Creating To-Do Lists In WordPress

There is never enough time to get things done, especially when you run a hectic business.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have so many deadlines to meet, tasks to complete, meetings to attend, fires to put out, deliveries to make, schedules to keep and so on. The “doing” never seems to stop.

Now … add the extra workload of promoting and growing your business online and maintaining your website updated with new content and things can quickly start feeling unmanageable and overwhelming.

Whether you are running a business, website, blog, or managing a team, you need to be able to organize and manage your day.

One proven tool that can help you save time, reduce stressful workloads, and allow you to gain some control is to use a “to do” list.

Benefits Of Using To-Do Lists

A “to-do” list helps you track your progress when trying to complete tasks. Your to do list can be minutely detailed and very specific, or serve as a reminder of the things that need to be done over a given period of time.

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

To Do Lists Help You Keep Things Organized

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

Better Strategic Planning

After creating and organizing a to do list, you can break down your workload into more doable tasks and come up with a strategy for getting tasks completed on time and on budget.

Reschedule Quickly

Having a to-do list helps you better handle situations. If you suddenly find that an appointment gets cancelled at short notice or extra time has been made available when some part of the process gets completed sooner than expected, you can quickly reorganize and reschedule and continue working with little to minimal disruption.

Accountability

With no 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 impact your productivity.

Feeling Of Accomplishment

Crossing items off your to do list not only makes you feel more positive, motivated and in-control, it also allows you to relax more, as you can objectively see (or show) that the work is getting done and that things are moving forward.

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

What about using a to do list on your website?

In this 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 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.

Features

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

You can set up Cleverness To-Do List to assign private to do lists for individual users, to have all users share your 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 a specific user (this includes emailing a new to-do item to assigned users) and optionally to have those items be viewable by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users. There are also settings to display deadline and progress fields. Category support is also included in the front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the backend to manage your lists and your to do lists can also appear 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 accessible through the back-end admin section.

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

Installing The Plugin

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

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

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

Activate the plugin …

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

When you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

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

This takes you to the plugin ‘Settings’ page …

Let’s go through the plugin setup process …

How To Set Up The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

The “To-Do List” plugin ‘Settings’ screen is divided into 4 sections:

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

Let’s configure each of these tabs.

To-Do List Settings

Categories

Choose ‘Enabled’ to organize lists into categories, otherwise leave this option set to ‘Disabled’.

Note: When you enable this option, a ‘Categories’ item gets added to the To-Do List plugin menu …

This lets you add categories that can help organize 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’ will not be visible when using widgets or short codes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

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

• Individual – Select this option if you want each user to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Choosing this option lets users share one to-do list.
• Master – This option allows you to have one master list for all users, where users have their own individual items to complete. 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 order to-do list items.

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

Show Added By

If enabled, you can display which users on your site have added an item to your to-do list.

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

Show Date Completed

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) displays completion dates for your to-do tasks.

Show Deadline

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

Show Progress

If enabled (‘Yes’), you can specify task progress indicators for your to-do items …

Show Admin Bar Menu

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), the ‘To-Do List’ menu will display in your WP Dashboard Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), 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 to display content in your to-do list items using paragraphs.

Integrate with Post Planner

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

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

After you have configured your 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 ‘Advanced Settings’ area …

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

Let’s take you 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 settings can be configured in this section:

Date Format

This section lets you specify how to display dates on your to-do list (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

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

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

Here you can customize your labels for important, middle (normal) and lowest (low) priority items …

Items given the highest (important) priority display in red and lowest priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) shows item IDs on your list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If this option is enabled, the date your to-do list was added displays 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 …

The following options can be configured in this area:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

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

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this area Author 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 (‘Yes’), WordPress automatically sends an email to users with their assigned to-do items …

If you don’t want emails sent out to users, then leave this option disabled.

Note: If you disable this option, you can 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 show to-do categories in 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.

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

Enable this option to display 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

Use this field to customize the “From” field when sending out email notifications. You can 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” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

In this field, enter a subject field for the email that will be sent automatically to users when a new item has been assigned to 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 of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab you can carry out database maintenance operations associated with plugin data inside your plugin settings area without the need to log into your server …

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

You can perform the following tasks in this section:

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

Any database operations you perform 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 database first.

If you don’t want to back up your files manually, then consider using professional WordPress support services, or use backup plugins. You can learn more about a great WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your site backups here:

• Backup, Duplicate & Protect Your WP Site With Backup Creator WP Plugin

User Permissions

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

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

If you plan to set up user permissions and capabilities for Group and Master List types, select the highest level capabilities that you want users to have access to for each option …

By default, general capabilities of each user role are configured 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 be able to edit the Master list itself.

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

View To-Do List

Here you can allow 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

This option 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 enables the chosen capability to edit existing 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

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

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

Here you can allow the selected capability to purge all the completed to-do items.

Add Categories Capability

This option enables the chosen capability to add new categories.

Import/Export

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

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

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

Exporting To-Do List Data

You can export and download your list data settings by clicking on the ‘Download Export File’ …

This will open up a window allowing you to view or save your data in a plain text file (e.g. Notepad) to a storage device (e.g. your hard drive) …

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

You can include to-do list data in an 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 on the ‘Download Export File’ button to save 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 your data file, click on ‘Import Settings’ …

Your file will be imported.

Once you have configured all of the plugin settings, you can start create and edit to-do lists.

How To Use The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

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

This brings you to the ‘To-Do List’ screen …

Add A New Item To Your To-Do List

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

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

You can also add new to-do items to your list from 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 already contains many items, as the link will simply send you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section down the page) …

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

Depending on the way you have set up your plugin, some options may not display when new items to your to-do list.

Set up 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 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 multiple users to the same item (click on ‘x’ to remove a user) …

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 list …

Edit And Delete Items

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

Depending on your configuration plugin settings (discussed earlier), users assigned to tasks may also receive an email notification in their inboxes …

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

When a user assigned with an item completes the task and ticks the item checkbox …

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

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

Additional Information

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

Using The Cleverness To-Do List 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 (or footer) menu where you want the to-do list to display …

Configure the widget settings and click ’Save’ …

The list will appear on your site where you have added the widget (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use WordPress Widget

Short Codes

You can also add to-do lists on your site with short codes.

To access the plugin’s short code documentation, click on To-Do List > To-Do List from the admin 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 …

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

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

Publish your post or page and you should see the list showing where you have inserted the shortcode …

Visit the plugin website to download this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you can add a to-do list to your WordPress site.

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