How To Create To-Do Lists In WordPress

If you run a hectic business or manage other people, time always seems to be in short supply.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have deadlines to meet, tasks to complete, meetings to attend, 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 … on top of all this, add the extra dimension of promoting and growing your business online and maintaining your website updated with fresh content and everything can quickly start to feel unmanageable and out of control.

Whether you are running a business, website, blog, or managing a team, you need to be able to organize and manage your day.

A simple “tried and true” tool that can help you save time, alleviate stressful workloads, and allow you to regain control is to use “to-do” lists.

Benefits Of Using A To Do List

A “to do” list can help to keep you on track and monitor your progress when trying to achieve certain objectives. Your to-do list can be very detailed or specific, or serve as a concise reminder of what needs to be done today, tomorrow, next week, next month, etc.

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

Think Clearly

Writing to-do lists means you don’t have to keep remembering stuff or store information inside your brain. Once tasks are jotted down on a to do list, your mind is free to process information and you can focus on other areas that are important.

Save Time

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you manage your time more effectively. You can develop a better perspective on what’s more urgent vs what’s not, and what steps should be done first.

Reorganize And Reschedule Quickly

To-do lists help you better cope with unforeseen situations. If you find that an appointment gets cancelled or extra time has been made available when something gets completed sooner than expected, you can quickly reorganize and continue moving forward with little to no disruption.

Accountability

Without accountability there is no commitment to getting things completed, and no motivation to take meaningful action. Lack of accountability can also let excuses creep in and impact your productivity.

Better Delegation

To-do lists help you assign tasks to others better. This is also important if you plan to work with others (see further below).

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 systematically increases efficiency and productivity in your business.

What about adding a to do list to your website?

In this step-by-step tutorial we are going to show you how to easily add to do lists to a WordPress site 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 WordPress plugin lets you easily add a customizable to do list to a WordPress site.

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Features

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

You can configure the plugin with private to-do lists for each user, to have all users share a to do list, or to have a master list with individual item completions.

The shared to do list has a variety of settings available. You can assign to do items to specific users (this includes emailing a new to-do item to assigned users) and optionally to have those items only viewable 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 admin backend to manage your lists and the to-do list can also display on a dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is available as well as shortcode to display the to-do list items on your blog. There are two short codes for front-end list administration. Category management is accessible via 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 use a copy of the developer’s premium plugin, Post Planner.

How To Install The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

From your WordPress dashboard section, choose Plugins > Add New …

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

Locate the item in the Search Results tab and click Install Now …

Activate the plugin …

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

Once the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

Note: The plugin’s ‘Settings’ section can also be accessed by choosing To-Do List > Settings from the admin menu …

This takes you to the plugin ‘Settings’ screen …

The section below shows you how to go through the plugin setup process …

How To Set Up The Plugin

The Settings area is divided into 4 sections:

• To-Do List Settings – Here you can specify the main plugin settings.
• Advanced Settings – Here you can 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 – Here you can import and export your to-do list data and plugin settings.

Let’s now take you through 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: When you enable this option, a ‘Categories’ item will be added to the To-Do List menu …

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

List View

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

• Individual – Choosing this option allows users to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Use this option if you want all users to be able to share one to-do list.
• Master – This option allows you to create 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 adjust the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (this is covered further below).

Sort Order

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

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

Show Added By

Enabling this option lets you display which of your users has 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 (‘Yes’), completion dates will display for your to-do tasks.

Show Deadline

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you specify deadlines for to-do tasks …

Show Progress

If enabled, 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 displays in your WP Dashboard 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 to display content in to-do lists using paragraphs.

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, from the same developer that helps to make the task of managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

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

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

Advanced Settings

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

This brings up the plugin’s ‘Advanced Settings’ screen …

In this section you can customize your To Do lists, assign to-do items 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

In this section 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 lists (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

Note: To learn more about how to format dates in WordPress, refer to 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 …

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

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) will display the item’s ID on the list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If enabled, the date your to-do list was added will show on your To-Do Items table …

To-Do List Advanced Settings > Assign To-Do Items Settings

If you have selected ‘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 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 to display tasks only to users who have been specifically assigned those items. Leave this option disabled (‘No’) to display to-do items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this section (Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, Subscriber) to display the type of users that can be assigned to-do items. If you don’t want to assign to-do items to a specific role, then don’t tick its check box.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

If you enable this option, 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.

Note: If you disable this option, skip the 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 in the subject of emails sent to users …

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

If you don’t want categories to display the email subject, then leave this option disabled.

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

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

From Email

Type in the email address that you want to display as the “sent from” email address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

In this field, add a subject field for the email that will be automatically distributed to users whenever new items have been added to your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

Type in 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 you can carry out database maintenance operations related to plugin data inside your plugin settings area itself without having to access your web server …

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

You can perform the following tasks:

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

Any actions that you perform on the database from this screen cannot be reversed. 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 back up your data manually, then hire a professional, or use WordPress backup plugins. Learn about a great WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your backup process here:

• Back Up, Copy And Protect Your WP Website 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 choose the Individual List type, the only setting applicable for this section is the View To-Do List option …

If you are configuring user permissions and capabilities for Group and Master List types, select the highest level capabilities that you want users to be able to perform for each option …

The default general capabilities of 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 be able to edit the Master list.

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

View To-Do List

This setting enables the chosen 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 enables the selected capability to mark to-do items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

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

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This option enables the chosen capability to assign 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 selected capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This setting permits the selected capability to purge all the completed items.

Add Categories Capability

This option permits the selected capability to add new categories.

Import/Export

Being able to import and export to-do list data can be useful. For example, you may need to copy over data from one site to another, or store the data for backup or reporting purposes.

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

Now you can import and export your list 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 view or save the data as plain text to a storage device (e.g. your hard drive) …

In addition to exporting list data from the ‘Import/Export’ tab, you can also export data by going to your main 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 on the ‘Download Export File’ button to save your file to your 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 …

Locate the file and click ‘Open’ …

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

Your file data will be imported.

Now that you have configured all plugin settings, you can begin creating and editing to-do lists.

Plugin Usage

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

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

Add New To Do Items To Your List

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

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

You can also add new to-do items 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, since the link will simply send you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section further down the page) …

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

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

Configure the options you have enabled for your to-do items, add appropriate information into the relevant fields and click on the ‘Submit To-Do Item’ button to add the new to-do item …

Note: If you have selected 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 users) …

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

Repeat this process to keep adding new items to your to-do list …

Edit And Delete To-Do Items

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

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

Once you have created your to-do list, users can view it when logged into their own user dashboard …

When a user assigned with completing an item clicks on the item check box …

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

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

Additional Plugin Information

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

Using The 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 location in your sidebar menu where you would like your list to display …

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

The list will display on your site where the widget has been placed (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• Using s

Shortcodes

The Cleverness To-Do List plugin also lets you display to-do lists and checklists to your site with short codes.

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

Click on the ‘Help’ tab on the corner of your screen …

Click on the ‘Shortcodes’ menu entry to access the Shortcode Documentation screen …

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

Once you know what type of information you want to display on your site, open up a new page or post and either type or paste the shortcode into the content editor …

Publish your post or page and you should see the list displayed exactly where you added the short code …

Visit the plugin website for more details about this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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