you can display the user who assigned the to-do item in the email. This is a useful option if your site has 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 to users. Enter the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like in this field …

From Email

In this field, add the email address that you would like displayed as the “sent from” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Type in 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

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 of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab lets you perform database maintenance tasks associated with plugin data inside the plugin settings area itself …

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

The tasks below can be performed in this section:

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

Actions that you perform on your database from this screen cannot be undone. If you are comfortable to perform database maintenance in this section, then we recommend backing up your database first.

If you don’t want to back up your files manually, then get support from a WordPress professional, or use a WordPress backup plugin. You can learn more about a WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to completely automate your file and data backups here:

• Back Up, Duplicate & Protect Your WordPress Web Site With Backup Creator Plugin For WordPress

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 configurable option applicable in this section is the View To-Do List permission …

If you are configuring 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 of each user role are set 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 be able to edit the Master list.

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

View To-Do List

This setting 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

Here you can permit the selected capability to mark items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

This option allows the selected capability to add new items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

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

Assign To-Do Item Capability

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

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This permits 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 permit the selected capability to delete individual to-do items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This setting enables the chosen capability to purge all the completed 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 useful. For example, you may decide to copy over data from an existing to-do list to another website, or store your list data for backup or archiving purposes.

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

Here you can import and 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 will open up a window allowing you to download and save your data as plain text to a storage device …

As well as exporting data from the ‘Import/Export’ tab, 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 selecting ‘All content’ (includes everything – posts, pages, etc…), or just select ‘To-Do’ from the ‘Choose what to export’ section and click on the ‘Download Export File’ button to save your file to your 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 …

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

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

Your file will be imported.

After configuring all plugin settings, you are ready to start creating and editing to-do lists.

Plugin Usage

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

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

How To Add New To Do Items

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

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

You can also add new to-do items inside 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, since the link will simply 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 set up your plugin, you may or may not see certain options displayed when adding new to-do items.

Set up 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 item to your list …

Note: If you are using 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 assign items to multiple users (click on ‘x’ to remove users) …

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

Repeat the above process to keep adding new 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 next to each item under the ‘Action’ column …

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

After creating your to do list, users can view it inside their WP user dashboard …

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

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

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

Additional Plugin Information

The Cleverness plugin offers additional functions that let you display to-do lists on your WordPress site using widgets, and insert a list 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 menu where you would like your list to display …

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

Your to-do list will now display 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 Widgets In WordPress

Using Plugin Short Codes

The Cleverness plugin also lets you display lists on your site with short codes.

To access the documentation on using shortcodes, select To-Do List > To-Do List from the dashboard menu …

Click the ‘Help’ tab on the 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 on your pages and posts.

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 inside the content editor …

Publish your page or post and you should see the list displayed exactly where you have inserted the shortcode …

To learn more about this plugin, go here:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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