Creating To-Do Lists In WordPress
There never seems to be enough time to get everything done, especially if you are a busy person trying to run a business or manage a team.
There is just so much to do and remember. You have so many deadlines 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 “doing” never stops.
Now … on top of all this, add the extra dimension of trying to promote and grow your business online and keeping your website or blog updated with regular content and things can start feeling unmanageable and out of control.
Whether you are running a business, website, blog, or managing a project, it’s important to be able to organize and manage your day.
A simple “tried and true” tool that can help you save time, create a sense of order and manageability, and allow you to gain some control is to use “to do” lists.
To-Do Lists – Benefits
A “to do” list helps you monitor your progress when trying to achieve specific objectives. Your to-do list can be minutely detailed and very specific, or serve as a concise reminder of the things that need doing today, tomorrow, this week, this month, etc.
Here are some of the benefits of using to do lists:
To-Do Lists Create Order
To-do lists help you create order, keep things organized and reach goals sooner.
Be More Strategic
By creating and organizing your to do list, you can break down larger projects into doable tasks and formulate a strategic plan to get everything completed efficiently.
Reorganize And Reschedule Quickly
A to-do list helps you better handle changes in circumstances. If a meeting suddenly gets cancelled or extra time becomes available because some part of the project got completed sooner than expected, you can keep moving forward with little to no disruption.
Accountability
Without accountability there’s no commitment to getting things completed, and no motivation to act with a sense of purpose. Lack of accountability can also allow excuses to creep in and take over your productivity.
Sense Of Accomplishment
Ticking items off to do lists gives you a feeling of accomplishment and allows you to relax more, as you can objectively see (or show) that work is indeed 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, then prioritizing tasks and working systematically improves efficiency and productivity in your business.
What about using to do lists on your WordPress website or blog?
In this detailed tutorial we are going to show you how to 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/
Description
This plugin lets you easily add a customizable to-do list to a WordPress site.
Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Features
Note: the plugin 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 the same to do list, or to have a master list with individual completion of items.
The shared to do list option includes different settings. You can assign to do items to a specific user (this includes emailing new to-do items to the assigned user) and optionally to have those items only seen by that user. You can also assign different permission levels using capabilities. 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 manage your lists and the to-do list is also listed 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 administration of the list. Management of categories is restricted to the back-end.
If you plan to run a multi-author site you can use the plugin to create custom to-do lists for your post editors if you also download the developer’s premium plugin, Post Planner.
Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Installation
In your site’s admin, choose Plugins > Add New …
In the Install Plugins screen, type in “cleverness” into the search field and hit the Enter button on your keyboard …
Locate the Cleverness To-Do List plugin in the Search Results area and click Install Now …
Click Activate Plugin …
Note: You can also activate the plugin from the Plugins area …
After the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …
Note: The settings section can also be accessed by selecting To-Do List > Settings from your dashboard menu …
This brings you to the plugin ‘Settings’ area …
The section below shows you how to go through the plugin configuration process …
How To Set Up The Plugin
The “To-Do List” plugin ‘Settings’ screen is divided into 4 tabs:
- To-Do List Settings – This area lets you specify the main plugin settings.
- Advanced Settings – Here you can customize to-do lists, assign to-do items to other users and perform plugin database maintenance tasks.
- User Permissions – This tab is where you configure user permissions and capabilities for Group and Master List types.
- Import/Export – The options in this area let you export and import to-do plugin and list data settings.
Let’s take you through each of these sections.
To-Do List Settings
Categories
Choose ‘Enabled’ to organize your lists into categories, otherwise leave this option set to ‘Disabled’.
Note: When you enable this option, a ‘Categories’ item is added to the To-Do List plugin menu …
This allows you to add categories that you can then use to organize your to-do lists (see ‘Plugin Usage’ section further below for more details) …
You can set up ‘public’ and ‘private’ categories for your lists.
Categories set to ‘private’ will not be visible using widgets or shortcodes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)
List View
List View lets you specify how your lists will be viewed. There are 3 kinds of to do list views available:
- Individual – Use this option if you want each user to be able to create and manage their own private to-do list.
- Group – Select this option if you want all users to share the same to-do list.
- Master – This option allows you to create one master list for all users, where users have their own individual completion of items. If you select the ‘Master’ list view, make sure to configure the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (see further below).
Sort Order
‘Sort Order’ lets you specify how to-do list items will be sorted.
If you choose ID, Alphabetical, or Category 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 if ‘List View’ is set to ‘Group’.
Show Date Completed
Enabling this option displays completion dates for your to-do tasks.
Show Deadline
If this option is enabled, you will be able to specify deadlines for to-do items …
Show Progress
Enabling this option lets you 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 WordPress Dashboard Admin bar …
Use WYSIWYG Editor
If this option is enabled, you can add and edit items on your to-do list using the WordPress WYSIWYG Editor …
Use Auto Paragraphs
If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), automatic paragraphs are used to display content in your to-do lists.
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 …
Visit this site to learn more about using this plugin: WordPress Post Planner – WordPress Editorial Solution Plugin
After you are done 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 you to the ‘Advanced Settings’ area …
This tab lets you customize your To Do lists, assign to-do items to users and perform 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
This section of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab lets you customize your To Do List …
You can configure the following settings in this section:
Date Format
In this area you can 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 relevant section of the WordPress Codex below:
WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time
Priority Labels
Here you can customize your labels for highest (important), middle (normal) and lowest (low) priority items …
Items prioritized as “important” are color-coded in red in your lists and lowest priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …
Show To-Do Item ID
Enabling this option (‘Yes’) will display item IDs on the list …
Show Date To-Do Was Added
Enabling this option (‘Yes’) displays the date the items table was added …
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 options in this area and assign to-do items to other users …
You can configure the following options in this area:
Assign To-Do Items to Users
Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you 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
Enabling this option (‘Yes’) displays to-do 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 (Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, Subscriber) displays the type of users that can be assigned to-do items. If you don’t 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 …
If you don’t want emails sent out to users, then leave this option disabled.
