Category: Management Plugins

Something that is generally well known in business, is that people will buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.

If you are looking for quicker, simpler and cheaper ideas to sell more products online, then help your prospects get to know you and your organization better.

If you are a WordPress user, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to add a directory plugin that will let you add a directory containing information about your key partners, your business team, or your staff.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to add an updatable simple employee directory to your web site using free plugins.

Adding A Staff Directory

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)

The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you easily staff members (you could also use it to display faculty, etc.).

First, let’s install and activate this plugin.

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

(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on Install Now …

(Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating your plugin, a new entry will display on your WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

All of the settings for this plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.

Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on how many people are employed in your organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can just start to add new staff details after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your employees.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This brings you to the Groups settings panel …

(Groups settings screen)

Note: Setting up groups is just like configuring categories …

(Groups are like categories)

Add a new group by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group name
2. Slug – Enter 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 – This section lets you set up nested groups
4. Description – Type in a category description (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when finished to set up a new group …

(Groups section)

If you manage a business that employs many people, the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for founders, project teams, faculties, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

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

To change Groups for a particular item, hover your mouse 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 screen)

Click the Update button when done …

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

Click the Update Group button when done …

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

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested categories)

After you have finished setting up your groups, you can begin adding staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This brings up the Add New Staff Member screen …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your staff member’s name
• Permalink: Modify the slug associated with each staff member if required (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: The staff member’s role
• Email: Add the person’s email
• Phone Number: Add your employee’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Enter your employee’s Facebook address (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: Add a profile description for your staff members here. As this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign a staff or faculty member to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up 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 employee’s details …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

After you have entered details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups section located in your sidebar …

(Groups box)

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

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

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

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

(New group)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to 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 filling in your team member’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

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

• The WP Control Area – A Tutorial

Note: If you get ’page not found’ errors like the one shown below, check that your site’s permalinks have been configured correctly …

(Check your permalinks if you get a ‘page not found’ error)

If you need help setting up permalinks in WordPress, see this step-by-step tutorial:

• How To Change WordPress Permalinks

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

Staff Members – All Staff Members

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

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table with all your listing entries and the details you have added related to each entry …

(Staff Members details list)

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

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

(Editing Staff Members profile info)

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 if necessary …

(Search Staff Members search feature)

The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …

(Staff Members 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 done to update your settings …

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order in your main admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list)

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

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order that your staff entries show on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list items)

Once you are done adding employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Customize your directory template)

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

For example, here is a screenshot of the Default Template …

(Default Template)

The The code shown above will display your directory listing as shown below …

(Default 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 include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template loop, as shown in the example below …

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your directory should now look like …

(Directory with social media links)

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

Usage Menu

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

In your main admin menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)

This screen displays all different shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.

A useful variation you can add to your page, 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 make your listings display in ascending or descending order by inserting 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 page …

(Options settings)

This section lets you modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles

You can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export section …

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need plugin help or support, visit the plugin plugin website and request help from the plugin author.

Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Staff Directories

Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a directory of your staff. Here are other plugins you can use to add an employee directory on your site:

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 – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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

You can also set up custom fields …

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin provides 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.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

Company Directory lets you easily add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and customizable single views, plus as fields like job title, email, phone number, pic and staff 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 employee in a customizable single view …

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

This plugin uses simple shortcodes.

More info:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

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

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

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)

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

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 employee directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer plugin website)

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

Go here to learn more:

• 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 List
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Employee Directory WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has helped you learn how to create an easy-to-update staff directory in your website.

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

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