Category: Management Plugins

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

If you are searching for simple ideas to sell more products online, then something you can do, is make it easier for your prospects to get to know, like and trust your business better.

If your web presence is powered by the WordPress Content Management System, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to add a WordPress directory plugin that will let you display a directory containing information about your key people, your team, or your staff members.

In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to easily add an updatable simple team members directory in your website using free plugins.

Step-By-Step Tutorial: Adding An Employee List Directory

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

Simple Staff List

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

The Simple Staff List plugin is a free WordPress plugin that lets you easily create a basic staff directory list for.

First, let’s install and activate the plugin.

Log into your WP dashboard and go to 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 …

(WordPress Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click on the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating the plugin, you will see that a new menu entry will have been added to the main WP menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

Here is where you will configure and manage all of the settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.

Configuring Simple Staff List

Depending on how many people are employed in your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can just begin to add new staff member details at this at this stage, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualmembers into.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s configure your groups. In your WordPress dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups settings …

(Groups screen)

Note: Setting up directory groups is similar to working with WordPress categories …

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Create new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your category name here
2. Slug – Enter 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 drop-down menu if you plan to set up nested groups
4. Description – Enter the group description in this field
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to create your new group …

(Groups area)

If you work with a medium to large organization, the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for partners, developers, departments, etc.

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

(Nested groups)

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

To edit Groups for a specific entry, hover your mouse button over a category title and select the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update when done …

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

Click on Update Group  when done …

Add as many groups as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Add nested categories your staff directory)

After you have finished setting up your groups, you can begin to add your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member settings …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your staff member’s name
• Slug: You can edit the permalink URL for each employee if required (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your employees here. Since this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign the person to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up your groups).

If you click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options tab)

You will see options to enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Add Staff Member settings)

Once you have entered details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups section located in your sidebar …

(Groups box)

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

(Groups > + Add New Group)

A field will appear allowing you to create a new group name, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new group and click on the Add New Group button …

A new group will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign your staff member to the group …

(New group added)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or edited. 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 your staff member’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

If you need help using the admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:

• Your WP Control Panel Explained

Note: If you see errors like the one shown below, check that your permalinks have been configured correctly …

(Check your permalinks if you get ’not found’ page errors)

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

• How To Improve Your WordPress SEO With Permalinks

Repeat the above process to continue adding new details to your directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you are done entering staff details into your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table of all the staff members and all details you have added with each entry …

(Staff Members details)

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

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

(Edit Staff Members profile info)

If you have many names to add, your list can become unwieldy.

Use the Search Staff Members search field to locate a member if required …

(Search members)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

Placing a tick in the item’s checkbox displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when done 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 show on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order in the main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the entry to the desired position …

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list)

Once you are done adding members’ details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory on your site.

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 page.

Choose Staff Members > Order on the main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered listings)

Once you have added all of your member details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your site users.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The Simple Staff List plugin lets you create the layout and style of your staff list 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 admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Customize your directory template)

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

For example, below is the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Plugin Template)

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

(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your directory should now look like …

(Staff profiles with social media URLs)

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

Usage Menu

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

In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)

This screen lists all the shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.

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

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

Options Menu

In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

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

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

(Export Staff Members info)

If you need specific help with the Simple Staff List plugin, visit the plugin plugin website and contact the plugin author.

Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Employee Directories

Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a listing of your team members. Here are some other free plugins you can check out for creating a staff directory on your site:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory)

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)

For more details go here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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

The plugin lets you set up custom fields …

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

Go here to learn more:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

This 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.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

With Company Directory, you can easily add your employees, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are available, including grid and single views, as well as fields like job title, email address, phone number, photo and staff bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.

Visitors will be able to 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 in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory website)

This plugin also uses a simple shortcode system.

More info:

• Company Directory – WP Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just one single person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.

Employee Spotlight includes two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.

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 source: Employee Spotlight website)

For more details, visit the plugin site 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 a staff directory on your site …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

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

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Staffer – WP Plugin

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 Directory Plugin
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Simple Staff List Template WordPress
• etc.

Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple directory of staff members to your WordPress site, so your site visitors can get to know your company better.

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

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