Creating A To Do List In WordPress

When you are running a fast-paced business or managing other people, time always seems to be in short supply.

There are so many things to do and remember. You have so many deadlines to meet, tasks to complete, meetings to attend, fires to put out, deliveries to make, schedules to keep and so on. The amount of things that need ”doing” never stops.

Now … add the extra dimension of promoting and growing your business online and maintaining your website updated with fresh content and everything can start to become unmanageable and out of control.

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

One 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.

The Benefits Of Using A To Do List

A “to do” list helps you measure your progress when trying to complete tasks. Your to do list can be minutely detailed and very specific, or serve as a reminder of the things that need to be done today, tomorrow, this week, this month, etc.

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

To Do Lists Help You Stay Organized

Having a to do list helps you create order, stay organized and achieve your goals faster.

Be More Strategic

By creating and organizing your to do list, you can break your workload into more doable tasks and create a strategy to get tasks completed on budget and on time.

Reschedule And Reorganize Quickly

A to do list lets you better cope with events. If a meeting gets cancelled at short notice or extra time becomes available when a task gets completed sooner than expected, you can quickly reorganize and reschedule and keep working without disruption.

Ensures Accountability

With no accountability there is no commitment to getting things completed, and no motivation to take meaningful action. Lack of accountability can also allow excuses to creep in and take over your productivity.

Delegate Better

To-do lists help you assign tasks to other people better. This is also important when collaborating 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 improves your business efficiency and productivity.

Let’s turn now to using to do lists on your website or blog. More specifically, how to add to do lists to WordPress.

In this tutorial we are going to show you how to easily create a to do list in WordPress to help your business grow  faster and more efficiently using a great little WordPress plugin called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To-Do List

Plugin Download URL

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

Plugin Description

This plugin lets you easily add customizable to-do lists to WordPress.

Plugin Features

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

You can set up Cleverness To Do List to have private to-do lists for each user, 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 offers different settings. You can delegate to-do items to a specific user (this includes emailing new to do items to the assigned user) 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 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 lists are also displayed on a dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is also available as shortcode to display the to do list items on your blog. There are 2 short codes for front-end administration of your list. Management of categories is accessed through the back-end.

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 editors if you also download the Post Planner plugin for WordPress.

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Installation

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

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

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

Click “Activate Plugin” …

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

When the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

Note: You can also get to the plugin’s settings screen by choosing To-Do List > Settings from the admin menu …

This takes you to the plugin ‘Settings’ section …

The section below shows you how to configure the plugin …

How To Set Up The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

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

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

Let’s now go through each of these tabs.

To-Do List Settings

To-Do List Categories

Select ‘Enabled’ to organize your to-do list 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 to your lists (see ‘Plugin Usage’ section further below for more details) …

You can set up ‘public’ and ‘private’ categories for your lists.

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

List View

List View allows you to choose how to-do lists will be viewed. You can select three types of 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 allows users to share the same to-do list.
• Master – This option allows you to create one master list for all users, where users have their own individual items to complete. If using the ‘Master’ list view, make sure that you set the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (see further below).

Sort Order

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

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

Show Added By

If this option is enabled, you can display which of your members has added an item to your to-do list.

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

Show Date Completed

If this option is enabled, completion dates will display for to-do tasks.

Show Deadline

Enabling this option lets you specify deadlines for to-do items …

Show Progress

If enabled, you will be able to specify task progress indicators for your to-do items …

Show Admin Bar Menu

If enabled (‘Yes’), the ‘To-Do List’ menu will display in your WordPress Dashboard Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

If this option is enabled, you can 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 lists 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, developed by the same plugin author that provides you with a complete WordPress editorial solution …

To learn more about using this WordPress plugin, go here: WordPress Post Planner

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

Advanced Settings

After configuring the general settings, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab to proceed …

This brings up the ‘Advanced Settings’ section …

This screen lets you customize your To Do lists, assign to-do items to other users and carry out database maintenance.

Let’s go through how to configure the plugin’s ‘Advanced Settings’ section …

To-Do List Advanced Settings > Customize The To-Do List

This section of the ‘Advanced Settings’ screen allows you to customize your To Do List …

You can configure the following settings in this section:

Date Format

In this area you can specify how to display dates in your todo list (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

Note: To learn more about formatting dates in WordPress, see 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 important, normal and lowest items …

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

Show To-Do Item ID

If enabled (‘Yes’), item IDs show on the to-do list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) will display the date the items table was added …

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 to-do items to other users …

The following settings can be configured in this section:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

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

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this area Contributor to display 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

When this option is enabled, 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 this option is disabled, skip 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 categories added to the subject of your emails.

Leave this option disabled if you don’t want to-do categories to show the email subject.

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 several 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 emails to users. 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 want to display as the “sent from” email address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

In this field, type a subject field for the email that will be sent automatically to users when new items have been added 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

This section of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab lets you perform database maintenance operations associated with plugin data inside the plugin settings area itself without the need to access your server …

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

The following tasks can be performed in this section:

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

Any database operations carried out 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 we recommend backing up your WordPress database first.

If you don’t want to back up your files yourself, then get professional support services, or use WordPress backup plugins. You can learn more about a WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to automate file and data backups here:

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

User Permissions

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

If you have chosen the Individual List type, the only setting that is applicable for this section is the View To-Do List permission …

If you are setting up 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 make sure that you only permit non-admin users 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 tab:

View To-Do List

Here you can enable 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 allows the chosen capability to mark items as completed or uncompleted.

Add To-Do Item Capability

This permits the chosen capability to add new to-do items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This option allows the selected capability to edit existing items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

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

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This 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

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

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This setting permits 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 copy over data from one website to another, or export the 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 import and export your to-do list 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 new window allowing you to download and save your data in a plain text file (e.g. Notepad) to a storage device …

As well as exporting data from the ‘Import/Export’ tab, you can also export data by going to your WordPress admin menu and selecting Tools > Export …

You can include to-do list data in an 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 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 in your hard drive or external drive and click ‘Open’ …

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

Your file data will be imported.

Now that you have configured all of the plugin settings, you can start create and edit your lists.

Plugin Usage

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

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

Adding A New Item To Your List

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

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

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 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, as the link will simply send you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section further down the screen) …

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

Depending on how you have configured your plugin settings, you may or may not see certain options displayed when adding 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 are using a list type that lets you assign tasks to 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 remove a user) …

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

Repeat the above process to add new items to your list …

Edit And Delete 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 …

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

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

… the item disappears from the “To-Do” list …

And appears in the ‘Completed Items’ table 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 website using widgets, and add a list to content inside a post or page using shortcodes.

Using The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Widget

To add to-do lists to your site using widgets, go to the ‘Widgets’ section (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’ …

Your list will display on your site where the ‘to-do-list’ widget was placed (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use s

Using Plugin Short Codes

Cleverness To-Do List also lets you add to-do lists on your site by inserting shortcodes into your content.

To access the documentation on using short codes, 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 …

The documentation section explains various ways to configure and use shortcodes to display lists on your content.

Once you know what information you want to display on your site, create or edit a new or existing post or page and either type or paste the shortcode into the content area …

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

For more information about this plugin, go here:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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