Creating A To-Do List In WordPress

Time always seems to be in short supply, especially when you run a fast-paced business.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have so many deadlines to meet, tasks to complete, priorities to attend to, fires to put out, 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 trying to promote and grow your business online and maintaining your website or blog updated with fresh content and things suddently begin to feel unmanageable and overwhelming.

Whether you are running a business, website, blog, or managing a team, it’s important to be able to organize and prioritize your activities, keep track of your progress and daily accomplishments, and, if necessary, delegate tasks and responsibilities to team members effectively.

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

Benefits Of Using To Do Lists

A “to-do” list helps you track your progress when trying to achieve your objectives. Your to-do list can be minutely detailed and very specific, or just serve as a concise reminder of the things that need doing today, tomorrow, next week, next month, etc.

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

Free The Brain

Writing to do lists means that you don’t have to keep remembering things or clutter your brain with details. Once tasks are written down on a to-do list, your mind is free to process other information and you can focus on things that are more important to you.

Strategize

Creating and organizing to do lists helps you view the bigger picture and come up with a strategic plan to get tasks done effectively.

Reorganize And Reschedule Quickly

Having a to do list lets you better handle situations. If an appointment gets cancelled at the last minute or extra time has been made available when some task gets completed sooner than expected, you can keep working with minimal loss of focus.

Ensures Accountability

With no accountability there’s no commitment to completion, and no motivation to take meaningful action. Lack of accountability allows excuses to creep in and take over your productivity.

Sense Of Accomplishment

Ticking items off a to do list not only makes you feel more positive, motivated and in-control, it also lets you relax more, as you can objectively see (or show) that work is indeed getting done and that things are moving forward.

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

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

In this tutorial you are going to learn how to easily create to-do lists in WordPress to improve business efficiency and productivity using a customizable, multi-featured to do list WordPress plugin called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To Do List

Download The Plugin

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

Description

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

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Features

Note: the features described below will be 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 the same to do list, or to have a master list with individual completion of items.

The shared to-do list option provides different settings. You can delegate to-do items to specific users (this includes a setting to email a new to do item to assigned users) and optionally to have those items be seen by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users based on user roles. There are also settings to display deadline and progress fields. Category support is included as well as front-end administration.

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

A sidebar widget is also available as short code 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 download the Post Planner plugin from the same developer.

Installing The Plugin

Log into your site’s dashboard and click on Plugins > Add New …

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

Locate the Cleverness To-Do List item in the Search Results section and click Install Now …

Click “Activate Plugin” …

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

After you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

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

This takes you to the plugin ‘Settings’ page …

Let’s go through the plugin setup process …

Configuring The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

The Settings area is divided into 4 sections:

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

Let’s review each of these tabs.

To-Do List Settings

To-Do List Categories

Select ‘Enabled’ to organize lists 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 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 to-do lists.

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

List View

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

• Individual – Choosing this option allows users to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Selecting this option lets all users share the same 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 using the ‘Master’ list view, make sure to adjust the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (see further below).

Sort Order

‘Sort Order’ lets you specify how list items will be sorted.

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

Show Added By

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you display which members on your site have added an item to your 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 your to-do tasks …

Show Progress

If enabled, you can specify task progress indicators for your to-do items …

Show Admin Bar Menu

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you display the ‘To-Do List’ menu in your WordPress Dashboard 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

If this option is enabled, automatic paragraphs are used to display content in to-do lists.

Integrate with Post Planner

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

Visit this site to learn more about using this plugin: WordPress Post Planner

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

Advanced Settings

Once you have configured 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 …

This tab lets you customize your To Do lists, assign to-do items to users and carry out 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 options can be configured in this section:

Date Format

Here you can specify how to display dates in your todo lists (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

Note: To learn more about how to format dates in WordPress, refer to the relevant section of the WordPress Codex below:

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

In this section you can customize labels for highest (important), middle (normal) and low priority items …

Items given the highest priority display in red in your lists and lowest priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

If enabled, item IDs will display on the list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If this option is enabled, the date your to-do list was added displays on the To-Do 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 area and assign items to other users …

The following options can be configured in this area:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enable this option to assign tasks 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 items only to users who have been assigned those items. Leaving this option disabled (‘No’) displays to-do 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 to-do 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

When you enable this option, WordPress automatically sends users an email with their assigned to-do items …

Leave this option disabled (‘No’) if you don’t want emails sent out to users.

Note: If you disable this option, you can skip the remaining 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-do categories added to the subject of your emails.

If you don’t want categories to show the email subject, 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 you have various 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. Type the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

In this field, type the email address that you want displayed as the “sent from” email address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Type in a subject field for the email that will be distributed automatically to users whenever a new item has been assigned to 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 section of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab you can perform database maintenance operations related to plugin data inside your plugin settings area without the need to access your web server …

This is useful if, for example, you notice that old items are still showing on your site.

The following tasks can be performed:

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

Any database operations carried out from this screen cannot be undone. 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 back up your files yourself, then get help from a WordPress professional, or use backup plugins. Learn about a great WordPress backup plugin that can automate your backup process here:

• Backup, Duplicate & Protect Your WordPress Website With Backup Creator Plugin For WordPress

User Permissions

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

If you have chosen the Individual List type, the only configurable item that is applicable for 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 be able to perform 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 permit non-administrators to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list itself.

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

View To-Do List

Here you can allow the chosen 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 enable the selected capability to mark items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This enables the chosen capability to edit existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This permits the chosen capability to delegate to-do items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

Here you can enable 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

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

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This option allows the chosen capability to purge all the completed to-do items.

Add Categories Capability

This option permits the chosen capability to add new categories.

Import/Export

The ability to import and export to-do list data can be very useful. For example, you may decide to transfer data from an existing list to another website, or store your data for backup or archiving purposes.

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

Now you can easily export and import your data and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

You can export and download your list data settings by clicking on the ‘Download Export File’ …

This opens up a window allowing you to download and save the data in plain text format to an internal or external drive …

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 checking ‘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 a storage device…

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 …

Select the previously saved to-do list data file and click ‘Open’ …

After uploading the data file, click on the ‘Import Settings’ button …

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

Once you have configured all plugin settings, you are ready to begin creating and editing to-do lists.

Plugin Usage

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

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

Adding New To Do Items

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

For example, you can add a new item to your to-do list from your admin toolbar …

You can also add new to-do items inside your 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) …

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

Depending on how you have configured your plugin settings, some options may not display when adding new to-do items.

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 have chosen a list type that lets you 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 users) …

Once the new item has been added, it will be listed as an entry in the ‘To-Do List’ table …

Repeat this process to continue adding new items to your list …

Editing And Deleting Items From Your List

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

Depending on your plugin configuration settings (discussed earlier), users assigned to tasks may also receive an email notification in their inboxes …

After creating your to do list, users can view the list from their dashboard …

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

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

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

Additional Plugin Information

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

Using The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Widget

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 location in your sidebar menu where you want the list to display …

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

Your to-do list will appear where you have added the widget (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use Widgets In WordPress

Using Plugin Shortcodes

The plugin also lets you display lists on your site by placing shortcodes into your content.

To access the plugin’s shortcode documentation, select To-Do List > To-Do List from your WordPress 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 shortcodes for displaying lists and checklists on your pages and posts.

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 inside the content area …

Publish your page or post and you should see the list displayed where you added the shortcode …

For more details about this plugin, visit this site:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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