Creating A To-Do List In WordPress

When you are running a growing business or managing other people, there are never enough hours in the day to get things done.

There are so many things to do and remember. You have deadlines to meet, urgent tasks to complete, meetings to attend, fires to put out, deliveries to make, schedules to keep and so on. The amount of things that need to get done never seems to end.

Now … on top of all this, add the extra dimension of promoting and growing your business online and maintaining your website updated with fresh content and everything can start to become unmanageable and chaotic.

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

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

To-Do Lists – Benefits

A “to do” list helps you monitor your progress as you work towards certain goals. Your to-do list can be quite detailed or specific, or serve as a concise reminder of the things that need to be done over a given period of time.

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

To-Do Lists Create Order

To-do lists help you create order, stay organized and achieve goals sooner.

Strategize

Creating and organizing to do lists helps you break your workload into doable tasks and come up with a strategic plan for getting tasks completed efficiently.

Log Your Work

To-do lists allow you to maintain documented logs of what work has been done. This can be used as evidence of work done to clients or employers, or just as a way of helping you monitor your own productivity and efficiency.

Ensures 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.

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 a to-do list, both in business and in your personal life. Creating to-do lists, then prioritizing tasks and working in a focused way increases your business productivity and efficiency.

What about adding to do lists to your WordPress website?

In this tutorial you are going to learn how to easily create to-do lists in WordPress 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 Plugin

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

Description

This WordPress plugin lets you easily add to do lists to WordPress.

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 individual users, 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 provides a number of different settings. You can delegate 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 only seen 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 in the front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the backend to help you manage your list and your to do lists are also displayed on the dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is also available as short code to display the to-do list items on your blog. There are 2 shortcodes for front-end administration of the list. Management of categories is accessed through the back-end.

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

Installing The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

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

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

Locate the Cleverness To-Do List entry in the Search Results tab and click Install Now …

Click Activate Plugin …

Note: You can also activate the plugin from the Plugins area …

When you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

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

This brings you to the ‘Settings’ screen …

Let’s go through the plugin configuration process …

Plugin Setup

The plugin’s ‘Settings’ screen is divided into 4 sections:

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

Let’s now take you through each of these sections.

To-Do List Settings

Categories

Choose ‘Enabled’ to organize 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 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.

Categories marked ‘private’ are not visible using the sidebar widgets or shortcodes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

List View allows you to specify how your lists will be viewed. There are three list views available:

• 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 lets users 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 choose 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-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

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you can display which members have added an item to your to-do list.

Note: This setting only works when ‘List View’ is set to ‘Group’.

Show Date Completed

Enabling this option displays completion dates for to-do tasks.

Show Deadline

If this option is enabled, you will be able to specify deadlines for to-do tasks …

Show Progress

Enabling this option lets you specify task progress indicators for your to-do items …

Show Admin Bar Menu

If this option is enabled, the ‘To-Do List’ menu will display in your WordPress 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

If enabled (‘Yes’), automatic paragraphs are used to display content in to-do lists.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you are running 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 that provides you with a complete WordPress editorial solution …

To learn more this WordPress plugin, go here: WordPress Post Planner

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

Advanced Settings

After you have configured the general settings, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab to proceed …

This brings up the plugin’s ‘Advanced Settings’ area …

In this tab you can customize your To Do lists, assign to-do tasks to users and perform 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 allows you to 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, visit the date section of the WordPress Codex below:

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

Here you can customize the labels for highest, middle (normal) and low priority items …

Items given the highest priority are shown in red in your lists and lowest (low) priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

If enabled (‘Yes’), item IDs show up on your list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), the date your to-do list was added shows up 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 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

Enabling this option lets you 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 specifically assigned those items. Leave this option disabled to display items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Checking the boxes in this section Contributor displays the type of users that can be assigned todo items. Leave the checkbox unticked for any roles that you do not want to assign to-do items.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

When this option is enabled (‘Yes’), WordPress will automatically send users an email with their assigned to-do items …

Leave this option disabled if you don’t want emails sent out to users.

Note: If this option is disabled, skip the remaining items 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 in the subject of emails sent to users …

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

If you don’t want to display categories in the subject of your emails, then leave this option disabled.

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 several 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 to users. Enter the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

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

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Add into this field a subject field for the email that will be sent out automatically to users whenever new items have been assigned to your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

In this field, 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 area allows you to perform database maintenance operations related to plugin data directly from your plugin settings area itself …

This is useful if, for example, you see that todo items you have previously deleted are still appearing on your site.

You can perform the following tasks in this section:

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

Any database operations carried out from this screen cannot be reversed. If you are comfortable 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 your own backups, then consider using a professional service, or use a backup plugin. Learn about a great WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your backup process here:

• Back Up, Copy And Protect Your WP Websites With Backup Creator WordPress Plugin

User Permissions

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

If you have selected Individual List, the only item that is applicable in this section is the View To-Do List option …

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

The 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 make sure that you only allow non-admin users to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list itself.

Let’s review the settings for the User Permissions section:

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 enable the chosen capability to mark to-do items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

Here you can allow the chosen capability to modify existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This option enables the selected capability to assign items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

Here you can allow 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 setting permits the chosen capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This setting enables the chosen 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 site to another, or export your data for backup or reporting purposes.

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

Here you can easily export and 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 opens up a window allowing you to view or save the data in plain text format to a storage medium (e.g. your hard drive) …

In addition to exporting data from the ‘Import/Export’ tab, you can also export data by going to your dashboard 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 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 file in your hard drive or external drive and click ‘Open’ …

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

Your file data will be imported.

After configuring all plugin settings, you are ready to begin create and edit your to-do lists.

How To Use The Plugin

To create a new to do list, go to your WordPress dashboard 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 new to-do items to your list.

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

You can also add new to-do items to your list in your 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, as the link will simply send you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section at the bottom of the page) …

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 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 a user) …

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

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

Editing And Deleting Items

To edit or delete an item, click on the ‘Edit’ or ‘Delete’ buttons associated with items under the ‘Action’ column …

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

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

When the user assigned with completing an item ticks the item check box …

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

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

Additional Information

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

Using The 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 location in your sidebar menu where you want your to-do list to appear …

Configure the settings in the widget and click ’Save’ …

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

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

• Using WordPress Widget

Using The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Shortcodes

You can also create lists to your site by placing shortcodes into your content.

To access the documentation on using short codes, click on To-Do List > To-Do List from the admin menu …

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

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

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

Once you know what type of information you want to add to your site, create or edit a new or existing page or post and either type or paste the short code into the content editor …

After publishing your page or post, you should see the list displayed in the location where you have inserted the short code …

For more details about this plugin, visit this site:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

***

***