Note: If you disable this option, skip the remaining settings 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 in the subject of emails sent to users …
Leave this option disabled (‘No’) if you don’t want categories added to the email subject.
If you don’t want to display categories in the email subject, then leave this option disabled.
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 allows you to customize the “From” field when sending out emails to users. You can enter your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …
From Email
Enter the email address that you would like to display as the “sent from” email address …
Subject Field for Emails Sent to User
Add a subject field for the email that will be automatically sent out to users when a new item has been assigned to your to-do list …
Text in Emails Sent to User
Type into this field 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 allows you to carry out database maintenance tasks related to plugin data inside your plugin settings area …
This function is useful if, for example, you see that todo items you have deleted are still showing on your site.
You can perform the tasks below:
- Delete Tables – Delete any custom database tables that you are no longer using.
- Delete All To-Do Items – Erase all to-do items.
Any actions that you perform on the database from this screen cannot be undone. If you are sure that you want to perform database maintenance in this section, then remember to backup your WordPress database first.
If you don’t want to back up your data yourself, then consider getting assistance from a WordPress professional, or use a backup plugin. You can learn more about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your site backups here:
User Permissions
This section lets you configure user permissions and capabilities for Group and Master List types …
If you have selected the Individual List type, the only setting applicable in this section is the View To-Do List permission …
If you plan to configure 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 …
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 using the Master list type make sure that you only allow non-administrator users to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list itself.
Let’s now review the settings for the User Permissions section:
View To-Do List
Here you can permit the chosen capability to view to-do items in the dashboard widget and on the To-Do List page under the ‘Tools’ section.
Complete To-Do Item Capability
This option enables the chosen capability to mark to-do 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
Here you can allow the chosen capability to edit existing items.
Assign To-Do Item Capability
Here you can enable 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 permits the selected capability to delete individual to-do items.
Delete All To-Do Items Capability
Here you can enable the selected capability to purge all the completed items.
Add Categories Capability
Here you can permit the chosen capability to add new categories.
Import/Export
The ability to import and export to-do list data can be very useful. For example, you may decide to copy over data from one website to another, or export the data for backup or reporting purposes.
To access this function, click on the ‘Import/Export’ tab in your plugin settings section …
Use this section to easily export and import your list and plugin settings …
Exporting To-Do List Data
You can export and download your to-do list data settings by clicking on the ‘Download Export File’ …
This will open up a window allowing you to download and save the data in plain text format to an internal or external drive …
As well as exporting list data from the ‘Import/Export’ section, you can also export data by going to your main menu and choosing Tools > Export …
You can include to-do list data in a WordPress export file (in XML format), either by selecting ‘All content’ (includes everything – pages, posts, etc…), or selecting ‘To-Do’ from the ‘Choose what to export’ section and clicking on the ‘Download Export File’ button to download your file to an internal or external 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 in your hard drive or external drive and click ‘Open’ …
Once the data file has been uploaded to your settings area, click on ‘Import Settings’ …
The data from the existing to-do file will be imported.
Once you have configured all of the plugin settings, you are ready to begin creating and editing 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 to-do items to your list from your admin bar …
You can also add new to-do items to your list inside 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 contains many items, as the link is only going to take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section further down the screen) …
All the above methods will take you to the ‘Add New To-Do Item’ section.
Depending on the way you have set up your plugin, you may or may not see certain options displayed when adding new items to your to-do list.
Set up the options you have enabled for your to-do items, enter 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 are using 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 delete users) …
After After adding a new item, the item will display as an entry in the ‘To-Do Items’ table …
Repeat this process to continue adding items to your list …
Editing And Deleting To-Do Items
To edit or delete an item, click on the ‘Edit’ or ‘Delete’ buttons next to items under the ‘Action’ column …
Depending on your plugin configuration settings (discussed in the previous section), users assigned to tasks may also receive email notifications …
After creating your to do list, users can view it inside their user dashboard …
When users assigned with the item complete the task and tick the item checkbox …
… the item disappears from 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 plugin provides added functionality that lets you display to-do lists on your site using widgets, and display a list on any page or post using shortcodes.
Plugin Widget
To add to-do lists to your site using widgets, go to the ‘Widgets’ section (Appearance > Widgets) and drag the ‘To-Do List’ widget to the location in your sidebar (or footer) menu where you would like the to-do list to appear …
Configure the widget settings and click ’Save’ …
The to-do list will now display on your site where you have placed the ‘to-do-list’ widget (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)
To learn more about how to use widgets in WordPress, see the tutorial below:
Using Plugin Shortcodes
The Cleverness plugin also lets you create lists to your site by placing short codes into your content.
To access the documentation on using shortcodes, select To-Do List > To-Do List from your admin menu …
Click the ‘Help’ tab on the corner of your screen …
Click on the ‘Shortcodes’ tab to access the Shortcode Documentation section …
The documentation section explains different ways to configure and use short codes to display lists on your content.
Once you know what type of information you want to add to your site, open up a new post or page and either type or paste the short code into the content editor …
Publish your post or page and you will see the list showing where you entered the shortcode …
Visit the plugin website here for more information about this plugin:
Congratulations! Now you know how to create and add to-do lists in WordPress.
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)
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