How To Create To-Do Lists In WordPress

There never seems to be enough hours in the day to get things done, especially if you run a fast-paced business.

There is just too much to do and remember. You have clients to meet, projects to complete, priorities to attend to, fires to put out, deliveries to make, commitments to keep and so on. The “doing” never seems to end.

Now … on top of all this, add the extra workload of promoting and growing your business online and maintaining your website updated with regular content and everything can start to become 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 activities, monitor your progress, and, if necessary, assign responsibilities to other people efficiently.

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

The Benefits Of Using To Do Lists

A “to do” list can help to keep you on track and monitor your progress as you work to achieve your goals. Your to do list can be very detailed and specific, or act as a reminder of tasks that need doing over a given period of time.

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

To-Do Lists Help To Keep Things Organized

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

Strategize

Creating and organizing to do lists helps you see the larger picture and create a strategic plan to get tasks completed on budget and on time.

Reorganize Quickly

A to do list helps you better deal with events. If a meeting gets cancelled at short notice or extra time becomes available because some aspect of the process got completed sooner than expected, you can continue working with little to no disruption.

Stress Less

Stress can result from feeling overwhelmed by so much to do and so little time to do it in. Using a to-do list lets you work on important items that need to be completed immediately, and reschedule items that can be addressed later. This can help reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed and relieve some of the stress you (and your team) may be feeling.

Feeling Of Accomplishment

Ticking items off your to do list not only helps you feel more positive, motivated and in-control, it also lets you relax more, as you can objectively see (or show) that work is indeed being completed and that progress is being made.

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

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

In this detailed step-by-step tutorial you are going to learn how to easily add to do lists to WordPress to help get things done online  faster and more efficiently using a great little 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/

Description

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

Features

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

You can set up 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 has a variety of settings available. You can delegate to do items to specific users (this includes a setting to email a new to do item to the user) and optionally to have those items be viewable by that user. You can also assign different permission levels using capabilities. There are also settings 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 lists can also display on a dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is available as well as shortcode to display the to do list items on your blog. There are 2 shortcodes for front-end administration of the list. Category management is restricted to 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 download the developer’s premium plugin, Post Planner.

Installing The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

Log into your site’s administration area scroll down the main menu select Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Click “Activate Plugin” …

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

Once the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

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

This takes you to the ‘Settings’ section …

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

Configuring The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

The Settings area is divided into 4 tabs:

• To-Do List Settings – This tab is where you can specify the main plugin settings.
• Advanced Settings – Here you can customize to-do lists, assign to-do items 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 – Here you can import and export your to-do list data and plugin settings.

Let’s review each of these tabs.

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 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 lists.

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

List View

List View allows you to choose how lists are viewed. You can select 3 types of list views:

• Individual – Select this option if you want each user 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 a master list for all users, where users have their own individual completion of items. If you select 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 sort to-do list items.

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

Show Added By

If enabled, you can display which users have 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 (‘Yes’), completion dates will display for your to-do items.

Show Deadline

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

Show Progress

If enabled, you will be able to 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 Dashboard 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 this option is enabled, automatic paragraphs are used to display content in to-do list items.

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, developed by the same author that provides you with a complete WordPress editorial solution …

Visit this site to learn more this handy plugin: WordPress Post Planner – Plugin For WordPress

After configuring your plugin options, click the ‘Save Changes’ button …

Advanced Settings

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

This brings up the ‘Advanced Settings’ area …

This section lets you customize your To-Do lists, assign to-do items 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’ tab allows you to customize your To-Do List …

You can configure the following settings in this section:

Date Format

This section lets you specify how to display dates in your todo lists (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

This section lets you customize your labels for important, middle and low priority items …

Highest priority items display in red and lowest priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

If enabled, item IDs appear on your list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) will display the date the 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 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

Enabling this option lets you display items only to users who have been assigned those items. Leave this option disabled to display to-do items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Checking the boxes in this area Author displays the type of users that can be assigned items. If you do not want to assign to-do items to a role, then don’t tick its checkbox.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

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

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

Note: If this option is disabled, you can 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 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.

If you don’t want to display categories in the email subject, then leave this option disabled (‘No’).

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 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 email notifications. You can enter the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

In this field, enter the email address that you would like showing as the “sent from” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Add a subject field for the email that will be distributed automatically to users when new items have been added in your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

In this field, enter 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 carry out database maintenance tasks associated with plugin data inside your plugin settings area without the need to log into your web server …

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

You can perform the following tasks in this section:

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

Actions that you perform on your database from this screen cannot be reversed. If you are sure that you want to perform database operations in this section, then make sure to backup your database first.

If you don’t want to back up your data yourself, then hire a professional service, or use backup plugins. You can read about a great WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to automate WordPress site backups here:

• Back Up, Clone And Keep Your WordPress Websites Protected With Backup Creator Plugin For WordPress

User Permissions

This section lets you configure user permissions and capabilities for Group and Master List types …

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

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

By default, general capabilities for 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-administrators should only be authorized to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list itself.

Let’s now review the settings for this section:

View To-Do List

This setting allows 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 permit the selected capability to mark items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

This option enables the selected capability to add new items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This option enables the selected capability to edit existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

Here you can enable the chosen capability to delegate items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This permits 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 selected capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This enables the selected capability to purge all the completed 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 very useful. For example, you may need to copy over data from one website to another, or store your 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 easily import or export 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 opens up a new window allowing you to view or download your data in a plain text file (e.g. Notepad) to a storage device …

As well as exporting data from the ‘Import/Export’ tab, you can also export data by going to your WordPress main 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 save your file to your hard drive…

Importing To-Do List Data

Importing a previously saved to-do list data file is easy. Just click on the ‘Browse’ button next to the ‘Choose File to Import’ field …

Locate the file and click ‘Open’ …

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

Your file will be imported.

Once you have configured all of the plugin settings, you can begin creating and editing to do lists.

Plugin Usage

To create a new to-do list, go to your WordPress dashboard menu and select To-Do List > To-Do List …

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

Add 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 from your WP admin bar …

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

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

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

Configure 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 have chosen a list type that lets you assign responsibilities over items 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 an item, the item will display as an entry in the ‘To-Do List’ table …

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

Edit And Delete To-Do 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 the list when logged into their own WP user dashboard …

When users responsible for an item complete the task and tick the item checkbox …

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

And gets added to the ‘Completed Items’ section located in the ’To-Do List’ page …

Additional Information

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

Widgets

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 menu location where you would like your to-do list to display …

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

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

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

• Using s

Plugin Short Codes

You can also display lists and checklists on your site with shortcodes.

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

This documentation section explains various ways to configure and use shortcodes to display lists on your content.

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

Publish your post or page and you should see the list displayed where you have added the shortcode …

To download this plugin, go here:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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