How To Create To-Do Lists In WordPress

Time always seems to be in short supply, especially if you are a business owner or busy team leader.

There are so many things to do and remember. You have deadlines to meet, tasks to complete, priorities to attend to, fires to put out, calls and appointments to make, commitments to keep and so on. The amount of things that need to get done never seems to stop.

Now … add the extra workload of trying to promote and grow your business online and maintaining your website updated with fresh content and everything can suddenly begin to feel unmanageable and chaotic.

Whether you are running a business, website, blog, or managing a project, it’s important to be able to organize and prioritize your daily tasks, keep track of your progress and daily accomplishments, and, if necessary, delegate responsibilities to members of your team or staff effectively.

A ”tried and true” tool that can help you save time, alleviate stressful workloads, and allow you to gain some control is to use a “to-do” list.

Benefits Of Using A To-Do List

A “to-do” list helps you monitor your progress as you work towards your goals. Your to-do list can be minutely detailed and specific, or serve as a reminder of the things that need to be done today, tomorrow, next week, next month, etc.

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

A To Do List Helps Create Order

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

Better Strategic Planning

Creating and organizing to-do lists helps you see the larger picture and come up with a strategic plan for getting tasks completed on budget and on time.

Document Your Work

To-do lists allow you to maintain documented logs of what has been done. You can use this as evidence of work to employers or clients, or simply as a method of helping you measure your own productivity and efficiency.

Ensures Accountability

Without accountability there is no commitment to getting things completed, and no motivation to act with a sense of purpose. Lack of accountability allows excuses to creep in and influence your productivity.

Feeling Of Accomplishment

Ticking items off a to-do list not only makes you feel more positive, motivated and in-control, it also lets you relax more, as you can objectively see (or show) that the workload is being completed 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 in a systematic way improves efficiency and productivity in your business.

What about adding to do lists to your website?

In this 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 plugin for WordPress 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 your WP website or blog.

Plugin Features

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

You can configure 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 a number of settings. You can assign to-do items to a specific user (this includes a setting to email new to do items to users) and optionally to have assigned items be seen by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users. There are also settings to show 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 the to-do list can also be displayed on a dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is available as well as short code to display the to-do list items on your blog. There are two shortcodes for front-end administration of the list. Category management is accessible via the back-end.

If you plan to set up a multi-author site you can use the to do lists plugin to create custom to-do lists for your post planners if you also use a copy of the developer’s premium plugin, Post Planner.

Plugin Installation

In your WordPress administration section, go to the menu and select Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Click Activate Plugin …

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

When the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

Note: You can also get to the settings section by choosing To-Do List > Settings from the admin menu …

This brings you to the plugin ‘Settings’ screen …

Let’s set up the plugin …

How To Configure The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

The plugin’s ‘Settings’ area is divided into four tabs:

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

Let’s now configure each of these tabs.

To-Do List Settings

To-Do List Categories

Choose ‘Enabled’ to organize your lists into categories, otherwise leave this option set to ‘Disabled’.

Note: If you enable this option, a ‘Categories’ item gets added to the To-Do List menu …

This lets you add categories that can help 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 using sidebar widgets or shortcodes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

List View allows you to specify how your lists will be viewed. You can choose from 3 list views:

• Individual – Select this option if you want each user to be able to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Selecting this option lets users share the same 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 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 sorted first by priority.

Show Added By

Enabling this option lets you 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

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

Show Deadline

If enabled, you can specify deadlines for to-do items …

Show Progress

If this option is enabled, you will be able to specify task progress indicators for your to-do items …

Show Admin Bar Menu

If enabled, the ‘To-Do List’ menu displays 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 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, from the same plugin developer to help make managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

Go here to learn more about using this handy plugin: WordPress Post Planner

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

Advanced Settings

Once you have configured the general settings, click on the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab to continue …

This brings you to the plugin’s ‘Advanced Settings’ area …

In this screen you can customize your To-Do lists, assign to-do tasks to other users and carry out database maintenance.

