Running an online business requires organization. With the rise of people creating websites for their online business ventures, the more apparent this becomes for achieving success. Today I want to show you how you can bring organization right to your WordPress website.
The WordPress platform never fails to become more versatile as time goes on. What was once a simple blogging platform for hobbyists has turned into the world’s most popular CMS in a short period of time. WordPress gives website owners the ability to create forums related to their niches (and even make their site a social media platform), provides space for displaying portfolios of accomplished work, and even allows you to advertise your brick and mortar store’s information in the form of a static web page.
But what’s even greater is the success people are finding with running eCommerce stores solely from their WordPress websites. Offering physical products for purchase or pushing for services such as content writing or coaching, WordPress truly can do it all. That is why organization is so important for keeping things running smoothly.
Why Project Management
Utilizing a project management plugin on your WordPress website can be extremely beneficial in making your business a success. As use of your WordPress website increases, so does your need for something to keep you organized and on track. Take a look at some of the things a good project management plugin can accomplish:
Organization
Never lose sight of what needs to be done at any given moment. For example, a project management system that tracks deadlines, new clients, and even inventory will make sure nothing is overdue or goes missing.
Communication
If you employ anyone to help you with your website needs, good communication is essential. A good project management system can provide a means for everyone to collaborate remotely. It will keep all communication in one place, archived, and easily found for future reference.
Updates
It is important that everyone involved in your website activities be updated as to what is currently happening. This includes clients, customers, and team members involved in projects. Informing people with updated information is a sign of great leadership. A project management system can take the hassle of doing this away from you, ultimately saving you time and money.
Deciding Which System To Use
There is no lack of project management system plugin choices out there. But before you jump right in and install the first one you come across, it is important to note what your priorities are. Take a look at some common questions to ask yourself when trying to decide which WordPress plugin will keep your online business organized:
1. Do you need a back-end or front-end solution?
In other words, would you like to include only your internal team in the project management or would you like to include external partners such as clients? This would depend on the level of professionalism you would like to maintain. It is also important to consider the visual appeal. Do you want something that looks good on the front-end or would you prefer to keep the management private on the back-end?
2. How will you track progress?
There are multiple solutions for tracking progress. Calendars, milestones, to-do lists, and conversation trackers are just some of the options available.
3. What features are important to you for managing your projects?
Do you need things such as time-tracking, budget charts, client control, responsive design, or email notifications? Anticipating what you might require ahead of time will help you choose the right plugin.
4. What types of projects will you need to manage?
Do you have several projects going at once? Are they associated with different companies? What level of separation will your projects require?
There are many free and premium plugins available for your project management needs. I have listed the top seven best WordPress plugins that can help you manage your projects and help make running your online business much easier thus leaving you time to focus on more important things.
This WordPress plugin makes managing your projects easy. It provides a solid way to maintain documents, manage clients, and create projects with the user having complete control. Its straight-forward layout with easy to modify templates and useful features makes managing your projects simple. You will never have to worry about what is due when, or who is involved in what, because this plugin clearly shows you all of that.
There is so much this plugin can do:
• Ability to choose and upload multiple files
• Automatically zip multiple files
• Custom forms
• Search by file name
• Responsive
• Clients upload files and documents online to their own personal page
• Clients can create or add to existing projects
• Complete control on who can access specific files
• 50 latest uploads on main plugin page
This plugin also comes in a premium version with a bunch of cool added features to make managing your projects even easier.
This free plugin is unique because not only does it come as a standalone project management plugin, you can also incorporate Orbis specific themes onto your website to really make the front end of your website stand out. Built with the idea of making business tools and project management extendable, Orbis allows you to manage multiple companies at once, use your own hosting company, and is built on the WordPress platform allowing for seamless integration.
This plugin’s extendable features and flexibility turns your WordPress website into its very own project management system.
Take a look:
• Fully translatable
• Manage projects/people/companies by adding and connecting them
• Uses standard WordPress functionality to add pages
• Comment on pages, projects, people, and companies
• A comment system is also enabled for so feedback and internal communication can occur
• Additional extendable plugins include: Orbis Tasks, Orbis Keychains, and Orbis Timesheets
Boasting a high 4.6 out of 5 stars, TaskFreak! Free is a free WordPress plugin version of the standalone TaskFreak! web application. You can create, edit, and delete projects with ease and assign roles to all of your team members with complete control. Its simple interface calls for easy communication between team members and allows for uploading and sharing of documents between those assigned to specific tasks.
There are 2 display options available allowing you to choose between a back-end or front-end display of your projects. This gives you the option to open your project management to the public and your subscribers by creating public tasks.
More features include:
• Easy to install
• Full integration with WordPress users and roles
• Create public and private projects
• Add attachments and comment your tasks
• Mobile device friendly
• Integrates seamlessly with your WordPress theme
• Translatable in several languages
This unique plugin takes a visual approach to project management. Packed with lots of features, and relying on visual communication, the coolest feature available is the project cloning tool. Using this tool to make templates of frequent projects similar in nature saves time, which is the point of project management. You also have access to a progress calculation tool to see what the status is of any given project.
Here are some more things to look forward to:
• Mobile friendly
• Brandable with logos and color schemes
• Compelling data visuals
• File management
• Email notifications – progress or completion
• Fully translatable
Available for free in a Lite version or a premium version with even more features, this plugin is sure to have what you are looking for.
If you have ever tried using Basecamp for your project management needs, and liked it, WP Project Manager is for you. Rather than constantly signing in to a third-party project management system, this plugin brings a little bit of Basecamp right to your WordPress website.
Though this plugin can be limited to the functionality of WordPress, you can easily create new projects, assign users, send messages with attached files, and participate in the commenting system available within each project or task.
Here are some additional features available:
• Add as many to-do lists as you want complete with titles and descriptions
• Add tasks, assign users, and assign due date
• Access a visual progress bar for project statuses
• Mark tasks to-do as complete/incomplete
• Create milestones
This plugin also comes in a premium version and includes a calendar with drag-and-drop functionality and easy to change due dates, increased privacy over all assigned projects, archival of completed projects, milestone tracking, and one-click access to all project files.
If you are looking for a quick yet efficient way to manage your website’s projects, without all the hassle of excess features, check this plugin out. Managing projects, clients, and tasks was never easier. You can also create invoices and upload reports regarding users, clients, and various projects or tasks.
• Associate clients with existing WordPress accounts
• Associate tasks to projects
• Generate invoices in PDF
• Add custom items on invoice
CQPIM WordPress Project Management Plugin
This full featured premium plugin is worth the $36 price tag. With the ability to manage clients, quotes, projects, invoices, teams, and even support tickets, there is not much this project management system can’t do.
Here are some more of this plugin’s top quality features:
• Fully translatable
• Auto generate projects from accepted quotes and estimates
• Milestones, tasks, and deadlines
• Online contract acceptance
• One-click duplication/cloning of quotes and projects
• Team member to-do lists
• Auto generate and send invoices for projects as well as mark as paid
• Clients can view invoices in their dashboard
• Clients can raise and update Support Tickets from their dashboard
• Clients and team members can communicate via the Project Messages platform (messages can be private (team only) or public (client accessible)
Final Thoughts
These are some of the few great WordPress project management plugins out there to help you organize and manage you website’s projects. Using a project management system can keep everyone on the same page, make sure everything is on track to be completed, and in general make things easier on you.
Implementing a project management system on your WordPress website is just an added bonus. Figure out what you need to get the job done, install an awesome plugin, and get to work. Your business’ success just may depend on it.
Have you used any of the above-mentioned plugins for your project management needs? If so I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below!
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