How To Create To Do Lists In WordPress

There never seems to be enough time to get everything done, especially if you run a growing business or manage any kind of project that requires people to work as a team.

There is just too much to do and remember. You have so many deadlines to meet, projects 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 ends.

Now … add the extra dimension of trying to promote and grow your business online and maintaining your website or blog updated with fresh content and things can quickly start becoming 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 tasks, track your progress and daily accomplishments, and, if necessary, delegate responsibilities to others efficiently.

A simple 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.

To Do Lists – Benefits

A “to do” list helps you track your progress when trying to complete tasks. Your to-do list can be minutely detailed or specific, or just serve as a reminder of tasks that need doing today, tomorrow, this week, this month, etc.

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

Free Your Brain

Creating a to-do list means that you don’t have to try and remember things or clutter your brain 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 more important things.

Strategize

Creating and organizing to-do lists helps you view the bigger picture and formulate a strategy to get tasks done on time and on budget.

Keep Documented Work Logs

A to do list allows you to keep documented logs of what work has been done. You can use this to provide evidence of work done to employers or clients, or just as a way of helping you assess your own productivity and efficiency.

Ensures Accountability

Without accountability there’s no commitment to completion, and no motivation to act with a sense of purpose. Lack of accountability lets excuses creep in and take over your work day.

Collaborating 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 a to-do list, both in business and in your personal life. Create a list, prioritize your list items and work in a systematic way and your business productivity and efficiency is sure to improve.

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

In this detailed tutorial you are going to learn how to 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

Download URL

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

Description

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

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Features

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

You can configure the plugin to have private to do lists for each user, to have all users share a to-do list, or to have a master list with individual item completions.

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

A new menu item is added to the admin backend to manage your list and your to-do list can also appear on a dashboard widget.

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

If you plan to set up a multi-author blog you can use the 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.

Plugin Installation

In your WordPress dashboard area, select 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 this plugin in the Plugins screen …

After you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

Note: The plugin’s settings screen can also be accessed by selecting To-Do List > Settings from your dashboard menu …

This brings you to the plugin ‘Settings’ area …

Let’s go through the plugin setup process …

Configuring The Plugin

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

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

Let’s go through each of these tabs.

To-Do List Settings

Categories

Select ‘Enabled’ to organize lists 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 to-do lists.

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

List View

List View lets you specify how your lists are viewed. You can choose from three to-do list views:

• Individual – Select 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 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 using the ‘Master’ list view, make sure to configure the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (see further below).

Sort Order

‘Sort Order’ lets you specify how to order your to-do list items.

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

Show Added By

Enabling this option lets you display which members 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 (‘Yes’), completion dates will display for to-do items.

Show Deadline

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you specify deadlines for to-do tasks …

Show Progress

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you will be able to 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

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

Use Auto Paragraphs

Enable this option to display content in 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, from the same plugin developer to help make the task of managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

Go here to learn more about using this handy plugin: WordPress Post Planner – Plugin For WordPress

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

Advanced Settings

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

This brings you to the ‘Advanced Settings’ section …

This section lets you customize your To Do lists, assign to-do items to users and perform plugin database maintenance tasks.

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

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

Here you can customize your To Do List …

The following options can be configured in this section:

Date Format

In this area 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, refer to 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, middle (normal) and lowest (low) priority items …

Items prioritized as “important” display in red in your lists and low priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

If this option is enabled, item IDs display on the list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If enabled (‘Yes’), the date the to-do list was added displays on your table of items …

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 items to other users …

The following options can be configured in this area:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), 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 (‘Yes’) to display to-do items only to users who have been specifically assigned those items. Leave this option disabled (‘No’) to display to-do items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this area Editor to display the type of users that can be assigned items. If you don’t want to assign to-do items to a specific role, then don’t tick its checkbox.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

If 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.

Note: If you disable this option, skip the remaining 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 on the subject of your emails …

Leave this option disabled (‘No’) if you don’t want to display to-do categories in the subject of your emails.

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

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

If enabled, you can display the user who assigned the to-do item in the email. This is a useful option if you have various 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 to users. Add the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like in this field …

From Email

Type into this field the email address that you would like 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 assigned in your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

Type 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

In this section you can perform database maintenance tasks related to plugin data inside your plugin settings area …

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

You can perform the following tasks in this section:

• Delete Tables – Remove custom database tables that are no longer being used.
• Delete All To-Do Items – Delete all of your 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 remember to backup your WordPress database first.

If you don’t want to perform manual backups, then get professional WordPress assistance services, or use backup plugins. You can learn more about a WordPress backup plugin that can automate your site backups here:

• Back Up, Duplicate & Protect Your WP Web Sites 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 choose the Individual List type, the only setting that is applicable in this section is the View To-Do List permission …

If you are configuring 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 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 non-administrator users should only be authorized to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list.

Let’s now review the settings for this 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 permits the chosen capability to mark to-do items as completed or uncompleted.

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This setting permits the selected capability to edit existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

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

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

Here you can permit 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

Here you can permit the chosen capability to delete individual 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 allow the chosen 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 need to transfer data from an existing list to another website, or export the 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 export or import your to-do list data and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

To export and download your to-do list data settings click 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 device …

As well as exporting to-do list data from the ‘Import/Export’ section, 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 selecting ‘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 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 file in your hard drive or external drive and click ‘Open’ …

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

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

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

How To Use The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

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’ page …

Adding New To Do Items To Your List

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

For example, you can add a new item to your to-do list from your admin toolbar …

You can also add new to-do items 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 contains many items, as the link will simply take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section down the screen) …

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

Depending on how you have set up your plugin, 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 values and information into the relevant fields and click on the ‘Submit To-Do Item’ button to add the to-do item …

Note: If you are using 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 multiple users to the same item (click on ‘x’ to remove users) …

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

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

Editing And Deleting To Do 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 how you have configured your settings (see previous section), users assigned to completing tasks may also receive email notifications …

Once you have created your to-do list, users can view the list inside their WordPress user dashboard …

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

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

And appears in the ‘Completed Items’ section located in the ’To-Do List’ plugin page …

Additional Plugin Information

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

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 location in your sidebar menu where you want your to-do list to display …

Configure the widget settings and click the ‘Save’ button …

The list will display wherever the ‘to-do-list’ widget was added (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use s

Using The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Short Codes

You can also add to-do lists and checklists on your site by inserting short codes into your content.

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 screen …

The documentation section explains different ways to configure and use shortcodes to display lists and checklists on your posts and pages.

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

After publishing your post or page, you will see the list displayed where you have inserted the shortcode …

For more information about this plugin, visit the plugin website:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you know how to add to-do lists to your WordPress site or blog.

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