How To Create To-Do Lists In WordPress

If you run a fast-paced business or manage other people, time always seems to be in short supply.

There is just too much to do and remember. You have deadlines to meet, project tasks to complete, meetings to attend, fires to extinguish, appointments to make, schedules to keep and so on. The amount of things that need ”doing” never seems to stop.

Now … add the extra workload of trying to promote and grow your business online and maintaining your website or blog updated with fresh content and everything can start to become unmanageable and overwhelming.

Whether you run a business, website, blog, or manage a team, it’s important to be able to organize and prioritize your activities, monitor your progress and daily accomplishments, and, if necessary, assign tasks and responsibilities to others efficiently.

A simple proven method that can help you save time, alleviate stress, and allow you to take control is to use “to-do” lists.

Benefits Of Using A To Do List

A “to do” list helps you monitor your progress when trying to complete projects. Your to-do list can be minutely detailed or specific, or act as a reminder of the things that need doing over a given period of time.

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

Free Your Brain

Writing to do lists means that you don’t have to memorize stuff or clutter your head with details. Once tasks are jotted down on a to do list, your head is free to process information and you can focus on other important areas.

Save Time

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you manage your time better. You can develop a better perspective on what’s truly urgent vs what isn’t, and what steps should be done first.

Document Your Work

To-do lists let you retain documented logs of what work has been done. This can be used to provide evidence of work done to employers or clients, or simply as a means of helping you measure your own productivity and efficiency.

Ensures Accountability

Without accountability there is no commitment to completion, and no motivation to act with a sense of purpose. Lack of accountability can also let excuses creep in and take over your productivity.

Improved Collaboration

Creating to do lists and other project management tools is essential for working with others on some of your larger or more complex projects.

As you can see, there are many benefits to using a to-do list, both in business and in your personal life. Create a list, prioritize your list items and work in a systematic way and productivity and efficiency in your business is sure to improve.

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 step-by-step tutorial you are going to learn 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

Plugin Download URL

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

Plugin Description

This WordPress plugin lets you easily add to-do lists to your WordPress website or blog.

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Features

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

You can configure Cleverness To Do List with private to-do lists for individual users, to have all users share your to-do list, or to have a master list with individual completion of items.

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 new to-do items to assigned users) and optionally to have assigned items be seen by that user. You can also assign different permission levels using capabilities. There are also settings to display deadline and progress fields. Category support is included as well 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 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 two shortcodes for front-end list administration. Category management is accessible via the back-end admin section.

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

Plugin Installation

Log into your site’s admin and in the menu choose Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Click “Activate Plugin” …

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

Once the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

Note: You can also get to the ‘Settings’ area by selecting To-Do List > Settings from the admin menu …

This takes you to the plugin ‘Settings’ section …

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

Setting Up The Plugin

The Settings area is divided into 4 sections:

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

Let’s go through each of these tabs.

To-Do List Settings

To-Do List Categories

Select ‘Enabled’ to organize your to-do 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 plugin menu …

This lets you add categories that you can then use to organize your to-do lists (see ‘Plugin Usage’ section further below for more details) …

You can create ‘public’ and ‘private’ categories for your lists.

Categories marked ‘private’ are not visible using widgets or shortcodes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

List View allows you to specify how your to-do lists are viewed. You can select three types of to do 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 be able to share one to-do list.
• Master – Choose this option to create 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 (this is covered further below).

Sort Order

‘Sort Order’ lets you specify how to order to-do list items.

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

Show Added By

If enabled (‘Yes’), you can display which of your users has added an item to your to-do list.

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

Show Date Completed

If this option is enabled, completion dates will display for your to-do items.

Show Deadline

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

Show Progress

If enabled, you can specify task progress indicators for your to-do items …

Show Admin Bar Menu

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

Use WYSIWYG Editor

This option 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 your to-do lists 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 …

Go here for more information about using this plugin: WordPress Post Planner – WordPress Multi-Author Publishing Plugin

After you have configured your plugin options in this section, remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button …

Advanced Settings

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

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

In this tab you can customize your To Do lists, assign to-do items to other users and perform 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 …

The following settings can be configured 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, see the relevant section of the WordPress Codex below:

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

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

Items prioritized as “important” display in red in your lists and lowest (low) priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option will show the item’s ID on the list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If enabled, the date the to-do list was added appears on your To-Do Items table …

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

If you have chosen ‘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

Enable this option (‘Yes’) 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

If this option is enabled, you can display to-do items only to users who have been assigned those items. Leaving this option disabled will display items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this section (Administrator, Editor, Author, Contributor, Subscriber) to display the type of users that can be assigned todo items. Leave the check box unticked for any roles that you don’t want to assign to-do items.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), 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, you can skip the other 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 on the subject of your emails …

Leave this option disabled (‘No’) if you don’t want categories to appear the email subject.

