How To Create To Do Lists In WordPress

If you are a busy person trying to run a business or manage a team, time always seems to be in short supply.

There is just so much to do and remember. You have 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 promoting and growing your business online and maintaining your website updated with fresh content and things suddently begin feeling unmanageable and chaotic.

Whether you run a business, website, blog, or manage a team, you need to be able to organize and manage your daily activities.

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

To-Do Lists – Benefits

A “to-do” list can help you measure your progress when trying to complete tasks. Your to-do list can be very detailed or specific, or just serve as a reminder of the things that need to be done over a given period of time.

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

Free The Brain

Writing to-do lists means that you don’t have to try to memorize stuff or store information inside your brain. Once things are recorded on a to do list, your head is free to process information and you can focus on more important things.

Strategize

After creating and organizing a to-do list, you can see the larger picture and come up with a strategy for getting things done on time and on budget.

Document Your Work

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

Accountability

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

Collaborate Better With Others

Creating to do lists and other project management tools is essential for working with other people on some of your larger or more complex projects.

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, then prioritizing tasks and working towards completing the items on your list increases productivity and efficiency in your business.

What about using to-do lists on your website?

In this detailed step-by-step tutorial you are going to learn how to create a to do list in WordPress to improve business efficiency and productivity using a customizable, multi-featured to-do list 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 WordPress.

Plugin Features

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

You can configure Cleverness To Do List 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 provides different settings. You can delegate to do items to specific users (this includes a setting to email a new to-do item to the user) and optionally to have those items be seen by that user. You can also assign different permission levels using capabilities. 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 admin backend to help you manage your lists and the to do list can also appear on the dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is available as well as shortcode to display the to do list items on your blog. There are two shortcodes for front-end administration of your list. Management of categories is accessible through the back-end.

If you plan to run a multi-author site you can use the plugin to create custom to do lists for your post planners if you also download a copy of the Post Planner plugin for WordPress.

Plugin Installation

Log into your WP administration area scroll down the menu choose Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Click “Activate Plugin” …

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

Once you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

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

This takes you to the plugin ‘Settings’ area …

Let’s go through the plugin configuration process …

How To Configure The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

The Settings area is divided into 4 tabs:

• To-Do List Settings – The options in this section let you specify the plugin’s main settings.
• Advanced Settings – This area is where you customize your To Do lists, assign tasks to other users and perform plugin 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 – This section is where you export and import your to-do plugin and list data settings.

Let’s review each of these tabs.

To-Do List Settings

Categories

Choose ‘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 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.

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

List View

List View allows you to specify how lists will be viewed. There are 3 kinds 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 – Select this option if you want all users to share the same to-do list.
• Master – Choose this option to create one master list for all users, where users have their own individual completion of items. If you select the ‘Master’ list view, make sure that you 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 choose Alphabetical, ID or Category, ID, Category or Alphabetical options, items will be first sorted by priority.

Show Added By

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

Show Deadline

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you will be able to specify deadlines for your to-do items …

Show Progress

Enabling this option lets you 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

Enable this option to display content in your 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, developed by the same author that helps to make the process of managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

For more details about using this handy plugin, go here: WordPress Post Planner – 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

Once you have configured the general settings, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab to proceed …

This brings up the ‘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 go 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 list (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

Here you can customize your labels for prioritizing important, middle (normal) and lowest (low) items …

Items given the highest (important) priority are shown in red in your lists and low priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option shows item IDs on the list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option will display the date your To-Do Items table was added …

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 settings can be configured in this section:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

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

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this area (Administrator to display the type of users that can be assigned todo 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

If you enable this option, WordPress will automatically send 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 (‘No’).

Note: If you disable this option, you can skip the other settings 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 show to-do categories in the subject of your emails.

Leave this option disabled (‘No’) if you don’t want categories added to 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 option is useful if, for example, you have multiple 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 email notices. 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 would like showing as the “sent from” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Add into this field a subject field for the email that will be sent out automatically to users whenever a new item has been assigned to your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

Type 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

In this section you can perform database maintenance operations related to plugin data directly from the plugin settings area itself without the need to access your server …

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

You can perform the following tasks in this section:

• Delete Tables – Delete custom database tables that you are no longer using.
• 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 do your own site backups, then consider using a professional service, or use a WordPress backup plugin. Learn about a great WordPress backup plugin that can automate your site backups here:

• Backup, Clone & Keep Your WP Sites Protected With Backup Creator WP Plugin

User Permissions

Here you can configure user permissions and capabilities for Group and Master List types …

If you have selected the Individual List type, the only configurable option that applies in this section is the View To-Do List option …

If you are setting up user permissions and capabilities for Group and 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 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 non-administrator users should only be allowed 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 section:

View To-Do List

This permits 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 enable the chosen capability to mark items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

This setting allows the selected capability to add new items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This enables the selected capability to modify existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

Here you can enable the selected capability to delegate items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This setting allows 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

This setting enables the chosen capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This setting enables the chosen capability to purge all the completed items.

Add Categories Capability

This option allows 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 need to transfer data from an existing list to another website, or export the list data for backup or reporting purposes.

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

Here you can easily export or import your list data and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

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

This opens up a new window allowing you to download and save the data in a plain text file (e.g. Notepad) to an internal or external hard drive …

As well as exporting list data from the ‘Import/Export’ section, 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 the ‘Download Export File’ button to download your file to your hard drive…

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 …

Select the file in your hard drive or external drive and click ‘Open’ …

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

Your file data will be imported.

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

How To Use Cleverness To-Do List

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 …

Add New To-Do Items

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

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

You can also add new to-do items from the ‘To-Do List’ dashboard section 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 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’ area.

Depending on the way you have configured the plugin’s settings, some options may not display when when you add new to-do items.

Set up 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 are using a list type that lets you assign responsibilities over items to users, select a user from the drop-down list and assign them the item …

You can also assign multiple users to the same item (click on ‘x’ to remove users) …

After After adding a new item, the item will be listed as an entry in the ‘To-Do List’ table …

Repeat this process to continue adding 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 next to items under the ‘Action’ column …

Depending on how you have configured your 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 it from their own dashboard …

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

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

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

Additional Information

The Cleverness To-Do List plugin offers additional functions that let you display to-do lists on your site using widgets, and insert a list into content inside a post or page using short codes.

Using The Cleverness 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 your to-do list to display …

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

Your to-do list will now display on your site where you have inserted the widget (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• Using Widgets In WordPress

Short Codes

The Cleverness plugin also lets you add to-do lists on your site with short codes.

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

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

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

This documentation section explains different ways to configure and use short codes for displaying lists and checklists on your content.

Once you know what information you would like to add to your site, open up a new page or post and either type or paste the shortcode into the content section …

After publishing your page or post, you should see the list displayed exactly where you have inserted the shortcode …

To download this plugin, visit this site:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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