Creating A To Do List In WordPress

If you are running a fast-paced business or managing any kind of project that requires people to work as part of a team, time is always in short supply.

There is just so much work to do and things to remember. You have clients to meet, urgent tasks to complete, priorities to attend to, fires to extinguish, deliveries to make, commitments to keep and so on. The stress of trying to get things done on time never stops.

Now … on top of all this, add the extra dimension of trying to promote and grow your business online and keeping your website or blog updated with new content and things can quickly start becoming unmanageable and overwhelming.

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

A ”tried and true” tool that can help you save time, create a sense of order and manageability, 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 can help you track your progress when trying to complete projects. Your to do list can be quite detailed and very specific, or act as a concise reminder of what needs to be done today, tomorrow, next week, next month, etc.

Here are just a few of the benefits of using to do lists:

Think Clearly

Writing a to-do list means you won’t have to keep remembering stuff or store additional information inside your brain. Once tasks are recorded on a to do list, your mind is free to process other information and you can focus on other important areas.

Be More Strategic

By creating and organizing a to do list, you can view the bigger picture and come up with a strategic plan for getting everything completed on time and on budget.

Quickly Reorganize And Reschedule

Having a to do list helps you better handle events. If you find that an appointment gets cancelled or extra time is made available when a task gets completed sooner than expected, you can keep moving forward with little to minimal loss of focus.

Accountability

Without accountability there’s no commitment to completion, and no motivation to take meaningful action. Lack of accountability can also let excuses creep in and influence your productivity.

Better Delegation Of Tasks

Having a to do list helps you delegate work to other people better. This is also important if you plan to work with others (see further below).

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 in a focused manner and your business efficiency and productivity is sure to improve.

What about adding a to-do list to your WordPress website?

In this detailed tutorial you are going to learn how to add a to-do list to a WordPress website or blog to help your team get things done  faster and more efficiently using a great little plugin for WordPress 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 WordPress plugin lets you easily add to-do lists to WordPress.

Features

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

You can set up Cleverness To-Do List with 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 offers a number of different settings. You can delegate to-do items to a specific user (this includes a setting to email new to-do items to the user) 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 show 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 list 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 administration of the list. Management of categories is accessible via the back-end.

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

Plugin Installation

Log into your WP dashboard area, and in the menu select Plugins > Add New …

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

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

Activate the plugin …

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

Once you have activated the plugin, click on Settings …

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

This takes you to the ‘Settings’ section …

The section below shows you how to 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 – This area is where you specify the plugin’s main settings.
• Advanced Settings – In this section you can customize your To-Do lists, assign to-do items 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 tab lets you import and export your to-do plugin and list data settings.

Let’s now review each of these sections.

To-Do List Settings

Categories

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

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

This allows you to add categories that can help organize your lists (see ‘Plugin Usage’ section further below for more details) …

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

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

List View

List View allows you to specify how your lists are viewed. There are 3 kinds of list views you can select:

• Individual – Select 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 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 you select 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 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 works when ‘List View’ is set to ‘Group’.

Show Date Completed

Enabling this option (‘Yes’) displays completion dates for to-do tasks.

Show Deadline

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

Show Progress

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

Show Admin Bar Menu

If enabled (‘Yes’), the ‘To-Do List’ menu displays in your WP Dashboard Admin bar …

Use WYSIWYG Editor

Enabling this option lets you 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 your to-do list items.

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, from the same plugin developer that helps to make the task of managing a multi-author WordPress site easier …

Go here to learn more this plugin: WordPress Post Planner

After you are done configuring your plugin options in this section, remember to click the ‘Save Changes’ button …

Advanced Settings

After configuring 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 section lets you customize your To-Do lists, assign to-do items to users and carry out 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

This section of the ‘Advanced Settings’ tab allows you to customize your To Do List …

The following options can be configured in this section:

Date Format

In this area you can specify how to display dates in your todo lists (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

Here you can customize your labels for highest, normal and low priority items …

Highest priority items are shown in red in the lists and lowest priority items display in a lighter shade of grey …

Show To-Do Item ID

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

Show Date To-Do Was Added

If enabled (‘Yes’), the date the to-do list was added shows on the To-Do Items table …

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 …

The following options can be configured in this area:

Assign To-Do Items to Users

Enabling this option lets you 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

Enabling this option lets you display items only to users who have been specifically assigned those items. Leave this option disabled to display to-do items to all users.

User Roles to Show

Check the boxes in this section (Administrator to display 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, WordPress will automatically send an email to users 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, 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 on the subject of your emails …

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

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

Show Who Assigned the To-Do Item in Email

Enabling this option lets you 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 notices. Type the name of your company, your domain, your name, or anything you like into this field …

From Email

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

Subject Field for Emails Sent to User

Type in a subject field for the email that will be automatically sent out to users whenever new items have been assigned to 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 area you can perform database maintenance operations related to plugin data inside the plugin settings area itself …

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

The tasks below can be performed in this section:

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

Actions that you perform on your database from this screen cannot be undone. If you are sure that you want 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 get professional WordPress support, or use WordPress backup plugins. You can learn more about a WordPress backup plugin that can fully automate your site backups here:

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

User Permissions

This section lets you 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 option …

If you plan to set up user permissions and capabilities for Group or Master List types, select the highest level capabilities that you want users to have access to for each option …

The 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 working with the Master list type non-administrators should only be permitted to view and complete items, otherwise they will have the ability to edit the Master list.

Let’s go through the settings for 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 enable the chosen capability to mark to-do items as completed or uncompleted.

Add To-Do Item Capability

This option enables the chosen capability to add new to-do items.

Edit To-Do Item Capability

This allows the chosen capability to edit existing items.

Assign To-Do Item Capability

Here you can permit the chosen capability to assign items to individual users.

View All Assigned Tasks Capability

This setting 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 allow 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 setting enables 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 decide to transfer data from one website to another, or store the data for backup or reporting purposes.

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

Here you can easily export or import your list data and plugin settings …

Exporting To-Do List Data

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

This opens up a new window allowing you to download and save your 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 selecting ‘All content’ (includes everything – pages, posts, etc…), or just select ‘To-Do’ from the ‘Choose what to export’ section and click on the ‘Download Export File’ button to save your file to an internal or external hard drive…

Importing To-Do List Data

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

Locate the file and click ‘Open’ …

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

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

Once you have configured all plugin settings, you can start create and edit your to-do 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’ screen …

Adding New To Do Items To Your List

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

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

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, since the link is only going to take you to the “Add New To-Do Item” section down the screen) …

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

Depending on the way you have set up your plugin, you may or may not see certain options displayed 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 new to-do item …

Note: If you are using a list type that allows you to assign tasks 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 users) …

Once an item has been added, it will display as an entry in the ‘To-Do List’ table …

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

Edit And Delete Items From Your List

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

Depending on your configuration settings (discussed in the previous section), users assigned to tasks may also receive an email notification in their inboxes …

After creating your to do list, users can view it inside their own dashboard …

When users assigned with an item complete the task and tick the item check box …

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

And displays in the ‘Completed Items’ table located in the ’To-Do List’ plugin area …

Additional Information

The Cleverness To-Do List plugin provides additional functions that let you display a to-do list on your WordPress website using widgets, and display lists on content inside a post or page using short codes.

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 (or footer) menu where you would like the list to display …

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

Your to-do list will now display wherever you have placed the widget (i.e. 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

The Cleverness plugin also lets you add lists and checklists to your site using shortcodes.

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

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

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

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

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

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

For more information 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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