How To Create To Do Lists In WordPress

When you are running a fast-paced business, time is always in short supply.

There are just so many things to do and remember. You have clients to meet, tasks to complete, meetings to attend, fires to extinguish, calls and appointments to make, commitments to keep and so on. The stress of trying to get things done on time never stops.

Now … on top of all this, add the extra workload of trying to promote and grow your business online and maintaining your website updated with fresh content and things suddently begin to feel unmanageable and chaotic.

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

One proven tool that can help you save time, alleviate stress, and allow you to gain some control is to use “to-do” lists.

The Benefits Of Using To Do Lists

A “to do” list can help to keep you on track and monitor your progress as you complete projects. Your to do list can be detailed and specific, or act as a concise reminder of the things that need doing over a given period of time.

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

Free Your Brain

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

Save Time

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you manage your time more effectively. You can gain a clearer perspective on what’s more important vs what’s not, and what tasks need to be done first.

Log Your Work

To-do lists let you keep documented logs of what you have done. This can be used to provide evidence of work done to clients or employers, or just as a means of helping you track your own productivity and efficiency.

Accountability

With no accountability there is no commitment to getting things completed, and no motivation to take meaningful action. Lack of accountability lets excuses creep in and take over your work day.

Collaborate Better With Others

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

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, then prioritizing tasks and working to complete the items listed improves your business productivity and efficiency.

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

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 great little WordPress plugin called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To-Do List

Plugin URL

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.

Features

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

You can configure Cleverness To Do List to assign 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 option has a variety of settings available. You can delegate to-do items to a specific user (this includes a setting to email a new to-do item to the assigned user) and optionally to have assigned items be seen 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 as front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the admin backend to help you manage your lists and your 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 site. There are 2 shortcodes for front-end administration of the list. Management of categories is accessed via the back-end.

If you plan to run a multi-author blog you can use this plugin to create custom to-do lists for your post planners if you also own the Post Planner plugin for WordPress from the same developer.

How To Install The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

In your WP dashboard, go to the main menu and click on Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Activate the plugin …

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

When the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

Note: The plugin’s settings area can also be accessed by choosing To-Do List > Settings from the dashboard menu …

This brings you to the plugin ‘Settings’ section …

Let’s configure the plugin …

Configuring The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

The Settings area is divided into 4 sections:

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

Let’s now configure each of these tabs.

To-Do List Settings

Categories

Select ‘Enabled’ to organize your lists into categories, otherwise leave this option set to ‘Disabled’.

Note: When you enable this option, a ‘Categories’ item is added to the To-Do List menu …

This lets you add categories that you can then 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 are not visible when using the sidebar widgets or short codes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

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

• Individual – Selecting this option allows users to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Selecting this option allows all users to share one to-do list.
• Master – This option allows you to have a master list for all users, where users have their own individual items to complete. If you select 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 your to-do list items will be sorted.

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

Show Added By

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you display which users have added an item to the to-do list.

Note: This setting only works if ‘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, you will be able to specify deadlines for to-do items …

Show Progress

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

Show Admin Bar Menu

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

Use WYSIWYG Editor

Enabling this option lets you add and edit items on your to-do list using the WordPress WYSIWYG Editor …

Use Auto Paragraphs

Enable this option (‘Yes’) to display content in to-do list items 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

When you have configured your options, remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button to update your settings …

Advanced Settings

Once you have configured the settings in the To-Do List Settings tab, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab to continue …

This brings up the ‘Advanced Settings’ section …

In this screen you can customize your To-Do lists, assign to-do tasks to users and perform plugin database maintenance.

Let’s take you 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 options 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, see the date section of the WordPress Codex below:

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

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

Highest priority items are colour-coded in red and lowest (low) priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

If enabled, item IDs will display on the to-do list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If enabled, the date the to-do list was added displays on the 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 section and assign items to other users …

You can configure the following options in this section:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

If enabled, you can assign to-do items 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 items only to users who have been specifically assigned those items. Leaving this option disabled will display to-do items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this area Author to display the type of users that can be assigned to-do items. Leave the check box unticked for any roles that you do not 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, skip other settings in this section.

Add Category to Subject

If categories are enabled in your plugin settings and you have selected ‘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 categories in the email subject.

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

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 your site has a number of 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 notices. Type the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

Type into this field the email address that you want displayed as the “sent from” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Type in a subject field for the email that will be automatically sent out to users whenever new items have been added to your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

Enter 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 allows you to perform database maintenance operations related to plugin data directly from the plugin settings area itself …

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

The tasks below can be performed in this section:

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

Actions that you perform on the database 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 make sure to backup your database first.

If you don’t want to do site backups, then get professional support, or use a WordPress backup plugin. You can read about a great WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to perform automated backups here:

• Back Up, Duplicate & Keep Your WP Web Site Protected With Backup Creator Plugin For WP

User Permissions

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

If you have chosen the Individual List type, the only setting 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 would like users to have access to for each option …

By default, general capabilities for each user role are set 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 have the ability to edit the Master list.

Below is a description of the settings for this section:

View To-Do List

This option enables 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

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

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This option permits the selected capability to modify existing items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

Here you can permit the chosen capability to delegate items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This setting permits 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 allow the selected capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

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

Add Categories Capability

Here you can permit 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 want to copy over data from an existing list to another website, or store 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 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 will open up a window allowing you to download and save the data in a plain text file (e.g. Notepad) 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 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 – pages, posts, etc…), or selecting ‘To-Do’ from the ‘Choose what to export’ section and clicking on the ‘Download Export File’ button to download your file to a storage medium…

Importing To-Do List Data

Importing a previously saved to-do list data file is easy. Just click on the ‘Browse’ button next to the ‘Choose File to Import’ field …

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

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

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

After configuring all of the plugin settings, you can begin create and edit your to-do lists.

Plugin Usage

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

This brings you to the ‘To-Do List’ screen …

Add New Items To Your To-Do List

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

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

You can also add a new item to your to-do list in your Dashboard 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, as the link is only going to take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section at the bottom of the screen) …

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

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

Select 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 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 assign items to multiple users (click on ‘x’ to remove users) …

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

Repeat the above process to keep adding items to your 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 completing tasks may also receive email notifications …

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

When users assigned with completing an item click on the item check box …

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

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

Additional Information

The Cleverness To-Do List plugin provides additional functions that let you display to-do lists on your site using widgets, and insert a list into any page or post using shortcodes.

Widgets

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 location in your sidebar (or footer) menu where you want the list to appear …

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

The to-do list will now display wherever you have placed the widget (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use Widgets In WordPress

Using Plugin Shortcodes

You can also add to-do lists to your site with short codes.

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

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

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

This section explains various ways to configure and use short codes to display lists 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 short code into the content area …

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

For more information about this plugin, visit this site:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you can add a to-do list to your WordPress site or blog.

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