Tag: Employee Directory WordPress

No doubt you’ve heard that people tend to buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.

If you are looking for inexpensive ideas to sell more products online, then one of the things you can do, is help visitors get to know, like and trust you, your team and your organization better.

If you use WordPress, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to use a directory plugin that lets you add a directory containing information about your key people, your team, or your staff.

This tutorial shows you how to add a simple and easy-to-maintain directory of staff to your WordPress site.

Plugin Tutorial: Adding An Employee Directory To Your Site

In this tutorial, you will learn how to 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 create a basic staff directory list for.

First, let’s install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.

Log into the admin and from the admin menu section, choose Plugins > Add New …

(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)

In the Plugins panel, 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)

Click on the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating your plugin, you will see that a new menu will be added to your main WP admin menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could begin to add new employee entries after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualstaff members into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This takes you to the Groups settings screen …

(Groups area)

Note: Setting up directory groups works just like categories …

(Groups work like WordPress categories)

Add a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group category name here
2. Slug – Type in 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 categories
4. Description – Enter a group description here
5. Click Add New Group when done to create a new group …

(Groups settings area)

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

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

(Nested groups)

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

To edit Groups for a particular entry, 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 category from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click the Update button when done …

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

Click on Update Group  when done to save your changes …

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 …

(Nested groups)

Once you are done setting up your directory structure, the next step is to start to add staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member section …

(Add New Staff Member section)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The employee’s name
• Slug: Here you can modify the permalink URL associated with your employee 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: Your employee’s role
• Email: Enter your employee’s email
• Phone Number: Your employee’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type in the employee’s Facebook address into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Add the person’s Twitter username into this field (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your employee or faculty member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatted content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …

(Screen options tab)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add Staff Member fields)

Once you are done inputting details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature in your sidebar …

(Groups section)

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

(Groups > + Add New Group)

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. Type in the name of your new category and click on the Add New Group button …

The new group will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign a person’s entry to the group …

(Groups section)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to a staff member’s details. To edit an item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).

***

After entering your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …

Click View Post …

You can modify your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

If you need help using the WP admin toolbar, see this tutorial:

• The WordPress Control Screen – A Tutorial

Note: If a page error shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that you have correctly set up your permalinks …

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

We have written a detailed tutorial about using permalinks here:

• Changing WordPress Permalinks

Continue adding new details to your staff directory directory until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you are done entering employees to your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on your menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all your staff profiles and all details you have added for each entry …

(Staff Members details table)

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

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

(Editing Staff Members details)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can become unwieldy.

You can use the Search Staff Members search field to find member details …

(Search Staff Members search field)

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

(Screen Options tab)

Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when done to update your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list items)

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

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order that listings appear on your directory pages.

Click Staff Members > Order on your WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your items, click and drag the item to the new position …

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list items)

Once you are done adding all of your staff details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory show on your site.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This brings up the Templates screen …

(Customize your directory template)

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

For example, below is the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Plugin Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)

Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above listing. To make these fields show up in the directory, you 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 directory listings will now display as as shown below …

(Staff profiles with social media links added)

Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks but don’t want to mess with code or are unsure of 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 menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Usage shortcodes)

This screen lists all the shortcode variations that you can use with this plugin.

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

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

Options Menu

Click Staff Members >Options on your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

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

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

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need additional information about the plugin, go to the Simple Staff List faq page and contact the plugin developer.

Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Staff Directories

Simple Staff List is not the only for creating a directory of your employees. For example, here are some other free WordPress plugins you can use to add a staff directory on your site:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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)

More info:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

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

This plugin also lets you insert custom fields …

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

More info:

• Staff Directory

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 profiles in a widget area.

Go here to learn more:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)

With the Company Directory plugin, you can add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and table views, as well as fields like title, email address, phone, photo and 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 read more about each employee in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: plugin website)

This plugin uses simple shortcodes.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders 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.

This plugin includes two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.

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

(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)

Go here to learn more:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

Staffer

(Staffer)

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 website …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer plugin website)

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

More info:

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

Hopefully, now you know how to easily add an easy-to-maintain simple faculty members directory in your website using a free WordPress plugin.

Models used to portray fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

***