Creating To-Do Lists In WordPress

If you are running a growing business or managing a team, time always seems to be in short supply.

There are so many things to do and remember. You have deadlines to meet, projects to complete, meetings to attend, fires to put out, appointments to make, commitments to keep and so on. The “doing” never seems to end.

Now … add the extra workload of trying to promote and grow your business online and maintaining your website updated with regular content and things can start becoming unmanageable and out of control.

Whether you are running a business, website, blog, or managing a team, it’s important to be able to organize and prioritize your daily tasks, keep track of your progress, and, if necessary, assign tasks and responsibilities to other people efficiently.

A proven 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 can help you track your progress as you work towards certain goals. Your to-do list can be minutely detailed and very specific, or serve as a reminder of what needs to be done over a given period of time.

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 faster.

Time Prioritization

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you save time and better manage your workload. You can gain a clearer perspective on what is more important vs what’s not, and what tasks should be completed first.

Quickly Reorganize Or Reschedule

A to-do list helps you better cope with changes in circumstances. If an appointment gets cancelled at the last minute or extra time becomes available when a task gets completed sooner than expected, you can quickly reorganize or reschedule and continue working with little to no disruption.

Ensures Accountability

Without accountability there’s no commitment to getting things completed, and no motivation to take meaningful action. Lack of accountability can also let excuses creep in and take over your work day.

Working With Others

Using to-do lists and other project management tools is essential for collaborating with other people 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 systematically and your business efficiency and productivity will improve.

What about using to do lists on your WordPress website?

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

Cleverness To-Do List

Plugin Download URL

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

Plugin Description

This plugin provides users with a to do list feature.

Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Features

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

You can set up 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 has a variety of settings available. You can assign to do items to specific users (this includes a setting to email a new to-do item to users) and optionally to have those items only seen by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users based on user roles. There are also settings to display deadline and progress fields. Category support is also included as front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the backend to help you manage your list and your to do lists can also appear 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 short codes for front-end administration of the list. Management of categories is accessed through the back-end.

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 install a copy of the Post Planner plugin for WordPress.

Installing The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

Log into your WordPress admin area and choose Plugins > Add New …

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

Locate the item in the Search Results tab and click Install Now …

Activate the plugin …

Note: You can also activate this plugin in 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 your dashboard menu …

This takes you to the plugin ‘Settings’ section …

Let’s go through the plugin setup process …

Plugin Configuration

The “To-Do List” plugin ‘Settings’ screen is divided into 4 sections:

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

Let’s go through each of these sections.

To-Do List Settings

To-Do List Categories

Choose ‘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 menu …

This allows you to add categories to your to-do 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 widgets or shortcodes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

List View lets you specify how your to-do lists will be viewed. You can choose 3 types of to do 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 – Select this option if you want all users to share the same to-do list.
• Master – Select this option to have a master list for all users, where users have their own individual completion of items. If you choose the ‘Master’ list view, make sure to set the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (see further below).

Sort Order

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

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

Show Added By

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you display which users have added an item to your to-do list.

Note: This setting only works 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, you can specify deadlines for your to-do items …

Show Progress

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

Show Admin Bar Menu

If enabled, the ‘To-Do List’ menu displays in your WordPress Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

If 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 list items.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you are running a collaborative 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 to help make managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

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

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

Advanced Settings

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

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

This area lets you customize your To Do lists, assign to-do tasks to other users and perform plugin 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

In this area you can customize your To-Do List …

The following settings can be configured in this section:

Date Format

In this section you can specify how to display dates in your to-do list (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

This section lets you customize the labels for highest (important), normal and lowest priority items …

Highest priority items are colour-coded in red and lowest (low) priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

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

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If this option is enabled, the date the to-do list was added appears on the 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 section:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enable this option (‘Yes’) to assign to-do items 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

If enabled (‘Yes’), you can display items only to users who have been assigned those items. Leave this option disabled (‘No’) to display to-do items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this section Subscriber) to display the type of users that can be assigned todo 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

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

Leave this option disabled (‘No’) if you don’t want emails sent out to users.

Note: If this option is disabled, you can skip the remaining items 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 show to-do 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 (‘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

Use this field to customize the “From” field when sending out emails to users. Enter your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like in this field …

From Email

Enter the email address that you would like showing as the “sent from” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Enter 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

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 perform database maintenance tasks associated with plugin data directly from the plugin settings area itself …

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

The tasks below can be performed:

• Delete Tables – Delete custom database tables that are no longer being used.
• 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 comfortable to proceed with any of the database operations available in this section, then remember to backup your database first.

If you don’t want to back up your data manually, then use a professional service, or use backup plugins. Learn about a great WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to perform complete WordPress file and database backups here:

• Backup, Duplicate & Keep Your WP Websites Protected With Backup Creator WordPress Plugin

User Permissions

Here you can configure user permissions and capabilities for Group or Master List types …

If you select Individual List, the only item that is applicable in 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 …

The default general capabilities of each user role are set as follows:

• Subscribers: Read
• Contributors: Edit Posts
• Authors: Publish Posts
• Editors: Edit Others Posts
• Administrators: Manage Options

Note: When using the Master list type non-admin users should only be allowed to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list itself.

Let’s review the settings in the User Permissions section:

View To-Do List

This enables 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 allow the selected capability to mark items as completed or not completed.

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

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

Assign To-Do Item Capability

Here you can allow the selected capability to delegate to-do items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

Here you can allow 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

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

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This option permits the chosen 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 very useful. For example, you may want to copy over data from an existing list to another website, or store your list 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 easily export or import your data and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

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

This will open up a window allowing you to download and save your data in plain text format to a storage device (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 dashboard menu and choosing Tools > Export …

You can include to-do list data in an export file (in XML format), either by checking ‘All content’ (includes everything – posts, pages, etc…), or selecting ‘To-Do’ from the ‘Choose what to export’ section and clicking the ‘Download Export File’ button to download 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 in your hard drive or external drive and click ‘Open’ …

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

Your file will be imported.

Now that you have configured all plugin settings, you can begin creating and editing to do lists.

Plugin Usage

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

There are several ways to add new to-do items to your list.

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

You can also add new to-do items inside the Dashboard 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 already contains many items, as the link will simply take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section further down the page) …

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

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

Configure the options you have enabled for your to-do items, add appropriate information into the relevant fields and click on the ‘Submit To-Do Item’ button to add the item to your list …

Note: If you are using a list type that lets you assign responsibilities over 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) …

Once you have added a new item item, the item will be listed as an entry in the ‘To-Do List’ table …

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

Editing And Deleting 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 earlier), users assigned to completing tasks may also receive email notifications …

Once you have created your to do list, users can view it inside their user dashboard …

When users assigned with completing an item click on the item checkbox …

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

And gets added to the ‘Completed Items’ section located in the main screen of the ‘To-Do List’ plugin …

Additional Information

The Cleverness plugin offers additional functions that let you display a to-do list on your WordPress website using widgets, and insert lists into any page or post using shortcodes.

Using The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin Widget

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 menu location where you want the to-do list to display …

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

The to-do list will display wherever the ‘to-do-list’ widget was added (e.g. 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

Cleverness To-Do List also lets you add lists and checklists to your site with short codes.

To access the plugin’s shortcode documentation, select To-Do List > To-Do List from the WordPress admin 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 …

This section explains different ways to configure and use short codes to display lists on your content.

Once you know what information you would like to display on your site, open up a new post or page and either type or paste the shortcode inside the content section …

Publish your page or post and you will see the list displayed in the location where you have added the shortcode …

To download this plugin, visit the plugin website:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

***

***