Category: Engagement Plugins

You have no doubt heard that people generally buy from those they know, like and trust.

Are you searching for simple ideas to sell more products or services online? Then make it easier for visitors to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your organization better.

Adding a ‘Meet Our Team’ directory to your site can help boost your online credibility and get interested prospects to contact you.

In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to easily create and add an easy-to-manage simple staff directory in your website using free plugins.

Adding A Staff List Directory To WordPress

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

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List)

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

First, let’s install and activate this plugin.

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

(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 …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating your plugin, you will notice that new entry will be added to your main WordPress menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

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

Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your directory, you could start adding new entries at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualstaff into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This brings you to the Groups panel …

(Groups area)

Note: Configuring groups works just like WordPress categories …

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Create new groups by entering the following information:

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

(Groups settings area)

If you manage a business that employs many people, having the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for investors, developers, departments, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

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

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

Your selected group 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 change your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and select the Quick Edit menu feature …

Click Update Group to save your changes …

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

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested categories)

Once you have finished setting up your groups, you can start adding names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This brings up the Add New Staff Member settings screen …

(Add New Staff Member screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your staff member’s name
• Slug: Modify your staff members’ permalink URL (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Enter your staff member’s position
• Email: The staff member’s email address
• Phone Number: Type in the person’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Add your company’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: Type in a profile description for your staff member here. Since this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can format content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign your employee to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up groups).

Click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options)

You will see options to enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Add New Staff Member settings)

Once you have finished entering details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups feature located in your sidebar …

(Groups section)

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

(Groups > + Add New Group)

A field for creating your group name will appear, 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 group will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign an individual to the group …

(New group)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or edited. To edit an item, 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 the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your employee directory …

Click View Post …

You can modify the employee’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the admin toolbar, see this step-by-step tutorial:

• Understanding The WP Admin Screen

Note: If you get an error like the one shown below, check that your site permalinks have been set up correctly …

(Not found error? Check your permalinks)

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

• Improve Your WordPress SEO With SEO-Friendly URLs

Repeat the above process to continue adding new entries to your employee directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff members to 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 list of all your staff profiles and their details …

(Staff Members details list)

If you need to edit individual entries, simply hover your mouse over their listing, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit if you need to edit the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove someone from your staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …

(Edit Staff Members profile)

If you have many entries, your table can grow quite large.

You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate items …

(Search Staff Members search feature)

The plugin also allows you to specify which fields can display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …

(Screen Options)

Selecting a check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when finished to update your settings …

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order in your WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered listings)

After adding all member details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your site users.

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order that your staff entries show on your directory pages.

Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the entry to its new position …

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered listings)

Once you have added employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens 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 directory listings …

(Default Plugin 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 make these fields appear in the directory, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown in the screenshot below …

(Use template tags to customize your listings page)

Your employee profiles will now display as shown in the screenshot below …

(Directory listings with social media URLs added)

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

Usage Menu

In addition to being able to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Usage shortcodes)

This screen displays all different shortcode variations that the plugin allows you to use.

For example, a useful variation you can add to your page to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Asia Pacific Region”])

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

Options Menu

In the main menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

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

Finally, you can also export your staff members details by going to your main admin menu and clicking Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members info)

If you need plugin support, go to the plugin plugin site.

Additional Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List isn’t the only WordPress staff directory plugin you can use. For example, here are other free WordPress plugins you can check out to add a staff directory on your site:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress 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 Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

With the Staff Directory plugin, you can easily create a directory of faculty/staff/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.

You can also use custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: plugin website)

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin 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 profiles in a widget area.

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

With the Company Directory plugin, you can add your employees, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and single views, plus as fields like job title, email address, phone number, image and member 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 employee in a customizable single view …

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

This plugin also uses a simple shortcode system.

More info:

• Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders or just one 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 which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.

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

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

This 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 staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

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

More info:

• Staffer – WP Staff Directory 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 Directory Plugin
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, this tutorial has explained how to create a simple and easy-to-maintain directory of staff in your web site.

Images of persons used to display sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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