Category: Management Plugins

Many business experts have successfully proven over time that people will buy from those they know, like and trust.

If you are searching for cost-effective ways to sell more products online, then help your visitors get to know, like and trust your organization better.

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

This tutorial explains how to create an easy-to-manage directory of staff members in your web site.

How To Add An Employee List Directory

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

Simple Staff List

(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)

The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you easily staff.

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

Log into the WordPress 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 search results area.

Click on Install Now …

(WordPress Plugins  – plugin search results)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After the plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu will be added to your main WP menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

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

Configuring The Plugin

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

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

This opens up the Groups section …

(Groups settings screen)

Note: Adding directory groups works in the same way as adding WordPress categories …

(Groups are like categories)

Create new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group category name
2. Slug – Enter the slug of your group. 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 group description in this field (optional)
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up a new directory category …

(Groups settings)

If you are a business that employs many people, being able to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for founders, developers, faculties, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

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

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

Your selected item will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new category from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button when done …

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

Click Update Group to save your changes …

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

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Add nested categories your staff directory)

Once you are done setting up your groups, the next step is to start to add your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This opens up the Add New Staff Member section in your browser …

(Add New Staff Member settings screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your employee’s name
• Slug: Modify each staff members’ slug (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: Type the person’s position
• Email: Type in the staff member’s email address into this field
• Phone Number: Type in the person’s phone number into this field
• Facebook URL: Add the person’s Facebook address here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Enter your employee’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 a profile description for your employees here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign an employee or team member to a group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).

Click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options tab)

You will see options to enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add New Staff Member fields)

Once you have finished entering your staff member’s details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups section in the sidebar …

(Groups feature)

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 …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field for entering your new group name will display, 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 the Add New Group button …

The new group will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign a person to the group …

(New group added)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing 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 entering your staff member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

We have created a detailed tutorial on using the dashboard admin toolbar here:

• The WordPress Administration Area Explained

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

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

If you need help setting up permalinks, refer to this tutorial:

• Configuring WordPress Permalinks

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

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you have entered all staff details to your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in your main admin menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table of all the staff members and their details …

(Staff Members table)

If you need to edit individual details, just hover your mouse over their list name, and a submenu will appear.

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

(Edit Staff Members profile information)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can get quite long.

Use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate listing items if required …

(Search Staff Members search field)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

Placing a tick in the item’s check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to update your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order in your WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered listings)

Once you have added all of your employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order in the main admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to its desired position …

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list)

After adding your members’ details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up the Templates screen …

(Customize your directory template)

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

For example, below is the Default Template …

(Default Plugin Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)

Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above listing. To display these fields, 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)

Your directory listings will now display with Facebook and Twitter addresses as as the example below shows …

(Staff profiles with social media links)

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

Usage Menu

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

In your main menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcode variations)

This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations you can use.

A useful variation you can choose, for example, to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Gold Level associates”])

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

Options Menu

In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

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

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

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need plugin support, visit the Simple Staff List site.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List is not the only adding a listing of your faculty in WordPress. Here are some other free plugins you can use:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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

The plugin also lets you add custom fields …

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

Go here to learn more:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college or university.

The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.

Go here to learn more:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and table views, plus as fields like job title, email address, phone number, photo and staff 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 source: Company Directory plugin website)

This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Company Directory – WP Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just an individual member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.

The Employee Spotlight pluginincludes two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus 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 employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

Staffer uses custom post types for staff 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 Staffer website)

Staffer works immediately 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 List
• WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
• Staff Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to add a simple and easily updatable simple staff directory in your web site without coding skills.

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

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