Category: Engagement Plugins

No doubt you already know that people often tend to buy from people they know, like and trust.

Are you searching for quicker, simpler and cheaper ways to sell more products online? Then make it easier for your prospects to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your organization better.

Adding a directory of employees or faculty members to your site can help to humanize your business.

This tutorial explains how to create and add a simple and easy-to-maintain directory of employees in WordPress.

Tutorial: Adding An Employee List Directory

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

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)

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

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

Log into your dashboard and in your admin menu, choose Plugins > Add New …

(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members menu)

All of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.

How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on how many people are in your team and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could begin to add new entries at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign yourstaff into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

This opens up the Groups settings screen …

(Groups settings screen)

Note: Adding groups works just like categories …

(Groups work like WordPress categories)

Create new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your category name
2. Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your group category 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 categories
4. Description – Enter a category description in this field
5. Click the Add New Group button when done to create a new category …

(Groups area)

If you run a medium to large organization, the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for investors, developers, faculties, etc.

Create as many categories and nested groups as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a hierarchical structure …

(Nested groups)

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

To change or reassign Groups for a particular entry, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update to save your changes …

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

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

Continue adding group names in this section until you are done creating your directory structure …

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Add nested categories your directory)

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

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This brings you to the Add New Staff Member settings screen …

(Add New Staff Member settings area)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your staff member’s name
• Permalink: Change the permalink URL for each staff member if required (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your staff or team member here. Since this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can format content in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign the individual to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).

If you click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options tab)

You can enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Add Staff Member fields)

Once you are done entering each of you staff member’s details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups section in your sidebar …

(Groups feature)

Note: If you have not set up directory groups before starting to add staff member details, you can create a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

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

The new directory category will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …

(New group added)

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

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

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

If you need help using the WP admin toolbar, refer to this tutorial:

• Using Your WP Admin Area

Note: If errors like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that you have set up your site permalinks correctly …

(Page error? Check your permalinks)

We have written a detailed tutorial on using WP permalinks here:

• Improve Your WordPress SEO Using Permalinks

Repeat the above process to add more members to your staff or member directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you are done entering employees into your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on your dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table listing all the directory items and details you have added related to each entry …

(Staff Members list)

If you need to make changes to individual details, hover over their name, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit to make changes to the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a member from the employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …

(Edit Staff Members profile)

If you have many employees, your table can get quite long.

You can use the Search Staff Members search box to locate listing items if required …

(Search Staff Members search feature)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide fields. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when finished to save your settings …

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order on your main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to the new location …

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list entries)

After adding your member listing details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory on your site.

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order in which your employee listings appear on your directory pages.

Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered list items)

Once you have added all of your staff listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display on your site.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin lets you customize the layout and style of your employee directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Customize your directory template)

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

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

(Default Plugin Template)

The The code shown above displays your directory listing as shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)

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

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your listings page should now look like …

(Employee profiles with social media URLs)

Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with code or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.

Usage Menu

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

In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage page …

(Usage shortcodes)

This screen lists all the shortcode variations that the plugin lets you use.

For example, a useful shortcode variation you can select to display a list of employees belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales trainers”])

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

Options Menu

In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

This section lets you edit some of the labels used in the plugin

Finally, you can also export your staff members info by going to the main menu and selecting Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need plugin help or support, visit the Simple Staff List faq page and request help from the plugin author.

Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Staff Directories

Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a directory of your staff in WordPress. Here are some other free WordPress plugins you can check out to add a staff directory on your site:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

The Modern Team Staff Directory 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)

More info:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

The plugin lets you insert custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: Staff Directory website)

More info:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

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 profiles in a widget area.

More info:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WP Plugin)

The Company Directory plugin lets you add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, as well as fields like position title, email address, phone number, image and staff bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.

Visitors will be able to click through from your list, grid, and table views to learn more about each employee 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 a simple shortcode system.

Go here to learn more:

• Company Directory – WP Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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

Employee Spotlight comes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.

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

(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight website)

Learn more here:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)

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

More info:

• Staffer – WP Plugin

If the directory plugins listed above 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 Directory Plugin
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Employee Directory WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has helped you learn how to create a simple and easy-to-manage directory of staff in your WordPress site.

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

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