How To Create To-Do Lists In WordPress

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

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have clients to meet, projects to complete, meetings to attend, fires to extinguish, appointments to make, schedules to keep and so on. The amount of things that need ”doing” never ends.

Now … add the extra workload of trying to promote and grow your business online and maintaining your website updated with regular content and everything can quickly start to become unmanageable and overwhelming.

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

One simple “tried and true” method that can help you save time, reduce stress, and allow you to take control is to use “to-do” lists.

To-Do Lists – Benefits

A “to do” list can help you monitor your progress when working towards certain goals. Your to do list can be quite detailed and very specific, or serve as a concise reminder of tasks that need to be done over a given period of time.

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

Think Clearly

Writing a to do list means that you won’t have to try and remember stuff or store additional information inside your mind. Once things are written down on a to-do list, your head is free to process information and you can focus on more important things.

Better Manage Your Time

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you save time. You can gain a clearer perspective on what is more important vs what is not, and what tasks have to be done first.

Log Your Work

To-do lists let you retain documented logs of what you have done. This can be used as evidence of work done to clients or employers, or just as a means of helping you measure 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 allow excuses to creep in and take over your work day.

Feeling Of Accomplishment

Ticking items off a to do list gives you a feeling of accomplishment and allows you to relax more, as you can objectively see (or show) that the workload is getting done and that progress is being made.

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 in a systematic way increases efficiency and productivity in your business.

What about adding to-do lists to your WordPress website or blog?

In this step-by-step tutorial we are going to show you how to create to-do lists in WordPress to improve business efficiency and productivity using a great little plugin called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To Do List

Download URL

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

Plugin Description

This plugin lets you easily add a to do list to a WordPress site.

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Features

Note: the plugin features listed 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 each user, to have all users share a to do list, or to have a master list with individual completion of items.

The shared to-do list offers different settings. You can assign to do items to specific users (this includes a setting to email a new to-do item to assigned users) and optionally to have those items be viewable by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users. There are also settings available to show deadline and progress fields. Category support is included as well in the front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the backend to help you manage your list and the to-do list can also be displayed 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 2 shortcodes for front-end list administration. Category management is accessed via 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 own the developer’s premium plugin, Post Planner.

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Installation

Log into your site’s dashboard section, and choose Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Activate the plugin after installing it …

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

When you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

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

This takes you to the plugin ‘Settings’ area …

Let’s go through the plugin setup process …

Configuring The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

The Settings screen is divided into four tabs:

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

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

This allows you to add categories that can help 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 when using sidebar widgets or short codes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

List View allows you to choose how lists will be viewed. You can choose from 3 kinds of to-do 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 – Choose this option if you want all users to share the same to-do list.
• Master – Choose this option 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 that you set the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (see further below).

Sort Order

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

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

Show Added By

Enabling this option lets you display which users on your site have 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 your to-do tasks.

Show Deadline

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

Show Progress

If enabled (‘Yes’), 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 displays in your WordPress Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

This option 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 lists.

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, developed by the same plugin author that provides you with a complete WordPress editorial solution …

Visit this site to learn more this plugin: WordPress Post Planner – WordPress Editorial Solution Plugin

After you have finished configuring your plugin options, remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button …

Advanced Settings

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

This brings up the ‘Advanced Settings’ area …

In this tab you can customize your To Do lists, assign to-do tasks to other users and perform 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 …

You can configure the following options in this section:

Date Format

Here you can 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, visit the relevant section of the WordPress Codex below:

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

This section lets you customize your labels for highest (important), middle and low priority items …

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

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) shows the items’ IDs on the to-do list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

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

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

If you have selected either ‘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 options can be configured in this section:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you can 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

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you can display to-do items only to users who have been specifically assigned those items. Leave this option disabled to display to-do items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this section Subscriber) to display the type of users that can be assigned todo 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 this option is enabled, WordPress will automatically send users an email 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, 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 display categories in the email subject.

Leave this option disabled if you don’t want to display categories in the subject of your emails.

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, your site has multiple 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 email notifications. Enter your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

Add the email address that you want displayed as the “sent from” email address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

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

Text in Emails Sent to User

Add 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

This area lets you carry out database maintenance tasks related to plugin data inside your plugin settings area itself without having to access your web server …

This 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:

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

Any database operations performed 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 make sure to backup your WP database first.

If you don’t want to do manual backups, then get assistance from a WordPress professional, or use backup plugins. You can read about a WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to automate backups here:

• Backup, Clone & Protect Your WordPress Site With Backup Creator WordPress Plugin

User Permissions

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

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

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

By default, general capabilities for 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 authorized to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list.

Let’s now review the settings in the User Permissions tab:

View To-Do List

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

Add To-Do Item Capability

This allows the selected capability to add new items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This option allows the selected capability to modify existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This option enables the selected capability to delegate to-do items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

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

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

Here you can enable the chosen capability to purge all the completed items.

Add Categories Capability

Here you can permit the chosen capability to add new categories.

Import/Export

Being able to import and export to-do list data can be useful. For example, you may decide to copy over data from an existing to-do list to another website, or store the list data for backup or archiving purposes.

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

Here you can export and import your list 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 new window allowing you to download and save your data in plain text format to a storage medium …

As well as exporting data from the ‘Import/Export’ tab, you can also export data by going to your admin 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 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 hard drive…

Importing To-Do List Data

To import a list data file, click on the ‘Browse’ button next to the ‘Choose File to Import’ field …

Locate the file and click ‘Open’ …

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

Your file data will be imported.

Now that you have configured all of the plugin settings, you can begin creating and editing your lists.

How To Use The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

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

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

Add A New Item 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 dashboard 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 already contains many items, since the link will simply take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section further down the screen) …

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

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

Configure the options you have enabled for your to-do items, enter 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 items to specific 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 delete a user) …

After you have added an item, the item will display as an entry in the ‘To-Do List’ table …

Repeat this process to continue adding items to your list …

Edit And Remove Items From Your List

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

Depending on your plugin configuration plugin settings (discussed in the previous section), users assigned to tasks may also receive email notifications …

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

When a user assigned with the item completes the task and clicks on the item checkbox …

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

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

Additional Information

The Cleverness plugin offers added functionality that lets you display a to-do list on your WordPress website using widgets, and insert lists into any post or page using short codes.

Widgets

To add a to-do list 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 show …

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

Your list will appear on your site where the ‘to-do-list’ widget has been placed (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• Using Widgets In WordPress

Using The Cleverness Plugin Short Codes

The plugin also lets you add lists and checklists on your site with shortcodes.

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

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

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

This section explains different ways to configure and use shortcodes for displaying lists on your pages and posts.

Once you know what type of information you want to add to your site, open up a new page or post and either type or paste the short code inside the content area …

After publishing your page or post, you will see the list showing where you have inserted the short code …

Go here 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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