How To Create A To-Do List In WordPress

When you are running a hectic business, time is always in short supply.

There is just so much to do and remember. You have clients to meet, tasks to complete, meetings to attend, fires to put out, deliveries to make, schedules to keep and so on. The stress of trying to get things done on time never ends.

Now … on top of all this, add the extra workload of promoting and growing your business online and keeping your website updated with fresh content and everything can start becoming unmanageable and out of control.

Whether you run a business, website, blog, or manage a project, you need to be able to organize and prioritize your daily tasks, monitor your progress, and, if necessary, delegate responsibilities to others effectively.

One proven method that can help you save time, alleviate stress, and allow you to take control is to use a “to do” list.

To-Do Lists – Benefits

A “to-do” list can help you track your progress when trying to complete projects. Your to do list can be detailed and specific, or just serve as a concise reminder of what needs to be done over a given period of time.

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

To Do Lists Create Order

Having to-do lists help you create order, keep things organized and achieve goals faster.

Time Prioritization

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you save time and better manage your workload. You can develop a better perspective on what’s more urgent vs what’s not, and what steps should be done first.

Quickly Reschedule And Reorganize

A to do list helps you better cope with situations. If you find that a meeting has been cancelled or extra time becomes available because some task got completed sooner than expected, you can quickly reschedule and keep working with little to minimal loss of focus.

Accountability

With no accountability there’s no commitment to getting things completed, and no motivation to take meaningful action. Lack of accountability can also let excuses creep in and influence your productivity.

Better Delegation Of Tasks

To-do lists help you better delegate work to other people. This is also important when collaborating on a team-based project (see further below).

As you can see, there are many benefits to using to do lists, both in business and in your personal life. Create a list, prioritize your list items and work things systematically and your business efficiency and productivity will surely improve.

What about using to do lists on your WordPress website or blog?

In this tutorial we are going to show you how to create a to do list in WordPress to help your team get things done  faster and more efficiently using a great little plugin for WordPress called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To-Do List

Download The Plugin

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

Plugin Description

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

Features

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

You can set up the plugin with private to do lists for each user, to have all users share the same to do list, or to have a master list with individual completion of items.

The shared to-do list has a variety of settings available. You can assign to do items to specific users (this includes emailing a new to-do item to the assigned user) and optionally to have those items be seen by that user. You can also assign different permission levels using capabilities. There are also settings to enable the display of deadline and progress fields. Category support is also included as front-end administration.

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

A sidebar widget is available as well as shortcode to display the to do list items on your site. There are 2 short codes for front-end list administration. Management of categories is accessible via the back-end admin section.

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 developer’s premium plugin, Post Planner.

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Installation

Log into your site’s dashboard and select Plugins > Add New …

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

Locate the Cleverness To-Do List item in the Search Results section and click Install Now …

Activate the plugin …

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

After you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

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

This takes you to the ‘Settings’ screen …

The section below shows you how to go through the plugin setup process …

Plugin Setup

The Settings area is divided into 4 sections:

• To-Do List Settings – The options in this area let you specify the plugin’s main settings.
• Advanced Settings – In this tab you can customize your 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 list data and plugin settings.

Let’s take you through each of these sections.

To-Do List Settings

Categories

Choose ‘Enabled’ to organize your to-do 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.

Categories set to ‘private’ are not visible when using widgets or short codes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

List View lets you specify how lists will be viewed. There are 3 types of list views you can select:

• Individual – Selecting this option lets each user create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Choosing this option allows 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 to sort to-do list items.

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

Show Added By

If enabled, you can display which of your members has added an item to your to-do list.

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

Show Date Completed

If this option is enabled, completion dates will display for to-do tasks.

