How To Create A To Do List In WordPress

When you are running a hectic business or managing a team, time always seems to be in short supply.

There is just so much to do and remember. You have clients to meet, urgent tasks to complete, meetings to attend, fires to put out, calls and appointments to make, commitments to keep and so on. The amount of things that need ”doing” never stops.

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

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

A proven tool that can help you save time, create a sense of order and manageability, and allow you to take 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 projects. Your to-do list can be detailed or specific, or serve as a reminder of what needs to be done today, tomorrow, next week, next month, etc.

Here are just a few of the many benefits of using to do lists:

Organization

A to-do list helps you create order, keep things organized and reach goals sooner.

Save Time

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

Keep Documented Work Logs

A to-do list lets you keep documented logs of what work has been done. You can use this to provide evidence of work done to employers or clients, or simply as a method of helping you measure your own productivity and efficiency.

Accountability

Without accountability there is no commitment to completion, and no motivation to take meaningful action. Lack of accountability can also let excuses creep in and influence your productivity.

Sense Of Accomplishment

Crossing items off to do lists not only helps you feel more productive, motivated and in-control, it also allows you to relax more, as you can objectively see (or show) that the workload is being completed 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. Create a list, prioritize your list items and work things systematically and efficiency and productivity in your business will improve.

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

In this detailed step-by-step tutorial we are going to show you 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 Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

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

Plugin Description

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

Features

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

You can configure Cleverness To-Do List to have private to-do lists for individual users, to have all users share the same to do list, or to have a master list with individual item completions.

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 assigned items be seen by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users based on user roles. There are also settings 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 admin backend to help you manage your list and the to-do lists are also 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 short codes for front-end list administration. Management of categories is accessible through the back-end.

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

How To Install The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

Inside your WordPress admin section, click on Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Activate the plugin …

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

Once you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

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

This brings you to the plugin ‘Settings’ area …

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

How To Configure The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

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

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

Let’s now configure each of these sections.

To-Do List Settings

To-Do List 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 that can help organize your to-do 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 when using widgets or shortcodes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

List View lets you specify how your to-do lists will be viewed. There are 3 types of to do list views available:

• Individual – Selecting this option allows users 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 – Use this option to have one master list for all users, where users have their own individual completion of items. If using the ‘Master’ list view, make sure that you adjust the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (this is covered further below).

Sort Order

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

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

Show Added By

If this option is enabled, you can display which of your members 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 tasks.

Show Deadline

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you can specify deadlines for your to-do tasks …

Show Progress

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

Show Admin Bar Menu

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) displays the ‘To-Do List’ menu in your WP Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) 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 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 that helps to make the process of managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

To learn more about using this plugin, visit this site: WordPress Post Planner

After configuring your plugin options in this section, remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button to update your settings …

Advanced Settings

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

This brings you to the ‘Advanced Settings’ section …

In this section you can customize your To Do lists, assign to-do tasks to other users and carry out plugin database maintenance.

Let’s go 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 …

The following settings can be configured in this section:

Date Format

Here you can specify how to display dates in your to-do list (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

Note: To learn more about how to format 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 low items …

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

Show To-Do Item ID

If enabled (‘Yes’), item IDs display on the list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

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

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

Enable this option to assign to-do items 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

Enable this option to display items only to users who have been 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 (Administrator to display the type of users that can be assigned to-do 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 you enable this option, WordPress will automatically send users an email with their assigned to-do items …

If you don’t want emails sent out to users, then leave this option disabled (‘No’).

Note: If this option is disabled, skip 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 on the subject of your emails …

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

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

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 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 allows you to customize the “From” field when sending out emails. Enter the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like in this field …

From Email

Enter the email address that you would like showing as the “sent from” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Type in a subject field for the email that will be sent automatically 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 tasks related to plugin data inside your plugin settings area …

This function is useful if, for example, you notice that old todo items are still listed on your site.

You can perform the tasks below:

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

Any database operations performed from this screen cannot be reversed. If you are comfortable to perform database operations in this section, then we recommend backing up your WP database first.

If you don’t want to do site backups, then get professional WordPress assistance services, or use a backup plugin. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that can automate your site backups here:

• Backup, Copy & Protect Your WP Site 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 have chosen Individual List, the only setting that is applicable in this section is the View To-Do List permission …

If you plan to configure 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 for 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 permit non-administrators to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list itself.

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

View To-Do List

Here you can permit 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

Here you can enable the selected capability to add new items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This permits the selected capability to modify existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This allows the selected capability to assign items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

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

Import/Export

Being able to import and export to-do list data can be useful. For example, you may want to copy over data from an existing to-do list to another website, or export the data for backup or reporting 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 list 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 window allowing you to view or save the data in a plain text file (e.g. Notepad) to an internal or external drive …

As well as 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 checking ‘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 download your file to your 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 …

Select the file and click ‘Open’ …

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

Your file data will be imported.

Now that 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 dashboard, then go to the menu and click on To-Do List > To-Do List …

This brings you to 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 new items to your to-do list from your WP dashboard bar …

You can also add new to-do items to your list inside 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 contains many items, as the link is only going to send you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section further down the screen) …

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

Depending on how you have configured your plugin’s settings, you may or may not see certain options displayed when adding new to-do items.

Set up 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 new to-do item …

Note: If you are using a list type that allows you to assign tasks to specific users, select a user from the drop-down list and assign them the item …

You can also assign items to multiple users (click on ‘x’ to delete a user) …

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

Repeat this process to add new items to your to-do list …

Edit And Delete Items From Your List

To edit or delete an item, click on the ‘Edit’ or ‘Delete’ buttons associated with each item 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 the list when logged into their user dashboard …

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

… the item no longer appears in the “To-Do” list …

And appears in 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 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.

Widgets

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 (or footer) menu where you want your to-do list to show …

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

Your list will appear wherever you have placed the widget (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use s

Using Plugin Shortcodes

The Cleverness plugin also lets you create lists on your site by inserting shortcodes into your content.

To access the documentation on using shortcodes, click on To-Do List > To-Do List from your WordPress admin menu …

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

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

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

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

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

Visit the plugin website to download this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you can create and add a to-do list in WordPress.

***

***