Creating A To-Do List In WordPress

If you plan to run a fast-paced business or manage any kind of project that requires people to work together as a team, time is always in short supply.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have deadlines to meet, projects to complete, meetings to attend, fires to put out, deliveries to make, schedules to keep and so on. The “doing” never seems to stop.

Now … on top of all this, add the extra workload of promoting and growing your business online and maintaining your website updated with fresh content and everything can quickly start to become unmanageable and overwhelming.

Whether you are running a business, website, blog, or managing a team, you need to be able to organize and prioritize your daily tasks, keep track of your progress, and, if necessary, assign tasks to members of your team effectively.

A simple “tried and true” method that can help you save time, create a sense of order and manageability, and allow you to regain control is to use “to do” lists.

To-Do Lists – Benefits

A “to-do” list can help to keep you on track and monitor your progress as you work to achieve your objectives. Your to-do list can be minutely detailed or specific, or serve as a concise reminder of what needs to be done today, tomorrow, this week, this month, etc.

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

Organization

Having a to-do list helps you create order, stay organized and reach your goals faster.

Strategize

Creating and organizing to-do lists helps you see the larger picture and create a strategy to get tasks done on budget and on time.

Keep Work Logs

To-do lists allow you to keep documented logs of what work has been done. This can be used as evidence of work done to clients or employers, or just as a means of helping you track your own productivity and efficiency.

Stress Relief

Stress can result from feeling overwhelmed by the fact that there is so much that needs doing and so very little time to do it all in. Creating to do lists let you prioritize important items that need to get done within a reasonable timeframe, and reschedule non-urgent items that can be addressed later. This can help you stress less.

Feeling 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 the work is getting done 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 manner increases efficiency and productivity in your business.

What about adding to do lists to your WordPress website?

In this detailed step-by-step tutorial you are going to learn how to easily create a to do list in WordPress to help your team get things done  faster and more efficiently using a customizable, multi-featured to-do list WordPress plugin called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To-Do List

Download URL

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

Description

This WordPress plugin lets you easily add customizable to do lists to WordPress.

Features

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

You can configure Cleverness To Do List to have 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 includes different settings. You can assign to-do items to specific users (this includes a setting to email a new to-do item to the assigned 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 enable the display of deadline and progress fields. Category support is included as well as front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the admin backend to help you manage your list and your to do lists are 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 shortcodes for front-end administration of your list. Category management is accessible via the back-end admin section.

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

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Installation

In your site’s admin area, go to the menu and choose Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Click “Activate Plugin” …

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

Once the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

Note: You can also get to the plugin’s ‘Settings’ screen by choosing To-Do List > Settings from your dashboard menu …

This brings you to the plugin ‘Settings’ screen …

Let’s set up the plugin …

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Setup

The Settings area is divided into four sections:

• To-Do List Settings – This area is where you can specify the plugin’s main settings.
• Advanced Settings – The options in this section let you customize to-do lists, assign to-do items to other users and perform plugin database maintenance tasks.
• User Permissions – This section lets you configure user permissions and capabilities for Master and Group List types.
• Import/Export – In this section 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 list into categories, otherwise leave this option set to ‘Disabled’.

Note: When you enable this option, a ‘Categories’ item will be 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 create ‘public’ and ‘private’ categories for your to-do lists.

Categories marked ‘private’ are not visible when using the sidebar widgets or shortcodes (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 select 3 types of list views:

• Individual – Selecting this option lets users 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 – This option allows you to create one master list for all users, where users have their own individual items to complete. If you select the ‘Master’ list view, make sure to set the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (this is covered further below).

Sort Order

‘Sort Order’ lets you specify how list items will be sorted.

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

Show Added By

If enabled, you can display which of your users has added an item to your to-do list.

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

Show Date Completed

Enabling this option displays completion dates for to-do tasks.

Show Deadline

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you will be able to specify deadlines for your to-do tasks …

Show Progress

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you specify task progress indicators for your to-do items …

Show Admin Bar Menu

Enabling this option displays the ‘To-Do List’ menu in your WordPress Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

Enabling 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 to-do lists using paragraphs.

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 plugin author that provides you with a complete WordPress editorial solution …

Go here to learn more this plugin: WordPress Post Planner

Once you are done configuring your options, click the ‘Save Changes’ button …

Advanced Settings

After configuring the settings in the To-Do List Settings tab, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab to proceed …

This brings you to the ‘Advanced Settings’ area …

This area lets you customize your To Do lists, assign to-do tasks to users and carry out plugin database maintenance.

