How To Create A To Do List In WordPress

There never seems to be enough time to get everything done, especially if you run a fast-paced business or manage a team.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have so many deadlines to meet, projects to complete, priorities to attend to, 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 trying to promote and grow your business online and maintaining your website updated with new content and everything suddenly begins to feel unmanageable and out of control.

Whether you run a business, website, blog, or manage a team, it’s important to be able to organize and prioritize your daily activities, keep track of your progress, and, if necessary, assign tasks to team members effectively.

One simple “tried and true” method 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.

To Do Lists – Benefits

A “to-do” list helps you monitor your progress when trying to complete projects. Your to-do list can be minutely detailed and very specific, or act as a reminder of tasks that need doing over a given period of time.

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

Think Clearly

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

Be More Strategic

After creating and organizing a to-do list, you can view the larger picture and formulate a strategy to get everything completed on budget and on time.

Reschedule Quickly

Using to-do lists let you better cope with events. If you find that an appointment gets cancelled at the last minute or extra time is made available because something was completed sooner than expected, you can continue working with little to no disruption.

Accountability

With no accountability there’s no commitment to getting things completed, and no motivation to act with a sense of purpose. Lack of accountability lets excuses creep in and take over your work day.

Feeling Of Accomplishment

Ticking items off to do lists gives you a sense of accomplishment and allows you to stress less, as you can objectively see (or show) that the work is being completed and that things are moving forward.

As you can see, there are many benefits to using to do lists, both in business and in your personal life. Creating to-do lists, prioritizing tasks and working systematically improves your business productivity and efficiency.

What about using a to-do list on your WordPress website or blog?

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

Cleverness To-Do List

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin URL

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

You can set up the plugin to assign 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 has a variety of settings available. You can delegate to do items to a specific user (this includes emailing a new to-do item to the assigned user) and optionally to have those items be viewable by that user. You can also assign different permission levels using capabilities. There are also settings to show 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 lists and your to-do lists can also be displayed on the dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is available as well as short code to display the to-do list items on your site. There are 2 shortcodes for front-end list administration. Category management is accessed via the back-end.

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

Installing The Plugin

Log into your WordPress administration area and choose Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Click Activate Plugin …

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

When the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

Note: You can also get to the ‘Settings’ screen by choosing To-Do List > Settings from your dashboard menu …

This brings you to the plugin ‘Settings’ screen …

The section below shows you how to set up the plugin …

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Setup

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

• To-Do List Settings – This area is where 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 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 import and export your to-do list data and plugin settings.

Let’s now configure 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 allows you to add categories that you can use to organize your lists (see ‘Plugin Usage’ section further below for more details) …

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

Private categories 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 choose how to-do lists are viewed. You can select 3 kinds of list views:

• Individual – Use this option if you want each user to be able to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Selecting this option allows all users to share the same to-do list.
• Master – Select this option to create one master list for all users, where users have their own individual completion of items. If you choose 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 to sort to-do list items.

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

If enabled, 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

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

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), automatic paragraphs are used to display content in your to-do list items.

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 developer to help make the task of managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

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

After configuring your plugin options in this section, click the ‘Save Changes’ button to update your settings …

Advanced Settings

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

This brings up the ‘Advanced Settings’ section …

This tab lets you customize your To-Do lists, assign to-do tasks to 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

This section of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab allows you to 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 on your to-do list (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

Note: To learn more about how to format 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 highest, normal and lowest (low) items …

Items prioritized as “important” are shown in red and lowest priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option will show the items’ IDs on your list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option shows the date the table of items was added …

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

If you have chosen ‘Group’ or ‘Master’ View for your to-do list, you can configure the options in this area and assign to-do items to other users …

You can configure the following options in this area:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

If this option is enabled, you can 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 assigned those items. Leave this option disabled (‘No’) to display items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Checking the boxes in this area (Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, Subscriber) displays the type of users that can be assigned items. Leave the check box 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 automatically sends an email to users with their assigned to-do items …

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

Note: If this option is disabled, 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 categories in the email subject.

If you don’t want to show categories in the email subject, then leave this option disabled (‘No’).

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

Enable this option (‘Yes’) to display the user who assigned the to-do item in the email. This option is useful if, for example, you have a number of 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 emails. Enter the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

Enter the email address that you would like displayed 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 automatically distributed to users when new items have been assigned 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 tasks associated with plugin data directly from the plugin settings area without the need to log into your web server …

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

You can perform the tasks below in this section:

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

Any database operations carried out from this screen cannot be undone. If you are comfortable to carry out database maintenance in this section, then remember to backup your database first.

If you don’t want to perform site backups, then consider getting professional support, or use WordPress backup plugins. Learn about a great WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to completely automate your WordPress site backups here:

• Backup, Copy & Protect Your WP Sites With Backup Creator WP Plugin

User Permissions

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

If you are using the Individual List type, the only permission that applies in this section is the View To-Do List permission …

If you are setting up user permissions and capabilities for Group or Master List types, select the highest level capabilities that you want users to have access to for each option …

The 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 make sure that you only permit non-admin users to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list.

Below is a description of the settings in this tab:

View To-Do List

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

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

Here you can permit the selected capability to modify existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This option permits the selected capability to assign to-do items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

Here you can permit 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 option permits the chosen capability to delete individual to-do items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

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

Add Categories Capability

Here you can enable 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 store your data for backup or archiving 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

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

This will open up a window allowing you to download and save your data in plain text format to a storage medium (e.g. your hard drive) …

As well as exporting list data from the ‘Import/Export’ section, you can also export data by going to your 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 – pages, posts, etc…), or selecting ‘To-Do’ from the ‘Choose what to export’ section and clicking the ‘Download Export File’ button to download 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’ …

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

Your file will be imported.

Once you have configured all of the plugin settings, you can begin creating and editing to do lists.

How To Use The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

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

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

Add New To-Do Items To Your List

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

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

You can also add new to-do items to your list in 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 already contains many items, since the link is only going to send 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 set up your plugin, you may or may not see certain options displayed when adding 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 item to your list …

Note: If you have chosen a list type that allows you to assign responsibilities over items 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 delete a user) …

After the new item has been added, the item will display as an entry in the ‘To-Do Items’ table …

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

Edit And Remove To-Do 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 how you have set up the plugin (discussed in the previous section), users assigned to tasks may also receive an email notification in their inboxes …

After creating your to-do list, users can view the list inside their user dashboard …

When users responsible for completing an item tick the item check box …

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

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

Additional Information

The Cleverness To-Do List plugin provides added functionality that lets you display a to-do list on your WordPress website using widgets, and add a list to any page or post using shortcodes.

Using The Cleverness Plugin Widget

To add a to-do list to your site using widgets, go to the ‘Widgets’ section (Appearance > Widgets) and drag the ‘To-Do List’ widget to the menu location where you want the list to display …

Configure the settings on the widget and click ’Save’ 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 widgets in WordPress, see the tutorial below:

• How To Use s

Using The Cleverness Plugin Shortcodes

The Cleverness plugin also lets you display to-do lists and checklists to your site by placing short codes into your content.

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

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

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

This 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, create a new page or post and either type or paste the short code inside the content area …

After publishing your post or page, you should see the list showing in the location where you added the shortcode …

Visit this site for more details about this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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