Category: Engagement Plugins

No doubt you’ve already heard that people will buy from businesses they know, like and trust.

If you are searching for quicker and easier ideas to sell more products or services online and get people to stay longer on your site, then help visitors get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.

Adding a staff directory to your site can lead to increased trust, boost your credibility online and get more prospects to contact you.

This tutorial will show you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-update directory of staff in WordPress.

Tutorial: How To Easily Add A Staff List Directory In WordPress

In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)

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

The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.

Log into the WordPress administration and navigate to Plugins > Add New …

(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on Install Now …

(WordPress Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click on the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members)

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

Plugin Configuration

Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you can just start adding new employee details at this point, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your staff.

Staff Members – Groups

To set up your directory groups go to your dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

The Groups panel opens on your browser …

(Groups settings)

Note: Adding groups is just like configuring categories …

(Groups work just like WordPress categories)

Add new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group category name here
2. Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your group name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
3. Parent – Use this section if you plan to set up nested groups
4. Description – Enter the category description (optional)
5. Click the Add New Group button when done to set up your new group name …

(Groups screen)

If you work with a larger organization, the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for investors, developers, departments, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering new items …

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

The item’s details open in the Edit Group page. Select a new group from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click the Update button when done …

To edit your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose the Quick Edit menu feature …

Click on Update Group  when done to save your changes …

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

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Add nested categories your directory)

After you are done setting up your groups, you can start to add your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

In your WordPress admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This loads the Add New Staff Member settings screen …

(Add New Staff Member section)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The staff member’s name
• Slug: Change your employees’ slug (this section appears after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your employee or faculty member here. As this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign an employee or team member to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).

If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …

(Screen options)

You can enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Add Staff Member fields)

Once you are done inputting each staff member’s details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature in your sidebar …

(Groups feature)

Note: If you have not set up directory groups before adding new staff members, you can create a group now by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …

(Groups > + Add New Group link)

A field for entering a new group name will appear, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new category and click on Add New Group …

A new group will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …

(Groups feature)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing an individual’s details. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).

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After filling in your team member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your staff directory …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

We have created a detailed tutorial about using the WP admin toolbar here:

• Your WordPress Dashboard Explained

Note: If a ‘page not found’ error shows up like the one shown in the example below, check that you have configured your site’s permalinks correctly …

(Not found error? Check your permalinks)

To learn more about setting up WordPress permalinks, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Keep adding new members to your staff directory directory as shown above until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff members to your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on your main menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all your staff profiles and any details you have added related to each entry …

(Staff Members list)

If you need to modify an individual’s details, hover your mouse over their name, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit if you need to modify their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a member from your directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …

(Edit Staff Members profile information)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can grow quite large.

Use the Search Staff Members search field to find a member …

(Search Staff Members search field)

The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …

(Screen Options tab)

Placing a tick in the item’s checkbox displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when finished to save your settings …

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order that listings appear on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order on your WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you are done adding all of your member details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order that listings show on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order on your WP admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to a new location …

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list items)

Once you are done adding all of your members’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory to your site users.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List lets you customize the layout and style of your directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

To customize the style and layout of your staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from your menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Customize your directory template)

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

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

(Default Staff Loop Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Use template tags to customize your directory page)

Your employee listings will now display with Facebook and Twitter links as shown in the screenshot below …

(Directory listings with social media URLs)

Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with code or are not sure what to do, please contact us for help.

Usage Menu

As well as allowing you to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Usage Shortcode screen)

This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.

For example, a useful shortcode variation you can decide to use to display a list of staff or team members belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”customer representatives”])

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

Options Menu

In your menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

Here you can modify some of the labels used in the plugin

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

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need plugin help or support, go to the Simple Staff List site and request help from the plugin developer.

Other Employee Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List isn’t the only for creating a directory of your employees. For example, here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can look at:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

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

You can also create custom fields …

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

Go here to learn more:

• Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

Faculty And Staff Directory was developed to provide a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school 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

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

This plugin lets you easily add your employees to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and table views, as well as fields like position title, email, phone, photo and member bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.

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

(Display your staff and faculty members 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 – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just an individual person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.

With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.

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

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

For more details go here:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

The Staffer plugin 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 onsite employee directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)

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

More info:

• Staffer – WordPress Plugin

If the above plugins aren’t what you’re looking for, just go online or visit the WordPress plugin directory 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 easily add an easy-to-maintain simple staff directory in in WordPress using a free plugin.

Images of persons used to display fictitious staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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