Category: Management Plugins

No doubt you already know that people generally buy from businesses they know, like and trust.

Are you looking for simple ways to sell more products or services online? Then something you can do, is make it easier for visitors to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your organization better.

If you are a WordPress user, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to display information about your key people, your team, or your staff using a WordPress staff list plugin.

This tutorial shows you how to create an easy-to-manage employee directory in your WordPress site.

Adding An Employee Directory To Your WordPress Site

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List

(Simple Staff List)

The Simple Staff List plugin is a no cost plugin that lets you easily create a simple staff directory for.

First, let’s install and activate this plugin.

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

(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on Install Now …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members)

All of the options and settings for this plugin are configured and managed from this menu.

Configuring Simple Staff List

Depending on how many people are employed in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you could begin to add new staff members at this point, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s start by setting up your groups. From your WordPress dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

The Groups screen …

(Groups area)

Note: Setting up groups works in the same way as adding categories …

(Groups work like WordPress categories)

Add a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group name here
2. Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version 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 – Type in a group description
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up your new directory group …

(Groups area)

If you are a business that employs many people, being able to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for investors, developers, departments, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

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

To edit or reassign Groups for individual entries, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …

The item’s details open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update when done …

To change the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …

Click Update Group when done …

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

You can add as many nested categories as you like …

(Add nested groups to your directory)

Once you have finished setting up your directory structure, the next step is to begin to add names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This brings up the Add New Staff Member screen …

(Add New Staff Member settings area)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Type the staff member’s name
• Permalink: Here you can edit the permalink URL associated with each staff member if you want (this section appears after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: The staff member’s role
• Email: Your employee’s email address
• Phone Number: Your employee’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type your employee’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Enter your staff member’s Twitter username (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 employees here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign your staff member to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).

Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …

(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 staff member’s details …

(Staff directory fields)

After you have entered each staff member’s details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups section in the sidebar …

(Groups section)

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

(Groups > + Add New Group feature)

A field for creating your new group name will display, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on Add New Group …

Your new category will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

(New group added in Groups box)

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

Click View Post …

To make changes to your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

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

• Using The WordPress Control Area

Note: If you get a page error like the one shown below, check that your site permalinks have been configured correctly …

(Page error – Check your permalinks)

We have written a detailed tutorial about using permalinks here:

• How To Change WordPress Permalinks

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

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering employees into your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on the main admin menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members details table)

If you need to change an individual’s details, just hover over their list name, and a submenu will appear.

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

(Editing Staff Members profile information)

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

Use the Search Staff Members search field to find items …

(Search members)

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

(Screen Options tab)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide fields. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order in your main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list items)

Once you have added member details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display on your site.

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order in which your employees appear on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The Simple Staff List plugin lets you customize the style and layout 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 your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Templates page)

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

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

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)

The above code displays the listing 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 show in the directory, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the screenshot below …

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Your staff details will now display with Facebook and Twitter addresses as as shown below …

(Directory with social media URLs)

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

Usage Menu

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

In your main admin menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage page …

(Usage Shortcode section)

This screen displays all the shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.

A useful shortcode variation you can insert in your page, 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=”sales reps”])

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

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

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

Finally, you can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export section …

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need plugin help or support, visit the plugin plugin website.

Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Staff Directories

Simple Staff List is not the only adding a listing of your faculty in WordPress. For example, here are a few other free plugins you can check out to create an employee directory on your site:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

Modern Team Staff Directory 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)

Learn more here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

You can also insert custom fields …

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

More info:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

This plugin was developed to provide a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.

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

Go here to learn more:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your employees to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and single views, as well as fields like position title, email address, phone number, image and member 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 source: Company Directory plugin website)

This plugin uses simple shortcodes.

Go here to learn more:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just one single member of your team in a 4-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, 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 circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

More info:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

The Staffer plugin 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 source: Staffer website)

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

Go here to learn more:

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

Hopefully, this tutorial has shown you how to add an easy-to-update employee directory to your WordPress site.

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

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