If you don’t want categories added to the subject of your emails, then leave this option disabled (‘No’).

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

If enabled (‘Yes’), you can 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 lets you customize the “From” field when sending out email notifications. Enter your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

Type into this field the email address that you would like to display as the “sent from” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Add a subject field for the email that will be automatically sent to users whenever a new item has been added to your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

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

This section of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab allows you to perform database maintenance tasks related to plugin data directly from the plugin settings area itself …

This function is useful if, for example, you notice that to-do items you have already deleted are still listed on your site.

The tasks below can be performed:

• Delete Tables – Delete any custom database tables that you are no longer using.
• Delete All To-Do Items – Delete 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 remember to backup your database first.

If you don’t want to back up your files yourself, then get professional WordPress help services, or use backup plugins. You can learn more about a WordPress backup plugin that can automate your backup process here:

• Back Up, Duplicate & Keep Your WP Website Protected With Backup Creator WordPress Plugin

User Permissions

In this section you can configure user permissions and capabilities for Group or Master List types …

If you select Individual List, the only configurable item applicable for this section is the View To-Do List option …

If you are configuring user permissions and capabilities for Group and Master List types, select the highest level capabilities that you want users 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 make sure that you only authorize non-administrator users to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list itself.

Below is a description of the settings for this section:

View To-Do List

This setting allows the selected 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

Here you can permit the chosen capability to mark items as completed or uncompleted.

Add To-Do Item Capability

Here you can enable the chosen capability to add new to-do items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This option allows the chosen capability to modify existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This setting enables the chosen capability to delegate items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

Here you can enable 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

Here you can allow the selected capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This enables the selected 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

The ability 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 list data for backup or archiving purposes.

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

Now you can import and export your to-do list data and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

To export and download your list data settings click on the ‘Download Export File’ …

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

In addition to exporting to-do list data from the ‘Import/Export’ tab, you can also export data by going to your WordPress dashboard menu and selecting Tools > Export …

You can include to-do list data in a WordPress export file (in XML format), either by checking ‘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 save your file to your storage device…

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

Your file will be imported.

After configuring all of the plugin settings, you can begin creating and editing to-do lists.

How To Use The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

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’ screen …

How To Add New To-Do Items

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

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

You can also add new to-do items using the ‘To-Do List’ dashboard section 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 take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section at the bottom of the page) …

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

Depending on how you have set up your plugin, you may or may not see certain options displayed when when you add new to-do items.

Set up the options you have enabled for your to-do items, enter 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 lets you assign responsibilities over items to 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 users) …

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

Repeat this process to keep adding new items to your list …

Editing And Deleting Items

To edit or delete an item, click on the ‘Edit’ or ‘Delete’ buttons associated with each item under the ‘Action’ column …

Depending on your configuration plugin settings (see previous section), users assigned to tasks may also receive email notifications …

After creating your to do list, users can view it when logged into their own dashboard …

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

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

And appears in the ‘Completed Items’ table located in the ’To-Do List’ screen …

Additional Plugin Information

The Cleverness plugin provides additional functions that let you display to-do lists on your site using widgets, and add a list to content inside a post or page using shortcodes.

Using The 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 menu location where you want the list to show …

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

The to-do list will now display wherever the widget has been placed (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• Using WordPress Widget

Using The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Short Codes

You can also create to-do lists and checklists on your site using shortcodes.

To access the documentation on using shortcodes, select To-Do List > To-Do List from your dashboard menu …

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

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

This section explains various ways to configure and use shortcodes to display lists and checklists on your posts and pages.

Once you know what type of information you want to display on your site, create a new post or page and either type or paste the short code inside the content editor …

After publishing your page or post, you will see the list displayed where you have inserted the shortcode …

Visit the plugin website here to learn more about this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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