Creating To-Do Lists In WordPress

Time always seems to be in short supply, especially if you are a business owner.

There is just too much to do and remember. You have clients to meet, tasks to complete, priorities to attend to, fires to put out, appointments to make, commitments to keep and so on. The amount of things that need to get done never seems to stop.

Now … add the extra dimension of promoting and growing your business online and keeping your website or blog updated with fresh content and things can start becoming unmanageable and chaotic.

Whether you run a business, website, blog, or manage a team, it’s important to be able to organize and manage your daily tasks.

A proven method that can help you save time, create a sense of order and manageability, and allow you to regain control is to use a “to do” list.

Benefits Of Using A To Do List

A “to-do” list can help you track your progress as you work towards completing tasks. Your to-do list can be minutely 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 just a few of the benefits of using to do lists:

Free Your Brain

Writing to do lists means you won’t have to memorize stuff or clutter your head with details. 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 could be more important.

Save Time

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you manage your time more effectively. You can develop a clearer perspective on what’s truly urgent vs what is not, and what tasks have to be done first.

Reorganize Quickly

Having a to do list helps you better deal with situations. If an appointment gets cancelled or extra time becomes available because something got completed sooner than expected, you can continue working with no disruption.

Accountability

With no accountability there’s no commitment to completion, and no motivation to take meaningful action. Lack of accountability can also allow excuses to creep in and impact your productivity.

Better Work Delegation

Having a to do list helps you delegate tasks to others better. This is also important when collaborating within a team (see further below).

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

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

In this tutorial you are going to learn how to add to do lists to a WP website or blog to improve business efficiency and productivity using a customizable, multi-featured to do list WordPress 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 WordPress plugin lets you easily add customizable to-do lists to your WordPress website or blog.

Features

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

You can set up Cleverness To-Do List with private to do lists for individual users, to have all users share your to-do list, or to have a master list with individual completion of items.

The shared to do list option offers a number of different settings. 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 those items only viewable by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users. 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 the to do lists can also be displayed on a dashboard widget.

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

If you plan to run a multi-author blog you can use the to do lists plugin to create custom to-do lists for your post planners if you also install a copy of the developer’s premium plugin, Post Planner.

How To Install The Plugin

In your WP admin area, scroll down the main menu and choose Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Click “Activate Plugin” …

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

Once the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

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

This takes you to the ‘Settings’ screen …

Let’s set up the plugin …

Configuring The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

The plugin’s ‘Settings’ area is divided into four tabs:

• To-Do List Settings – This tab is where you can specify the plugin’s main settings.
• Advanced Settings – This section lets 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 Group and Master List types.
• Import/Export – In this area you can export and import your to-do list data and plugin settings.

Let’s configure each of these tabs.

To-Do List Settings

To-Do List Categories

Choose ‘Enabled’ to organize 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 to your to-do 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 using 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. There are three types of list views available:

• Individual – Selecting this option lets users create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Choose this option if you want all users to be able to share the same to-do list.
• Master – This option allows you to have 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 to sort list items.

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

Show Added By

If this option is enabled, you can display which of your users has 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

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

Show Progress

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) 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 WP Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

If this option is enabled, you will be able to 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 collaborative site or blog, you can integrate the Cleverness To Do List plugin with a plugin called WordPress Post Planner, from the same plugin developer to help make managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

To learn more about this handy plugin, visit this site: WordPress Post Planner – Multi-Author Publishing Plugin For WordPress

After configuring your options, click the ‘Save Changes’ button …

Advanced Settings

After configuring the settings in the To-Do List Settings tab, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab …

This brings you to the ‘Advanced Settings’ screen …

In this screen you can customize your To-Do lists, assign to-do items to users and carry out database maintenance.

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 lets you 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 to-do list (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

Note: To learn more about formatting dates in WordPress, see the date section of the WordPress Codex below:

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

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

Items prioritized as “important” are color-coded in red in the lists and lowest priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option displays item IDs on the list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If enabled (‘Yes’), the date the to-do list was added will show 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 options in this section and assign to-do items to other users …

You can configure the following settings in this area:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

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

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this area (Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, Subscriber) to display the type of users that can be assigned 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

When you enable this option, WordPress will automatically send users an email with their assigned to-do items …

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

Note: If you disable this option, 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 to show categories in 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 website 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. Add your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like in this field …

From Email

Enter the email address that you want to display 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 automatically sent out to users when a new item has been added in your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

Type in 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 area you can carry out database maintenance operations related to plugin data inside the plugin settings area itself …

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

The following tasks can be performed:

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

Actions that you perform on the database from this screen cannot be reversed. If you are comfortable to proceed with any of the database operations available in this section, then remember to backup your WordPress database first.

If you don’t want to perform manual backups, then consider hiring a professional service, or use a WordPress backup plugin. You can read about a great WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to automate backups here:

• Backup, Copy And Protect Your WordPress Web 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 Individual List, the only permission that applies 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 want users to be able to perform for each option …

The default general capabilities of each user role are set 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 make sure that you only permit non-administrators to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list.

Below is a description of the settings in the User Permissions section:

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 setting allows the chosen capability to mark items as completed or uncompleted.

Add To-Do Item Capability

This option enables the selected capability to add new to-do items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This setting permits the selected capability to edit existing items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

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

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This permits 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 option allows the chosen capability to delete individual to-do items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

Here you can permit the chosen capability to purge all the completed to-do items.

Add Categories Capability

Here you can allow the selected capability to add new categories.

Import/Export

Being able to import and export to-do list data can be very useful. For example, you may want to transfer data from an existing to-do list to another website, or export your list data for backup or archiving purposes.

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

Use this section to easily export or import your 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 new window allowing you to download and save your data in a plain text file (e.g. Notepad) to a storage medium …

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

You can include to-do list data in a WordPress export file (in XML format), either by selecting ‘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

Importing a 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 in your hard drive or external drive and click ‘Open’ …

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

Your file data will be imported.

Once you have configured all of the plugin settings, you are ready to start creating and editing to do lists.

Plugin Usage

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 …

How To Add New To-Do Items To Your List

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

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

You can also add new items to your to-do list inside the ‘To-Do List’ dashboard section 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, since the link will simply take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section at the bottom of the screen) …

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

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

Configure 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 item to your list …

Note: If you have selected 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 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 Items’ table …

Repeat the above process to keep adding items to your to-do list …

Editing And Deleting Items From Your List

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 the plugin (see previous section), users assigned to completing tasks may also receive an email notification in their inboxes …

After creating your to do list, users can view it inside their own user dashboard …

When users responsible for completing an item tick the item checkbox …

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

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

Additional Plugin Information

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

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 would like the to-do list to appear …

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

The to-do list will display on your site where the widget has been added (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use WordPress Widget

Short Codes

Cleverness To-Do List also lets you create to-do lists to your site by placing short codes into your content.

To access the plugin’s shortcode documentation, select To-Do List > To-Do List from the WordPress admin menu …

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

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

This section explains various ways to configure and use short codes to display lists and checklists on your content.

Once you know what type of information you would like to display on your site, create or edit a new or existing post or page and either type or paste the shortcode inside the content section …

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

For more information about this plugin, go here:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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