Tag: Employee Directory WordPress

Many business and marketing experts often raise the point that people generally buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.

If you are searching for quicker, simpler and cheaper ways to grow your business online, then one of the things you can do, is help visitors get to know, like and trust you, your team and your business better.

If you use WordPress, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to display information about your key partners, your business team, or your staff members using a WordPress directory plugin.

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

Adding A Staff List Directory To Your Site

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

Simple Staff List

(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)

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

First, let’s install and activate this plugin.

Log into your WordPress admin and navigate 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 installing and activating your plugin, you will notice that new menu entry will show up in the main WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

Plugin Configuration

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

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

This opens up the Groups area …

(Groups settings screen)

Note: Adding directory groups is just like setting up categories …

(Groups are like categories)

Add new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your category name
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 section to set up a directory hierarchy
4. Description – Enter the category description (optional)
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to create your new category …

(Groups area)

If you manage a business that employs many people, being able to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for investors, project teams, faculties, etc.

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

(Nested groups)

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

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

The selected group will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new category from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click the Update button when done …

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

Click on Update Group  when done to save your changes …

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

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested groups)

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

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This takes you to the Add New Staff Member settings area …

(Add New Staff Member screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Enter the employee’s name
• Slug: Edit your staff members’ permalink URL (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Your employee’s position
• Email: The staff member’s email
• Phone Number: Type in the person’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Enter the person’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type 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 employee or faculty member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign your staff member to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up 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 your staff member’s details …

(Staff directory settings)

After you have finished entering details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups section located in your sidebar …

(Groups box)

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

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field for creating your group name will display, with a dropdown menu that lets you 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 added. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

(New group added)

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 above for details).

***

After typing in your employee’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

To modify your staff member’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

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

• Your WP Dashboard Explained

Note: If you see an error like the one shown below, check that you have correctly configured your site’s permalinks …

(Page error – Check your permalinks)

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

• Improve Your WordPress SEO Using Permalinks

Continue adding more entries to your employee or member directory as described above.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering employee or team members to your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all your directory entries and their details …

(Staff Members list)

If you need to change an individual’s entry, hover your mouse over their listing, and a submenu will appear.

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

(Editing Staff Members details)

If you have many employees, your table can get quite long.

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

(Search members)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options)

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

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order in which your employee profiles appear on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to the desired position …

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list)

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

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order in which your employee listings show on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order on the main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up the Templates screen …

(Simple Staff List Templates page)

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

For example, below is the default template used for displaying listings …

(Default Staff Loop Template)

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

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)

Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above listing. To display these fields, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template, as shown in the screenshot below …

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Your employee entries will now display as as the screenshot below shows …

(Staff profiles with social media links added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with 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 allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List shortcodes)

This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations that the plugin lets you use.

For example, a useful variation you can decide to use to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales managers”])

Or, you can display listings 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 Menu – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Options settings)

This section lets you edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title

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

(Export Staff Members info)

If you need plugin support, go to the Simple Staff List faq page.

Other Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List is not the only adding a listing of your team members. For example, here are other free WordPress plugins you can use:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

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)

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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

You can also create custom fields …

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

For more details go here:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin provides 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.

More info:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your employees to your website. Different layouts are available, including grid and single views, plus as fields like job title, email, phone, pic and staff bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.

Visitors can 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 members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory plugin website)

This plugin also uses a simple shortcode system.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners 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.

Employee Spotlight installs with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.

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

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

More info:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Plugin)

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 website …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin website)

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

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Staffer

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

Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-update simple faculty members directory to your website using free plugins.

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

***