Show Deadline

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

Show Progress

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you specify task progress indicators for your to-do items …

Show Admin Bar Menu

Enabling this option lets you display the ‘To-Do List’ menu in your WP Dashboard 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

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

Integrate with Post Planner

If you plan to run a multi-author site 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 plugin, visit this site: WordPress Post Planner – Plugin For WordPress

After configuring your plugin 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 to continue …

This brings you to the ‘Advanced Settings’ screen …

This tab lets you customize your To Do lists, assign to-do tasks to users and carry out plugin 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

This section of the ‘Advanced Settings’ screen lets you customize your To Do List …

You can configure the following options in this section:

Date Format

Here you can specify how to display dates on your to-do 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

In this section you can customize your labels for prioritizing highest (important), middle and lowest items …

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

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option displays the item’s ID on your to-do list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option will show the date your table of items was added …

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 area and assign items to other users …

You can configure the following settings in this section:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enable this option to 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 enabled, you can display items only to users who have been assigned those items. Leave this option disabled to display items to all users.

User Roles to Show

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

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

If you enable this option, WordPress automatically sends 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, you can skip the other items 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 to-do categories in the email subject.

Leave this option disabled if you don’t want to-do categories displayed 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 is a useful option if you have a number of 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 notices. You can enter the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like in this field …

From Email

Type in the email address that you want showing as the “sent from” email address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Enter a subject field for the email that will be automatically distributed to users when a new item has been added to your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

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

In this area you can perform database maintenance tasks associated with plugin data inside your plugin settings area …

This function is useful if, for example, you see that old to-do items are still displaying 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 – Remove all of your to-do items.

Actions that you perform on the database from this screen cannot be undone. If you are comfortable to proceed with any of the database operations available in this section, then we recommend backing up your database first.

If you don’t want to perform your own site backups, then hire a professional service, or use backup plugins. Learn about a great WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your site backups here:

• Back Up, Clone And Protect Your WP Websites And Blogs With Backup Creator WP Plugin

User Permissions

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

If you are using the Individual List type, the only configurable option applicable for 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 would like users to have access to for each option …

The default general capabilities for each user role are 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-admin users should only be authorized to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list.

Let’s review the settings for this section:

View To-Do List

This option permits the chosen 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 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

This option allows the chosen capability to modify existing items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

Here you can permit the chosen 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

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

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

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

Add Categories Capability

This permits 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 need to copy over data from one site to another, 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 …

Here you can easily import or export your list data and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

To export and download your data settings click on the ‘Download Export File’ …

This will open up a window allowing you to view or download the data in a plain text file (e.g. Notepad) to a storage medium …

In addition to exporting to-do list data from the ‘Import/Export’ section, you can also export data by going to your main menu and selecting Tools > Export …

You can include to-do list data in a WordPress export file (in XML format), either by checking ‘All content’ (includes everything – posts, pages, etc…), or selecting ‘To-Do’ from the ‘Choose what to export’ section and clicking on the ‘Download Export File’ button to save your file to your storage medium…

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 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’ …

Your file data will be imported.

Once you have configured all plugin settings, you can begin create and edit to do lists.

How To Use The Plugin

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

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

Adding New To Do Items To Your 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 dashboard toolbar …

You can also add new to-do items using 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, since the link is only going to 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 how you have set up your plugin, you may or may not see certain options displayed when adding 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 to-do item …

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 make multiple users responsible for the same item (click on ‘x’ to remove a user) …

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

Repeat the above process to add new items to your list …

Editing And Removing To Do Items From Your List

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

Depending on how you have set up the plugin (discussed earlier), users assigned to completing tasks may also receive an email notification in their inboxes …

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

When the user assigned with completing an item ticks the item checkbox …

… the item is deleted from the “To-Do” list …

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

Additional Plugin Information

The Cleverness plugin offers additional functions that let you display to-do lists on your WordPress website using widgets, and display a list on content inside a page or post using shortcodes.

Using The Cleverness Plugin Widget

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 location in your sidebar menu where you would like the to-do list to show …

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

Your to-do list will display where the ‘to-do-list’ widget was added (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• Using WordPress Widget

Using The Cleverness Plugin Shortcodes

The plugin also lets you create to-do lists to your site using short codes.

To access the documentation on using shortcodes, select To-Do List > To-Do List from your dashboard menu …

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

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

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

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

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

To download this plugin, visit the plugin website:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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