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 clients to meet, projects to complete, meetings to attend, fires to extinguish, deliveries to make, commitments to keep and so on. The stress of trying to get things done on time never seems to end.

Now … add the extra workload of promoting and growing your business online and keeping your website updated with regular content and things suddently begin to feel unmanageable and overwhelming.

Whether you are running a business, website, blog, or managing a project, you need 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 effectively.

A simple “tried and true” tool that can help you save time, reduce stress, and allow you to take control is to use a “to do” list.

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 quite detailed and very specific, or serve as a concise reminder of what needs to be done over a given period of time.

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

Free Up Resources

Writing to-do lists means that you won’t have to memorize stuff or clutter your mind with details. Once things are recorded on a to-do list, your brain is free to process other information and you can focus on other important areas.

Strategize

Creating and organizing to do lists helps you break down larger projects into more doable tasks and come up with a strategic plan to get tasks done efficiently.

Keep Documented Work Logs

To-do lists allow you to keep documented logs of the work you have done. This can be used as evidence of work to clients or employers, or simply as a method of helping you track your own productivity and efficiency.

Stress Less

Stress can result from feeling overwhelmed by the fact that there are so many things that needs to get done and so very little time to do it all in. Creating to-do lists allow you to prioritize urgent things that have to be completed immediately, and reschedule items that can be addressed later. This can help reduce stress.

Feeling Of Accomplishment

Ticking items off your to do list gives you a sense of accomplishment and allows you to stress less, as you can objectively see (or show) that work is indeed getting done and that milestones are being reached.

As you can see, there are many benefits to using to-do lists, both in business and in your personal life. Creating to do lists, then prioritizing tasks and working in a focused manner increases efficiency and productivity in your business.

What about using to do lists on your WordPress website?

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

Cleverness To-Do List

Plugin URL

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

Description

This plugin lets you easily add a to-do list to a WP website or blog.

Plugin Features

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

You can set up the plugin to assign private to-do lists for individual users, to have all users share your to do list, or to have a master list with individual item completions.

The shared to do list option provides a number of different settings. You can delegate to-do items to specific users (this includes a setting to email new to-do items to the assigned user) and optionally to have assigned items be seen 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 included as well in the front-end administration.

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

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

If you plan to set up a multi-author blog you can use the to-do lists plugin to create custom to-do lists for your post editors if you also own the Post Planner plugin for WordPress.

Plugin Installation

Log into your WordPress admin area and click on Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Click “Activate Plugin” …

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

Once the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

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

This takes you to the plugin ‘Settings’ area …

Let’s set up the plugin …

Configuring The Plugin

The “To-Do List” plugin ‘Settings’ screen is divided into 4 tabs:

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

Let’s review each of these sections.

To-Do List Settings

Categories

Choose ‘Enabled’ to organize your list 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 plugin 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 are not 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 types of to-do list views:

• Individual – Choose this option if you want each user to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Selecting this option lets all users share the same to-do list.
• Master – Choose 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 to set the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (see further below).

Sort Order

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

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

Show Added By

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you can display which members have added an item to your to-do list.

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

Show Date Completed

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

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

Enabling this option displays the ‘To-Do List’ menu in your WordPress 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

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

Integrate with Post Planner

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

To learn more this handy plugin, visit this site: WordPress Post Planner

Once you have finished configuring your options, click the ‘Save Changes’ button …

Advanced Settings

After configuring the settings in the To-Do List Settings tab, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab …

This brings you to the plugin’s ‘Advanced Settings’ section …

In this tab you can customize your To Do lists, assign to-do items to other users and carry out plugin 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

In this area you can customize your To-Do List …

The following options can be configured in this section:

Date Format

In this area you can specify how to display dates on your to-do lists (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

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

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

This section lets you customize your labels for prioritizing highest (important), middle (normal) and lowest (low) items …

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

Show To-Do Item ID

If this option is enabled, item IDs show up on your to-do 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 chosen ‘Group’ or ‘Master’ View for your to-do list, you can configure the settings in this area and assign items to other users …

You can configure the following options in this area:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enabling this option lets you 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

If enabled (‘Yes’), you can display to-do items only to users who have been assigned those items. Leave this option disabled (‘No’) to display items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Checking the boxes in this section Editor displays the type of users that can be assigned todo items. If you don’t want to assign to-do items to a particular role, then don’t tick its check box.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

If this option is enabled, 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 this option is disabled, you can 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 in the subject of emails sent to users …

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

If you don’t want categories displayed in the subject of your emails, then leave this option disabled (‘No’).

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 site has multiple project managers assigning to-do items to users …

From Field for Emails Sent to User

This field allows you to customize the “From” field when sending out email notices. You can enter your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like in this field …

From Email

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

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Type into this field a subject field for the email that will be sent automatically to users whenever new items have 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

In this area of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab you can perform database maintenance tasks associated with plugin data inside your plugin settings area …

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

You can perform the following tasks:

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

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

If you don’t want to perform your own backups, then consider getting help from a WordPress professional, or use a WordPress backup plugin. You can read about a great WordPress backup plugin that can automate your site backups here:

• Back Up, Copy & Keep Your WordPress Web Sites Protected With Backup Creator Plugin For WP

User Permissions

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

If you are using Individual List, the only configurable option that is applicable in this section is the View To-Do List permission …

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

By default, general capabilities for 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-administrator users to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list itself.

Here is a description of the settings in this section:

View To-Do List

Here you can permit the selected capability to view items in the dashboard widget and on the To-Do List page under the ‘Tools’ section.

Complete To-Do Item Capability

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

Add To-Do Item Capability

This setting enables the chosen capability to add new items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

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

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This option permits the selected capability to delegate items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This option allows 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 to-do items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

Here you can permit 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 very useful. For example, you may decide to transfer data from one website to another, or store the 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 easily import and export your data and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

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

This opens up a window allowing you to view or download the data in a plain text file (e.g. Notepad) to an internal or external storage medium …

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

You can include to-do list data in an 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 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 and click ‘Open’ …

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

Your file data will be imported.

After configuring all plugin settings, you can begin create and edit your lists.

Plugin Usage

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

This brings up the ‘To-Do List’ screen …

Add New Items To Your To-Do List

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

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

You can also add new to-do items to your list inside 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 contains many items, as the link is only going to send you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section down the page) …

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

Depending on how you have configured the plugin’s settings, you may or may not see certain options displayed when adding new items to your to-do list.

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 item to your list …

Note: If you are using a list type that allows you to assign 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 After adding a new item, the item will display as an entry in the ‘To-Do List’ table …

Repeat this process to keep adding items to your list …

Editing And Deleting To Do Items

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

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

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

When users responsible for completing an item click on the item check box …

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

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

Additional Information

The Cleverness To-Do List plugin offers additional functions that let you display to-do lists on your WordPress website using widgets, and display lists on any post or page 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 the list to show …

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

The to-do list will appear wherever the ‘to-do-list’ widget has been added (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use WordPress Widget

Using The Cleverness Plugin Short Codes

You can also create lists on your site with shortcodes.

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

The documentation section explains different ways to configure and use shortcodes to display 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 inside the content section …

After publishing your post or page, you will see the list displayed where you have added the short code …

For more information about this plugin, go here:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you can add to-do lists to your WordPress site.

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