Category: WordPress Customization

Business experts have successfully demonstrated over the years that people will mostly buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.

If you are looking for inexpensive ideas to sell more products online, then help your prospects get to know, like and trust you and your business better.

Adding a directory to your website can help increase your credibility online and get interested prospects to contact you.

This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-update employee directory in your WordPress site.

How To Easily Add A Staff List Directory To Your Site: Plugin Tutorial

In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List)

Simple Staff List lets you employee (you could also use it to display faculty, etc.).

First, let’s install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.

Log into your WordPress admin and from the admin menu section, select Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.

Click on Install Now …

(WordPress Plugins  – plugin search results)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After the plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu entry will appear in your main WordPress menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

This menu is where you will manage and configure all of the options and settings for this plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.

Configuring Simple Staff List

Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can start to add new staff details after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to assign yourstaff into.

Staff Members – Groups

To configure your categories go to your WP dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This loads the Groups screen …

(Groups section)

Note: Setting up groups is just like configuring categories in WordPress …

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Create a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group name
2. Slug – Type in the slug of your category. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
3. Parent – Use this section to set up nested categories
4. Description – Enter the category description here (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when finished to set up a new directory group …

(Groups screen)

If you manage a business that employs many people, being able to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for partners, project teams, faculties, etc.

Create as many categories and nested categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a directory hierarchy …

(Nested groups)

Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating each new item …

To change Groups for specific items, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …

The category details will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new group from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update to save your changes …

To change your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …

Click the Update Group button when done to save your changes …

Continue adding groups in this section until you have created your directory structure …

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Add nested groups to your staff directory)

Once you are done setting up your directory structure, the next step is to start adding names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

From your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This takes you to the Add New Staff Member area …

(Add New Staff Member settings screen)

This section provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member profile and includes the following fields:

Name Section (1)

• Name: The staff member’s name
• Permalink: Modify each employees’ permalink URL (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Add the person’s position here
• Email: Enter your employee’s email here
• Phone Number: Type the employee’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type in your company’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type the person’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your employee or faculty member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign the individual to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).

Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …

(Screen options)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

Now that you know what each section does, enter your staff member’s details …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

After you are done inputting details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in your sidebar …

(Groups box)

Note: If you have not set up categories before adding staff member details, you can create a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field for creating a new group name will display, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new directory category and click on Add New Group …

Your new directory category will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

(New group)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing a staff member’s details. To edit a group item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).

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After typing in the person’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

To modify the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the dashboard admin toolbar, refer to this tutorial:

• How To Navigate Around The WP Admin Area

Note: If you get ’not found’ page errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly set up your permalinks …

(Not found error – Check your permalinks)

To learn more about setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:

• Improve Your WordPress SEO With SEO-Friendly URLs

Repeat the above process to add new details to your staff or faculty directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering employee or team members into your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on the WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all your employees and the details you have added with each entry …

(Staff Members details table)

If you need to change individual entries, just hover your mouse over their name, and a submenu will appear.

Click on Edit to modify the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete an entry from the staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …

(Editing Staff Members info)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can get quite long.

Use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate listing items …

(Search Staff Members search box)

You can specify which fields can display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …

(Screen Options tab)

Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when finished to update your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order that listings appear on your directory pages.

Select Staff Members > Order in your WP admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to its desired location …

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list items)

After adding all employees’ details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory on your site.

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order in which listings display on your directory page.

Select Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to its desired location …

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you are done adding all of your staff details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory to your site visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The Simple Staff List plugin lets you create the style and layout of your employee directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

To customize the style and layout of your employee directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Customize your directory template)

To customize your directory, insert any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.

For example, below is the default template used for displaying directory listings …

(Default Template)

The This code displays your directory listing as shown below …

(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)

Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To display these fields, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown in the example below …

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Your employee details will now display as shown in the example below …

(Directory listings with social media links)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with CSS code and template tags or are not sure what to do, please contact us for assistance.

Usage Menu

In addition to allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Usage shortcodes)

This screen lists all the shortcode variations you can use with the Simple Staff List plugin.

For example, a useful shortcode variation you can insert in your page to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”property managers”])

Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – Options settings)

This section lets you change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title

You can also export your staff members info by going to the dashboard menu and choosing Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need plugin help or support, visit the Simple Staff List plugin website.

Additional Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List isn’t the only WordPress staff directory plugin you can use. For example, here are other free WordPress plugins you can look at for creating a staff directory on your website:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory)

This plugin helps you collect your team information and showcase it anywhere on your site in beautiful grids, columns and tables. This premium plugin features over a dozen presets and provides editors that make it easy to edit and update your directory.

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Responsive Templates)

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

With Staff Directory, you can easily display a list of team/staff/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.

You can also use custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin was developed to provide a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college or university.

The plugin also includes a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

Company Directory lets you easily add your employees to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and single views, plus as fields like position title, email address, phone, image and bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.

Visitors can click through from your list, grid, and table views to read more about each staff member in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just an individual member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.

With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.

Detailed information about  each employee can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …

(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot source: plugin website)

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

Staffer uses custom post types for employee management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an online employee directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin website)

Staffer works immediately with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Staffer – Plugin For WordPress

If the above plugins aren’t what you’re looking for, search the WordPress plugin directory or go online and search for:

• Add Staff Directory To WordPress
• WordPress Staff Plugin
• WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
• Employee Directory WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-update list of staff members to your website using a free plugin.

Models used to display fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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