Creating A To-Do List In WordPress

If you are running a fast-paced business or managing other people, time always seems to be in short supply.

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

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

Whether you are running a business, website, blog, or managing a project, it’s important to be able to organize and manage your daily activities.

A simple “tried and true” tool that can help you save time, alleviate stress, and allow you to regain control is to use “to-do” lists.

Benefits Of Using A To Do List

A “to do” list helps you keep track of your progress as you work to get tasks completed. Your to do list can be very detailed and specific, or just serve as a concise reminder of what needs to be done over a given period of time.

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

See Things More Clearly

Writing a to-do list means you won’t have to try to memorize stuff or clutter your brain with details. 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.

Save Time

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

Document Your Work

A to do list lets you maintain documented logs of what has been done. You can use this to provide evidence of work to employers or clients, or just as a way of helping you measure your own productivity and efficiency.

Less Stress

Stress can result from feeling overwhelmed by so much to do and very little time to do it all in. Using a to-do list allows you to work on important tasks that need to be completed within a reasonable timeframe, and push out non-urgent items that can be addressed later. This can help reduce stress.

Collaborating With Others

Using to-do lists and other project management tools is essential for collaborating with others 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. Creating to do lists, prioritizing tasks and working in a focused way improves efficiency and productivity in your business.

Let’s turn now to using a to-do list on your website. More specifically, adding to do lists to WordPress.

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

Cleverness To-Do List

Download The Plugin

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

Plugin Description

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

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 the plugin to assign private to-do lists for each user, 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 option has a variety of settings available. You can delegate to-do items to a specific user (this includes emailing new to do items to assigned users) and optionally to have those items only seen by that user. You can also assign different permission levels to different users. 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 backend to manage your lists and your to-do lists can also appear on a dashboard widget.

A sidebar widget is available as well as shortcode to display the to do list items on your site. There are two shortcodes for front-end list administration. Management of categories is accessed via the back-end admin section.

If you plan to set up a multi-author site you can use this plugin to create custom to do lists for your post editors if you also use a copy of the Post Planner plugin.

How To Install The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

Log into your WordPress administration section and select Plugins > Add New …

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

Locate the Cleverness To-Do List entry in the Search Results area and click Install Now …

Click “Activate Plugin” …

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

When you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

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

This takes you to the plugin ‘Settings’ area …

The section below shows you how to set up the plugin …

How To Configure The Cleverness To-Do List Plugin

The Settings area is divided into 4 sections:

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

Let’s now go through each of these sections.

To-Do List Settings

Categories

Select ‘Enabled’ to organize your to-do 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 use to organize 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.

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

List View

List View lets you specify how to-do lists will be viewed. You can select three types of to-do 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 – Choose this option if you want all users to share the same to-do list.
• Master – Select this option to create one master list for all users, where users have their own individual completion of items. If using 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 to order your to-do list items.

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

Show Added By

If this option is enabled (‘Yes’), you can display which of your members has added an item to the to-do list.

Note: This setting only applies 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

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

Show Progress

Enabling this option 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

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 multi-author 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 to help make managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

To learn more about this WordPress plugin, go here: WordPress Post Planner – WordPress Plugin

After configuring your plugin 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 …

This brings up the ‘Advanced Settings’ area …

This section lets you customize your To Do lists, assign to-do items to other users and perform 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

Here you can customize your To-Do List …

You can configure the following options in this section:

Date Format

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

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

WordPress Codex – Formatting Date And Time

Priority Labels

This section lets you customize your labels for prioritizing important, normal and lowest (low) items …

Items prioritized as “important” are color-coded in red and lowest priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

If enabled (‘Yes’), item IDs display on your list …

Show Date To-Do Was Added

Enabling this option shows the date your items table was added …

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

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

You can configure the following options in this area:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enable this option (‘Yes’) to 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

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) lets you display to-do items only to users who have been specifically 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 Author to display the type of users that can be assigned items. If you don’t want to assign to-do items to a particular role, then leave its check box unticked.

Email Assigned To-Do Items to User

When 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 to send out emails to users.

Note: If this option is disabled, skip the remaining 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 on the subject of your emails …

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

If you don’t want categories to display the email subject, 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 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 email notices. Type your company name, your domain, your name, or anything you like in this field …

From Email

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

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

In this field, type a subject field for the email that will be sent out automatically to users whenever new items have been assigned to your to-do list …

Text in Emails Sent to User

Add 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 carry out database maintenance operations related to plugin data inside the plugin settings area itself without the need to access your server …

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

The tasks below can be performed:

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

Actions that you perform on the database from this screen cannot be reversed. If you are comfortable to perform database maintenance in this section, then remember to backup your WP database first.

If you don’t want to back up your files yourself, then hire the services of a professional WordPress provider, or use WordPress backup plugins. You can read about a great WordPress backup plugin that we recommend using to automate backups here:

• Backup, Copy & Keep Your WP Web Site Protected With Backup Creator WP Plugin

User Permissions

Here you can 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 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 be able to perform for each option …

By default, general capabilities of 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 non-admin users should only be allowed to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list.

Let’s now review the settings for the User Permissions section:

View To-Do List

This setting allows 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 setting enables the selected capability to mark to-do items as completed or uncompleted.

Add To-Do Item Capability

Here you can allow the selected capability to add new items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This option enables the chosen capability to edit existing items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

This permits the chosen capability to assign to-do items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This option enables 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

Here you can permit the chosen capability to purge all the completed 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 an existing to-do list to another website, or export the list data for backup or archiving purposes.

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

Now you can easily import or export your 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 view or save your data in plain text format to a storage medium (e.g. your hard drive) …

In addition to exporting list data from the ‘Import/Export’ section, you can also export data by going to your WordPress 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 download your file to an internal or external 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 previously saved to-do list data file and click ‘Open’ …

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

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

After configuring all plugin settings, you are ready to start create and edit your to-do lists.

How To Use The Plugin

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

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

Adding New To-Do Items To Your List

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

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

You can also add new items to your to-do list using 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 contains many items, as 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’ 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, add 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 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 a user) …

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

Repeat this process to add new items to your to-do list …

Editing And Deleting 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 …

Once you have created your to-do list, users can view it from their own WP dashboard …

When the user assigned with completing an item clicks on the item check box …

… the item disappears from the “To-Do” list …

And gets added to 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 display a list on content inside a post or page using short codes.

Using The Cleverness To-Do List 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 menu location where you want the to-do list to appear …

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

Your to-do list will appear where the ‘to-do-list’ widget has been added (e.g. the sidebar menu, footer, etc.)

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

• Using Widgets In WordPress

Using Plugin Shortcodes

The Cleverness plugin also lets you add to-do lists and checklists to your site with shortcodes.

To access the documentation on using shortcodes, click on To-Do List > To-Do List from the WP admin menu …

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

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

This documentation section explains different ways to configure and use short codes for displaying lists on your posts and pages.

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

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

Visit the plugin website here to learn more about this plugin:

• Cleverness To-Do List WordPress Plugin

Congratulations! Now you can create and add to-do lists to your WordPress site.

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