Let’s step through how to configure the plugin’s ‘Advanced Settings’ section …

To-Do List Advanced Settings > Customize The To-Do List

In this area you can customize your To Do List …

You can configure the following options in this section:

Date Format

Here 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, see the date section of the WordPress Codex below:

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

Here you can customize the labels for highest, normal and lowest priority items …

Items given the highest 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

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) shows item IDs on the to-do list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If this option is enabled, the date your to-do list was added shows on the table of items …

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 settings in this section and assign to-do items to other users …

The following options can be configured in this section:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enabling this option lets you assign to-do items 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

Enable this option to display items only to users who have been assigned those items. Leave this option disabled (‘No’) to display 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 check box.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

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

If you don’t want to send out emails 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 in the subject of emails sent to users …

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

Leave this option disabled if you don’t want categories to show the subject of your emails.

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 various 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. Enter the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

In this field, type the email address that you want to display as the “sent from” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Type in a subject field for the email that will be automatically sent out to users when a new item has been added to your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

Add 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

In this section you can perform database maintenance tasks associated with plugin data directly from your plugin settings area itself without the need to access your web server …

This function is useful if, for example, you see that old to-do items are still showing on your site.

You can perform the following tasks:

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

Any database operations performed from this screen cannot be undone. If you are sure that you want to carry out database maintenance in this section, then make sure to backup your database first.

If you don’t want to back up your data manually, then get professional assistance, or use WordPress backup plugins. You can read about a WordPress backup plugin that can automate your site backups here:

• Back Up, Copy & Keep Your WordPress Sites Protected With Backup Creator WordPress Plugin

User Permissions

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

If you have chosen the Individual List type, the only configurable item that applies in this section is the View To-Do List option …

If you plan to configure 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 of each user role are 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-admin users to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list.

Let’s review the settings in this section:

View To-Do List

Here you can permit 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

This option permits the chosen capability to mark to-do items as completed or uncompleted.

Add To-Do Item Capability

This option enables the chosen capability to add new items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

Here you can allow the chosen capability to modify existing items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This setting allows the selected capability to assign 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 option allows the selected capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

Here you can enable the selected capability to purge all the completed to-do items.

Add Categories Capability

This option allows 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 an existing list to another website, or export the data for backup or archiving purposes.

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

Use this section to export and import your list data and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

You can export and download your data settings by clicking on the ‘Download Export File’ …

This will open up a new window allowing you to download and save the data as plain text to a storage medium …

In addition to exporting data from the ‘Import/Export’ section, you can also export data by going to your main menu and selecting Tools > Export …

You can include to-do list data in an 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

To import a list data file, click on the ‘Browse’ button next to the ‘Choose File to Import’ field …

Select the previously saved to-do list data file in your hard drive or external drive and click ‘Open’ …

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

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

Once you have configured all plugin settings, you are ready to begin creating and editing your to-do lists.

Plugin Usage

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

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

How To Add New To-Do Items

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

For example, you can add new to-do items from your dashboard toolbar …

You can also add new to-do items to your list from 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 already contains many items, since the link will simply take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section down the screen) …

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

Depending on how you have configured the plugin’s settings, some options may not display when when you add new to-do items.

Select 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 are using a list type that lets you assign 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 users) …

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

Repeat the above process to add new items to your to-do list …

Edit And Remove To Do Items From Your List

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

Depending on how you have configured the plugin (discussed in the previous section), users assigned to completing tasks may also receive email notifications …

After creating your to do list, users can view it from their own dashboard …

When users responsible for an item complete the task and click on the item check box …

… the item no longer appears in the “To-Do” list …

And gets added to the ‘Completed Items’ table 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 WordPress website using widgets, and display lists on any page or post using short codes.

Using The Plugin Widget

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 location in your sidebar menu where you would like your list to display …

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

Your to-do list will display on your site where the widget has been inserted (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use s

Plugin Short Codes

The plugin also lets you display lists and checklists to your site with shortcodes.

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

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

Click on the ‘Shortcodes’ tab 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 shortcode into the content area …

Publish your page or post and you should see the list displayed exactly where you entered the shortcode …

Visit the plugin website for more details about this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you know how to add to-do lists in WordPress.

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