How To Create A To-Do List In WordPress

Time always seems to be in short supply, especially when you are running a growing business.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have clients to meet, urgent tasks to complete, meetings to attend, fires to extinguish, deliveries to make, commitments to keep and so on. The amount of things that need to get done never seems to end.

Now … add the extra dimension of promoting and growing your business online and keeping your website updated with fresh content and things can quickly start to become unmanageable and chaotic.

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

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

To Do Lists – Benefits

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

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

Clear Thinking

Writing a to do list means you won’t have to try and remember things or store information inside your brain. Once things are jotted down on a to-do list, your mind is free to process other information and you can focus on other areas that may be more important.

Be More Strategic

After creating and organizing your to-do list, you can break down larger projects into doable tasks and formulate a strategic plan to get things completed effectively.

Reorganize And Reschedule Quickly

Having a to-do list helps you better handle unforeseen situations. If you find that an appointment gets cancelled at short notice or extra time has been made available because some task got completed sooner than expected, you can quickly reschedule and continue working with minimal loss of focus.

Stress Less

Stress can result from feeling overwhelmed by the thought that there is so much to do and so very little time to do it in. Creating to do lists let you prioritize urgent things that need to get done within the time you have available, and reschedule items that can be addressed at a later time. This can reduce the feeling of being overwhelmed and help to take away some of the stress you may be feeling.

Better Delegation Of Tasks

Having a to do list helps you delegate work to others better. This is also important when collaborating within a team (see further below).

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 towards completing the tasks on your list and productivity and efficiency in your business will improve.

What about adding to-do lists to your WordPress website or blog?

In this tutorial you are going to learn how to add a to-do list to your WP website or blog to help get things done online  faster and more efficiently using a customizable, multi-featured to do list WordPress plugin called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To Do List

Plugin URL

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

Description

This plugin provides users with a to do list feature.

Plugin Features

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

You can set up the plugin to have 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 assign to do items to specific users (this includes emailing new to do items to assigned users) and optionally to have those items be seen by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users based on user roles. There are also settings available to enable the display of 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 list and your to do list can also appear on a dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is also available as shortcode to display the to do list items on your site. There are two 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 use a copy of the developer’s premium plugin, Post Planner.

How To Install The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

Log into your WP dashboard and click on Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Activate the plugin after installing it …

Note: You can also activate the plugin in the Plugins area …

When you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

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

This takes you to the plugin ‘Settings’ area …

Let’s configure the plugin …

Setting Up The Plugin

The Settings area is divided into four sections:

• To-Do List Settings – This tab is where you specify the plugin’s main settings.
• Advanced Settings – This section is where you customize To-Do lists, assign tasks to other users and perform database maintenance tasks.
• User Permissions – This section is where you configure user permissions and capabilities for Master and Group List types.
• Import/Export – This tab is where 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

Categories

Choose ‘Enabled’ to organize 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 menu …

This lets you add categories that you can then use to 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 are not visible using the sidebar widgets or short codes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

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

• 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 be able to 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 choose 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 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

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you can display which of your users has added an item to the 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 tasks.

Show Deadline

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you can specify deadlines for to-do items …

Show Progress

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you 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 option lets you add and edit items on your to-do list using the WordPress WYSIWYG Editor …

Use Auto Paragraphs

If enabled, automatic paragraphs are used to display content in your to-do lists.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you plan to run a collaborative site or blog, you can integrate the Cleverness To Do List plugin with a plugin called WordPress Post Planner, from the same plugin developer to help make the process of managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

Visit this site to learn more this plugin: WordPress Post Planner

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

Advanced Settings

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

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

This section lets you customize your To Do lists, assign to-do tasks to other 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

This section of the ‘Advanced Settings’ screen allows you to 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 to-do lists (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

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

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

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

Items given the highest (important) priority are colour-coded in red in your lists and lowest (low) priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), item IDs show up on the list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If this option is enabled, the date the 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 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 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 displays 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 area (Administrator to display the type of users that can be assigned items. Leave the checkbox unticked for any roles that you don’t want to assign to-do items.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

If you enable this option, WordPress automatically sends an email to users with their assigned to-do items …

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

Note: If this option is disabled, you can skip other 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 in the subject of emails sent to users …

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

If you don’t want to show categories in the subject of your emails, 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 option is useful if, for example, you have multiple 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 the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

Enter the email address that you want displayed as the “sent from” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Enter a subject field for the email that will be automatically distributed to users whenever new items have been added 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 you can perform database maintenance tasks related to plugin data directly from the plugin settings area …

This function is useful if, for example, you notice that old todo items are still displaying on your site.

You can perform the following tasks in this section:

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

Any actions that you perform on your database from this screen cannot be undone. If you are sure that you want to carry out database operations in this section, then remember to backup your database first.

If you don’t want to do manual backups, then consider hiring the services of a professional WordPress provider, or use a backup plugin. You can read about a WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to completely automate your WordPress file and data backups here:

• Back Up, Duplicate & Keep Your WP Web Sites Protected With Backup Creator Plugin For WordPress

User Permissions

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

If you have selected Individual List, the only item that is 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 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.

Here is a description of the settings in the User Permissions section:

View To-Do List

This enables 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 allows the chosen capability to mark items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

Here you can permit the chosen capability to add new items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

Here you can enable the chosen capability to edit existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

Here you can permit the selected 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 setting permits the chosen capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This allows the chosen capability to purge all the completed to-do items.

Add Categories Capability

This permits 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 want to copy over data from one site to another, or export the data for backup or archiving purposes.

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

Here you can easily export and import your list data 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 a plain text file (e.g. Notepad) to an internal or external hard drive …

As well as exporting to-do list data from the ‘Import/Export’ section, you can also export data by going to your admin menu and selecting 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 just select ‘To-Do’ from the ‘Choose what to export’ section and click on the ‘Download Export File’ button to download your file to an internal or external 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 …

Locate the file in your hard drive or external drive and click ‘Open’ …

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

Your file data will be imported.

Now that you have configured all of the plugin settings, you are ready to begin create and edit your lists.

How To Use Cleverness To-Do List

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

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

Adding New To-Do Items To Your List

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

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

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

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

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

Configure 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 item to your list …

Note: If you have selected a list type that allows you to 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) …

After a new item has been added, it will display as an entry in the ‘To-Do Items’ table …

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

Editing And Deleting Items

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

Depending on your plugin configuration settings (see previous section), users assigned to completing tasks may also receive an email notification in their inboxes …

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

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

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

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

Additional Information

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

Using The Cleverness To-Do List 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 your list to show …

Configure the widget settings and click ’Save’ …

The to-do list will display wherever you have added 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:

• How To Use Widgets In WordPress

Plugin Shortcodes

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

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

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

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

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 or edit a new or existing post or page and either type or paste the shortcode inside the content editor …

Publish your page or post and you will see the list showing in the location where you 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 to your WordPress site or blog.

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