Creating To Do Lists In WordPress

When you are running a fast-paced business, there is never enough time to get things done.

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

Now … add the extra workload of promoting and growing your business online and keeping your website or blog updated with fresh content and things can quickly start feeling unmanageable and overwhelming.

Whether you are running a business, website, blog, or managing a team, you need to be able to organize and manage your day.

One simple proven 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 helps you track your progress when trying to get projects completed. Your to-do list can be very detailed or specific, or serve as a reminder of tasks that need doing over a given period of time.

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

Free Up Resources

Writing a to-do list means you won’t have to try to memorize stuff or store information inside your mind. Once things are written down on a to do list, your head is free to process information and you can focus on things that are more important to you.

Better Manage Your Time

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

Reorganize Quickly

A to-do list helps you better handle situations. If you suddenly find that an appointment has been cancelled or extra time becomes available when a task gets completed sooner than expected, you can quickly reschedule and reorganize and keep working with little to minimal loss of focus.

Reduce Stress

Stress can come from feeling overwhelmed by so much to do and very little time to do it in. Using a to-do list allows you to prioritize important items that have to be completed immediately, and reschedule tasks that can be worked on at a later time. This can help you stress less.

Collaborate Better With Others

Creating to do lists and other project management tools is essential for getting other people involved on some of your larger or more complex projects.

As you can see, there are many benefits to using to-do lists, both in business and in your personal life. Create a list, prioritize your list items and work things systematically and your business efficiency and productivity will surely improve.

Let’s turn now to using a to do list on your website. More specifically, how to add a to do list to WordPress.

In this detailed step-by-step tutorial you are going to learn how to easily add to-do lists to your WP website or blog to improve business efficiency and productivity using a great little WordPress plugin called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To-Do List

Download URL

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

Plugin Description

This plugin provides users with a to do list feature.

Features

Note: the plugin features listed below will be 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 a 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 specific users (this includes emailing new to do items to the assigned user) and optionally to have assigned items be viewable 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 as front-end administration.

A new menu item is added to the admin backend to manage your list and your to-do lists are also listed on a dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is available as well as short code to display the to do list items on your site. There are two shortcodes for front-end list administration. Category management is accessed through the back-end admin section.

If you plan to run a multi-author site you can use this to do lists plugin to create custom to-do lists for your post editors if you also download the developer’s premium plugin, Post Planner.

How To Install The Plugin

Log into your WordPress dashboard and in the main menu select Plugins > Add New …

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

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 area …

After the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

Note: The plugin’s settings section can also be accessed by choosing To-Do List > Settings from your dashboard menu …

This brings you to the ‘Settings’ screen …

Let’s configure the plugin …

How To Configure The Plugin

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

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

Let’s take you through 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: When you enable this option, a ‘Categories’ item is 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 to-do lists.

Private categories will not be visible using the sidebar widgets or shortcodes (only when ‘Sort Order’ is set to ‘Category’)

List View

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

• Individual – Selecting this option allows users 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 a master list for all users, where users have their own individual completion of items. If you choose the ‘Master’ list view, make sure that you set the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (this is covered further below).

Sort Order

‘Sort Order’ lets you specify how your to-do 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 users on your site have added an item to the to-do list.

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

Show Date Completed

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), completion dates will display for your to-do tasks.

Show Deadline

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

Show Progress

If enabled (‘Yes’), you will be able to specify task progress indicators for your to-do items …

Show Admin Bar Menu

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you display the ‘To-Do List’ menu in your WP Dashboard 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 enabled, automatic paragraphs are used to display content in to-do lists.

Integrate with Post Planner

If you are running a collaborative site 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 about using this plugin: WordPress Post Planner – Multi-Author Publishing Plugin For WordPress

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

Advanced Settings

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

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

In this tab you can customize your To-Do lists, assign to-do items to users and carry out 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

This section of the ‘Advanced Settings’ screen lets you customize your To Do List …

The following options can be configured in this section:

Date Format

This section lets you specify how to display dates on your todo list (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

Note: To learn more about how to format 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 your labels for prioritizing important, normal and lowest (low) items …

high priority items display in red and low priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

Enabling this option displays item IDs on the list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

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

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this area Contributor to display the type of users that can be assigned 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 automatically sends 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 this option is disabled, you can skip other 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 on the subject of your emails …

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

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

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 your website has 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 notices. Type the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

Type in the email address that you want showing 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 automatically sent to users when a new item has been added in your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

Type 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 of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab you can carry out database maintenance operations related to plugin data inside your plugin settings area …

This is useful if, for example, you see that previously deleted to-do items are still appearing on your site.

You can perform the tasks below in this section:

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

Any database operations carried out from this screen cannot be reversed. If you are sure that you want to proceed with any of the database operations available in this section, then remember to backup your WordPress database first.

If you don’t want to do manual backups, then get professional WordPress assistance, or use a backup plugin. Learn about a great WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to automate WordPress file and data backups here:

• Backup, Copy & Protect Your WordPress Websites And Blogs With Backup Creator Plugin For WP

User Permissions

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

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

If you plan to set up user permissions and capabilities for Group and Master List types, select the highest level capabilities that you would like users to perform for each option …

The 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-administrators to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list.

Below is a description of the settings for this tab:

View To-Do List

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

Add To-Do Item Capability

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

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This setting permits the selected capability to modify existing items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

Here you can enable the selected capability to assign to-do 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 enables the chosen capability to delete individual to-do items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

This allows the selected capability to purge all the completed items.

Add Categories Capability

This option enables 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 decide to copy over data from an existing to-do list to another website, or export your 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 data and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

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

This opens 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 …

In addition to exporting data from the ‘Import/Export’ tab, you can also export data by going to your admin menu and selecting 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 save your file to your 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 …

Select the file and click ‘Open’ …

Once uploading your data file, click on ‘Import Settings’ …

Your file data will be imported.

Once you have configured all plugin settings, you can start creating and editing your lists.

Plugin Usage

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

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

How To Add New To-Do Items To Your List

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

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

You can also add new to-do items inside 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 already contains many items, since the link is only going to take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section down the page) …

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

Depending on the way you have configured your plugin’s settings, you may or may not see certain options displayed when adding 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 to-do item …

Note: If you are using a list type that lets you assign tasks to users, select a user from the drop-down list and assign them the item …

You can also assign multiple users to the same item (click on ‘x’ to delete a user) …

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

Repeat this process to continue adding 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 your configuration plugin settings (see previous section), users assigned to tasks may also receive email notifications …

Once you have created your to do list, users can view the list inside their own WP dashboard …

When users assigned with an item complete the task and click on the item checkbox …

… the item is then deleted from 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 To-Do List plugin offers additional functions that let you display to-do lists on your website using widgets, and add lists to content inside a page or post using short codes.

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 your list to show …

Configure the widget settings and click the ‘Save’ button …

Your list will now display wherever you have added the widget (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• How To Use s

Using The Cleverness Plugin Shortcodes

You can also display to-do lists on your site with shortcodes.

To access the plugin’s short code documentation, select To-Do List > To-Do List from your dashboard menu …

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

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

The documentation section explains different ways to configure and use short codes for displaying lists on your content.

Once you know what 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 …

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

For more details about this plugin, visit the plugin website here:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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