How To Create A To-Do List In WordPress

If you are running a growing business or managing other people, time always seems to be in short supply.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have deadlines to meet, projects to complete, priorities to attend to, fires to extinguish, deliveries to make, commitments to keep and so on. The amount of things that need ”doing” never ends.

Now … on top of all this, add the extra workload of trying to promote and grow your business online and maintaining your website or blog updated with fresh content and things suddently begin to feel unmanageable and out of control.

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

A simple proven tool that can help you save time, reduce stressful workloads, and allow you to regain 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 when working towards a certain goal. Your to do list can be detailed and specific, or just serve as a reminder of what needs to be done over a given period of time.

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

Think Clearly

Creating a to-do list means that you won’t have to try to memorize stuff or store unnecessary information inside your brain. Once tasks are written down on a to do list, your head is free to process information and you can focus on other important things.

Better Strategic Planning

Creating and organizing to do lists helps you see the bigger picture and come up with a strategic plan for getting things done on budget and on time.

Quickly Reorganize

Using to-do lists let you better handle situations. If an appointment suddenly gets cancelled at the last minute or extra time becomes available because some part of the process was completed sooner than expected, you can quickly reschedule and keep working with little to no disruption.

Accountability

Without accountability there’s no commitment to completion, and no motivation to act with a sense of purpose. Lack of accountability lets excuses creep in and impact your productivity.

Sense Of Accomplishment

Crossing items off a to-do list gives you a feeling of accomplishment and allows you to stress less, as you can objectively see (or show) that work is indeed getting done 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. Creating to-do lists, then prioritizing tasks and working to complete the items on your list improves productivity and efficiency in your business.

Let’s turn now to using a to do list on your website or blog. More specifically, adding to do lists to WordPress.

In this tutorial you are going to learn how to easily create to do lists in WordPress to help get things done online  faster and more efficiently 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/

Plugin Description

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

Features

Note: the plugin features listed 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 the same to-do list, or to have a master list with individual item completions.

The shared to do list offers different settings. You can assign to-do items to specific users (this includes emailing a new to-do item to the user) and optionally to have those items only viewable by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users based on user roles. There are also settings available to display 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 help you manage your lists and the to-do list can also display on the dashboard widget.

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

If you plan to set up a multi-author site you can use the plugin to create custom to-do lists for your post planners if you also install the Post Planner plugin from the same developer.

Installing The Plugin

Log into your site’s dashboard section, and click on 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 area 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: You can also get to the plugin’s ‘Settings’ screen by selecting To-Do List > Settings from the dashboard menu …

This takes you to the ‘Settings’ page …

The section below shows you how to configure the plugin …

How To Set Up The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

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

• To-Do List Settings – In this section you can specify the main plugin settings.
• Advanced Settings – This area 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 section let you set up user permissions and capabilities for Group and Master List types.
• Import/Export – The options in this section let you import and export to-do plugin and list data settings.

Let’s now configure each of these tabs.

To-Do List Settings

To-Do List Categories

Select ‘Enabled’ to organize your to-do list 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 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 sidebar widgets or shortcodes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

List View lets you choose how lists are viewed. You can choose from three to do list views:

• Individual – Select this option if you want each user to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Select this option if you want all users to be able to share one to-do list.
• Master – Select this option 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 adjust the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (see further below).

Sort Order

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

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

Show Added By

Enabling this option lets you display which of your members has added an item to the 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 your to-do tasks.

Show Deadline

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

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’) lets you display the ‘To-Do List’ menu in your WP 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 list items.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you plan to run a collaborative 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 this plugin, go here: WordPress Post Planner – WordPress Plugin

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

Advanced Settings

After configuring the general settings, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab to proceed …

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

This section 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

Here you can customize your To Do List …

You can configure the following options in this section:

Date Format

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

In this area you can customize your labels for important, middle and lowest (low) priority items …

Items prioritized as “important” are shown in red and low priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

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

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If enabled (‘Yes’), the date your to-do list was added will display on your table of items …

To-Do List Advanced Settings > Assign To-Do Items Settings

If you have selected ‘Group’ or ‘Master’ View for your to-do list, you can configure the settings in this section and assign to-do items to other users …

You can configure the following options 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 (‘Yes’) to display to-do items 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 (Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, Subscriber) displays 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

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

Leave this option disabled (‘No’) if you don’t want to send out emails to users.

Note: If this option is disabled, 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-do categories added to the email subject.

If you don’t want to show categories in the email subject, then leave this option disabled.

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 you have 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 email notifications. Type the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like in this field …

From Email

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

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Enter a subject field for the email that will be sent out 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

This section of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab lets you perform database maintenance tasks associated with plugin data inside your plugin settings area itself …

This is useful if, for example, you notice that items you have deleted are still showing on your site.

You can perform the following tasks:

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

Any database operations you perform from this screen cannot be undone. If you are comfortable to perform database maintenance in this section, then make sure to backup your WordPress database first.

If you don’t want to do site backups, then get help from a WordPress professional, or use a backup plugin. You can read about a WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to completely automate your site backups here:

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

User Permissions

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

If you choose the Individual List type, the only permission applicable for this section is the View To-Do List permission …

If you are setting up user permissions and capabilities for Group or Master List types, select the highest level capabilities that you would like users to be able to perform 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 using the Master list type non-administrator users 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 in the User Permissions tab:

View To-Do List

This option allows 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 permit the chosen capability to mark items as completed or uncompleted.

Add To-Do Item Capability

This setting allows the selected capability to add new items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

Here you can enable the selected capability to modify existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

Here you can allow the selected capability to assign to-do items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

Here you can permit 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 allows the chosen capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This option permits the chosen capability to purge all the completed items.

Add Categories Capability

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

Import/Export

The ability to import and export to-do list data can be useful. For example, you may need to transfer data from one website to another, or store the data for backup or reporting purposes.

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

Here you can import or export your 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 opens up a new window allowing you to view or save your data in a plain text file (e.g. Notepad) to an internal or external hard drive …

In addition to exporting to-do list 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 an 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 the ‘Download Export File’ button to download your file to a storage medium…

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’ …

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

The data from the existing to-do file will be imported.

After configuring all of the plugin settings, you can start create and edit your to-do lists.

Plugin Usage

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

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

Add New To Do Items

There are a number of ways to add new to-do items.

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

You can also add new to-do items to your list inside the 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, since the link will simply send you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section further down the page) …

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

Depending on how 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 new item to your list …

Note: If you are using a list type that lets you assign responsibilities over items to specific 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 delete a user) …

After After adding a new item, the item will be listed as an entry in the ‘To-Do List’ table …

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

Editing And Deleting To Do Items From Your List

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

Depending on how you have set up the plugin (see previous section), 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 user dashboard …

When users assigned with completing an item tick the item check box …

… the item is removed 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 added functionality that lets you display to-do lists on your site using widgets, and insert a list into any page or post using shortcodes.

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 would like your to-do list to show …

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

Your to-do list will display wherever you have placed the widget (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use WordPress Widget

Using The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Shortcodes

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

To access the documentation on using shortcodes, click on To-Do List > To-Do List from the dashboard 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 on your content.

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

Publish your post or page and you will see the list displayed in the location where you added the short code …

Visit this site for more information about this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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