Creating To Do Lists In WordPress

There is never enough time to get everything done, especially when you are running a fast-paced business or managing a team.

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 extinguish, deliveries to make, schedules to keep and so on. The amount of things that need to get done never stops.

Now … add the extra workload of promoting and growing your business online and maintaining your website or blog updated with fresh content and everything can start to become unmanageable and out of control.

Whether you run a business, website, blog, or manage a team, you need to be able to organize and prioritize your daily activities, keep track of your progress and daily accomplishments, and, if necessary, delegate tasks and responsibilities to members of your team or staff efficiently.

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

To Do Lists – Benefits

A “to-do” list helps you monitor your progress as you work towards completing tasks. Your to do list can be detailed and specific, or serve as a concise reminder of what needs to be done over a given period of time.

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

To Do Lists Create Order

A to-do list helps you create order, stay organized and achieve goals faster.

Manage Your Time Better

Prioritizing tasks on your list helps you save time and better manage your workload. You can develop a clearer perspective on what’s more important vs what isn’t, and what tasks have to be done first.

Keep Documented Work Logs

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

Accountability

Without accountability there’s no commitment to getting things completed, and no motivation to take meaningful action. Lack of accountability lets excuses creep in and influence your productivity.

Improved Collaboration

Creating 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 to-do lists, both in business and in your personal life. Create a list, prioritize your list items and work systematically and efficiency and productivity in your business will surely improve.

What about using to-do lists on your website or blog?

In this detailed tutorial you are going to learn how to create to do lists in WordPress to improve business efficiency and productivity using a great little WordPress plugin called Cleverness To-Do List.

Cleverness To Do List

Download The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

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

Description

This plugin lets you easily add a to-do list to a WordPress site.

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 a 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 delegate to-do items to a specific user (this includes emailing a new to-do item to assigned users) 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 display 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 manage your lists and your to-do list is also displayed on the 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 short codes for front-end list administration. Category management is accessible through the back-end.

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 use a copy of the developer’s premium plugin, Post Planner.

Plugin Installation

Log into your site’s admin section and click on Plugins > Add New …

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

Locate the plugin in the Search Results section and click Install Now …

Activate the plugin …

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

After the plugin has been activated, click on Settings …

Note: The ‘Settings’ area can also be accessed by selecting To-Do List > Settings from your dashboard menu …

This brings you to the ‘Settings’ page …

Let’s go through the plugin configuration process …

Configuring The Plugin

The Settings screen is divided into four tabs:

• To-Do List Settings – Here you can specify the main plugin settings.
• Advanced Settings – The options in this tab let you customize to-do lists, assign to-do items to other users and perform plugin database maintenance tasks.
• User Permissions – The options in this tab let you configure user permissions and capabilities for Master and Group List types.
• Import/Export – The options in this tab let 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 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 to your to-do lists (see ‘Plugin Usage’ section further below for more details) …

You can set up ‘public’ and ‘private’ categories for your to-do lists.

Categories marked ‘private’ will not be visible using 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 choose from 3 list views:

• Individual – Choose this option if you want each user to be able to create and manage their own private to-do list.
• Group – Choosing this option allows all users to share one to-do list.
• Master – Choose this option to have a master list for all users, where users have their own individual items to complete. If using the ‘Master’ list view, make sure to adjust the User Permissions appropriately in the ‘User Permissions’ tab (this is covered further below).

Sort Order

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

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

Show Added By

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

Note: This setting only applies when ‘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 enabled, you will be able to specify deadlines for 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 this option is enabled, the ‘To-Do List’ menu displays in your WP Dashboard Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

This menu option lets you add and edit items on your to-do list using the WordPress WYSIWYG Editor …

Use Auto Paragraphs

Enable this option (‘Yes’) to display content in to-do lists using paragraphs.

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, from the same plugin developer that provides you with a complete WordPress editorial solution …

Go here for more information about using this plugin: WordPress Post Planner – Editorial Solution Plugin For WordPress

After you have configured your plugin options, remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button to update your settings …

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 up the ‘Advanced Settings’ section …

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

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

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

Here you can 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 to-do lists (e.g. month/day/year, day/month/year, etc.)

Note: To learn more about how to format dates in WordPress, refer to the date section of the WordPress Codex below:

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

Here you can customize your labels for highest, middle (normal) and lowest (low) priority items …

Highest (important) priority items are shown in red and lowest priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

If this option is enabled, item IDs appear on the to-do list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) displays the date the table of items was added …

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 area and assign items to other users …

You can configure the following settings in this section:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enable this option (‘Yes’) to 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

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

User Roles to Show

Checking the boxes in this area Contributor displays the type of users that can be assigned items. If you do not want to assign to-do items to a particular role, then don’t tick its check box.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), WordPress will automatically send 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 (‘No’).

Note: If you disable this option, you can skip the 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 categories displayed in the email subject.

If you don’t want to display categories in 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 option is useful if, for example, your website has 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 to users. Add the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

Add into this field the email address that you want displayed as the “sent from” address …

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Add into this field a subject field for the email that will be automatically sent to users whenever a new item has been assigned 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

This area allows you to carry out database maintenance operations associated with plugin data inside your plugin settings area without having to access your server …

This is useful if, for example, you notice that todo items you have previously deleted are still displaying on your site.

You can perform the following tasks:

• Delete Tables – Delete any custom database tables that you no longer use.
• Delete All To-Do Items – Erase all to-do items.

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 we recommend backing up your database first.

If you don’t want to perform manual backups, then get professional assistance services, or use a WordPress backup plugin. Learn about a WordPress backup plugin that can automate your backup process here:

• Backup, Copy And Protect Your WP Site With Backup Creator Plugin For WordPress

User Permissions

In this section you can configure user permissions and capabilities for Group or Master List types …

If you have selected the Individual List type, the only item that is applicable for 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 would like users to be able 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 working with the Master list type non-admin users should only be permitted to view and complete items, otherwise they will be able to edit the Master list.

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

View To-Do List

This setting permits 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

Here you can permit 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 permits the chosen capability to edit existing items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This enables the chosen capability to assign 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 enable the chosen capability to delete individual items.

Delete All To-Do Items Capability

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

Add Categories Capability

This option permits 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 website to another, or store 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 easily 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 new window allowing you to download and save the data as plain text to a storage medium …

As well as exporting list data from the ‘Import/Export’ tab, you can also export data by going to your admin menu and choosing Tools > Export …

You can include to-do list data in a WordPress export file (in XML format), either by checking ‘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 your 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 on ‘Import Settings’ …

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

Now that you have configured all plugin settings, you can start creating and editing 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 up the ‘To-Do List’ page …

Add New Items To Your To-Do List

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

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

You can also add a new item to your to-do list 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, since the link is only going to take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section further down the page) …

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

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

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

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

You can also assign items to multiple users (click on ‘x’ to remove a user) …

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

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

Edit And Delete To-Do Items

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

Depending on how you have configured your settings (see previous section), users assigned to completing tasks may also receive email notifications …

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

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

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

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

Additional Plugin Information

The Cleverness plugin provides added functionality that lets you display a to-do list on your WordPress website using widgets, and add a list to any page or post using short codes.

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 location in your sidebar menu where you want your list to display …

Configure the settings on the widget and click ’Save’ …

Your to-do list will now display on your site where you have placed the ‘to-do-list’ widget (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• Using s

Using Plugin Short Codes

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

To access the documentation on using short codes, select To-Do List > To-Do List from your WordPress 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 documentation section explains various ways to configure and use short codes to display lists on your content.

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

After publishing your post or page, you should see the list displayed where you have inserted the short code …

Go here for more details about this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

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

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