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 lets you customize your To Do List …

You can configure the following options in this section:

Date Format

In this section you can specify how to display dates on your to-do list (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

Note: To learn more about how to format dates in WordPress, visit 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 (low) priority items …

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

Show To-Do Item ID

If enabled (‘Yes’), the item’s ID appear on the to-do list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option will show the date the table of items was added …

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

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

You can configure the following options in this area:

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 specifically assigned those items. Leave this option disabled to 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 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

When 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 you disable this option, you can skip the remaining items 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-do categories to appear the subject of your emails.

Leave this option disabled if you don’t want to display categories in the email subject.

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 several 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 to users. 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 would like to display as the “sent from” email address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Type into this field a subject field for the email that will be sent out automatically to users whenever new items have been added in 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 allows you to carry out database maintenance operations related to plugin data directly from your plugin settings area itself without the need to log into your web server …

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

The tasks below can be performed:

• Delete Tables – Remove custom database tables that are no longer being used.
• Delete All To-Do Items – Remove all of your to-do items.

Any database operations carried out from this screen cannot be undone. If you are comfortable to proceed with any of the database operations available in this section, then we recommend backing up your database first.

If you don’t want to perform manual backups, then consider using professional WordPress help services, or use WordPress backup plugins. You can learn more about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your site backups here:

• Back Up, Clone & Keep Your WP Sites Protected With Backup Creator WP Plugin

User Permissions

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

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

If you are configuring user permissions and capabilities for Group or 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 working with the Master list type make sure that you only allow non-administrators to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list itself.

Let’s now review the settings in this tab:

View To-Do List

This option 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 enables the chosen capability to mark to-do items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This permits the selected capability to edit existing to-do items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This option enables the selected capability to assign 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

This setting enables the selected capability to delete individual to-do items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

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

Add Categories Capability

Here you can enable 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 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 area …

Now you can import or export your data and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

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

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

In addition to exporting data from the ‘Import/Export’ section, 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 selecting ‘All content’ (includes everything – posts, pages, etc…), or just select ‘To-Do’ from the ‘Choose what to export’ section and click the ‘Download Export File’ button to save your file to an internal or external hard drive…

Importing To-Do List Data

Importing a list data file is easy. Just click on the ‘Browse’ button next to the ‘Choose File to Import’ field …

Select the file and click ‘Open’ …

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

Your file will be imported.

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

How To Use The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

To create a new to do list, log into your WordPress dashboard, then go to the 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 several ways to add new to-do items to your list.

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

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, as the link is only going to send you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section at the bottom of the page) …

The above methods will take 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 adding 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 to-do item …

Note: If you have chosen a list type that allows you to assign 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 After adding a new item, the item will be listed as an entry in the ‘To-Do List’ table …

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

Edit And Delete To-Do Items

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

Depending on your configuration settings (discussed earlier), users assigned to tasks may also receive email notifications …

After creating your to-do list, users can view the list from their own WP dashboard …

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

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

And gets listed the ‘Completed Items’ section located in the ’To-Do List’ plugin area …

Additional Information

The Cleverness plugin offers added functionality that lets you display to-do lists on your WordPress website using widgets, and add a list to content inside a post or page using shortcodes.

Widgets

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 (or footer) menu where you want your to-do list to appear …

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

The to-do list will now display where the ‘to-do-list’ widget was inserted (i.e. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use s

Using Plugin Short Codes

The Cleverness plugin also lets you add lists and checklists to your site with short codes.

To access the documentation on using shortcodes, click on 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 screen …

This section explains different ways to configure and use shortcodes to display lists and checklists on your content.

Once you know what information you want to add to your site, create a new post or page and either type or paste the shortcode into the content area …

After publishing your post or page, you will see the list showing where you entered the shortcode …

To learn more about this plugin, visit the plugin website here:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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