Creating A To-Do List In WordPress

There are never enough hours in the day to get things done, especially if you run a hectic business or manage other people.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have so many deadlines to meet, projects to complete, meetings to attend, fires to put out, appointments to make, commitments to keep and so on. The stress of trying to get things done on time never seems to stop.

Now … add the extra workload of promoting and growing your business online and keeping your website or blog updated with fresh content and everything can quickly start to become unmanageable and chaotic.

Whether you run a business, website, blog, or manage a team, it’s important to be able to organize and manage your day.

One proven method that can help you save time, create a sense of order and manageability, and allow you to gain some control is to use a “to-do” list.

The Benefits Of Using To-Do Lists

A “to-do” list can help to keep you on track and measure your progress when trying to complete tasks. Your to-do list can be minutely detailed or specific, or serve as a concise reminder of what needs to be done over a given period of time.

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

See Things More Clearly

Creating to do lists means you don’t have to try and remember things or store information inside your head. Once things are jotted down on a to do list, your head is free to process information and you can focus on other important things.

Save Time

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

Keep Documented Work Logs

A to do list lets you retain documented logs of what work has been done. You can use this to provide evidence of work to employers or clients, or simply as a means of helping you monitor your own productivity and efficiency.

Stress Less

Stress can come from feeling overwhelmed by so much to do and so little time to do it all in. Using to-do lists allow you to work on important tasks that have to be completed within a reasonable timeframe, and push out items that can be worked on later. This can help reduce stress.

Feeling Of Accomplishment

Ticking items off to do lists not only makes you feel more positive, motivated and in-control, it also allows you to relax more, 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 a to-do list, prioritizing tasks and working in a focused way improves your business productivity and efficiency.

Let’s turn now to using to do lists on your website or blog. More specifically, adding a to-do list to WordPress.

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

Cleverness To Do List

Download The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

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

Description

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

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Features

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

You can set up the plugin to have private to do lists for each user, to have all users share a to-do list, or to have a master list with individual completion of items.

The shared to-do list includes different settings. You can assign to-do items to a specific user (this includes a setting to email a new to-do item to the assigned user) and optionally to have assigned items only seen by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users based on user roles. There are also settings available 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 backend to help you manage your lists and the to do lists are also displayed on the dashboard widget.

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

If you plan to set up a multi-author blog you can use this to-do lists plugin to create custom to do lists for your post planners if you also own the developer’s premium plugin, Post Planner.

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Installation

Log into your site’s administration section and 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 entry in the Search Results tab and click Install Now …

Click “Activate Plugin” …

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

Once the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

Note: The plugin’s ‘Settings’ screen can also be accessed by choosing To-Do List > Settings from your dashboard menu …

This takes you to the plugin ‘Settings’ section …

Let’s go through the plugin configuration process …

Plugin Setup

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

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

Let’s 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 gets added to the To-Do List menu …

This allows you to add categories that you can then 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 sidebar widgets or shortcodes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

List View allows you to choose how lists will be viewed. There are 3 to-do list views you can select:

• Individual – Choosing this option allows users 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 a master list for all users, where users have their own individual completion of items. If you select 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 list items will be sorted.

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

Show Added By

Enabling this option lets you display which of your members has added an item to your to-do list.

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

Show Date Completed

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), completion dates will display for to-do items.

Show Deadline

If enabled (‘Yes’), you can specify deadlines for to-do items …

Show Progress

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you can 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 Dashboard Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

If enabled (‘Yes’), 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 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 the process of managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

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

When 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 you to the plugin’s ‘Advanced Settings’ area …

This tab lets you customize your To-Do lists, assign to-do items to other users and perform plugin database maintenance tasks.

Let’s go 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 …

You can configure the following options in this section:

Date Format

Here you can specify how to display dates on your todo lists (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, middle and lowest items …

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

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) shows the items’ IDs on the list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If this option is enabled, the date the to-do list was added shows on your items table …

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 settings 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 setting must be set to ‘Yes’ for the settings below it to work.

Show a User Only the To-Do Items Assigned to Them

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) displays items only to users who have been specifically assigned those items. Leaving this option disabled displays items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Checking the boxes in this section Author displays the type of users that can be assigned items. Leave the checkbox unticked for any roles that you do not want to assign to-do items.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

If you enable this option, 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 you disable this option, skip other items 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 categories to show the subject of your emails.

Leave this option disabled if you don’t want to display categories in the subject of your emails.

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 a number of 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 notifications. Enter the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

Type into this field 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 sent to users whenever a new item has been assigned 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

This area of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab lets you carry out database maintenance operations related to plugin data directly from the plugin settings area itself without having to log into your web server …

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

The following tasks can be performed:

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

Actions that you perform on the 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 remember to backup your database first.

If you don’t want to do your own site backups, then get support services from a WordPress professional, or use a WordPress backup plugin. Learn about a great WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to automate WordPress site backups here:

• Backup, Clone And Protect Your WP Sites With Backup Creator WordPress Plugin

User Permissions

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

If you have chosen Individual List, the only permission that is applicable for 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 want users to be able to perform 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 using the Master list type non-admin users should only be allowed to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list.

Let’s go through the settings in this tab:

View To-Do List

This option enables 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

This option permits the selected capability to mark items as completed or uncompleted.

Add To-Do Item Capability

Here you can enable the selected capability to add new items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This setting enables the selected capability to modify existing items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

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

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This setting 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 allows the chosen capability to delete individual to-do items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

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

Add Categories Capability

This setting allows the chosen 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 transfer data from an existing 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 section …

Use this section to easily import or export your to-do list 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 download and save the data as plain text 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 selecting 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 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 your data file has been uploaded in your settings area, click on the ‘Import Settings’ button …

The data from the existing to-do file will be imported.

After configuring all plugin settings, you can start creating and editing to do lists.

How To Use The Plugin

To create a new to-do list, go to your WordPress dashboard menu and select To-Do List > To-Do List …

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

Adding A New Item To Your To Do List

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

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

You can also add new to-do items to your list 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 contains many items, since the link is only going to take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section at the bottom of the page) …

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

Depending on the way you have set up your plugin, some options may not display when when you add new to-do items.

Select 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 item to your list …

Note: If you have chosen a list type that lets you 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, the item will display as an entry in the ‘To-Do List’ table …

Repeat this process to keep adding items to your 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 (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 dashboard …

When a user assigned with completing an item ticks the item checkbox …

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

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

Additional Plugin Information

The Cleverness To-Do List plugin provides added functionality that lets you display a to-do list on your site using widgets, and insert lists into content inside a post or page using shortcodes.

Widgets

To add a to-do list 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 would like the list to display …

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

Your list will appear where the widget was placed (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• Using WordPress Widget

Using The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Shortcodes

You can also create lists and checklists on your site by placing 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 on the ‘Help’ tab on the top right hand corner of your screen …

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

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

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

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

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you can add a to-do list in WordPress.

***

***