Tag: Employee Directory WordPress

Consumer behavior research shows that people generally tend to buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.

If you are searching for cost-effective ideas to sell more products online, then something you can do, is help prospects get to know your business better.

Adding a directory of staff or team members to your website can help boost your online credibility and get interested prospects considering using your services.

In this tutorial, you are going to learn how to add an easy-to-maintain simple staff directory in your site without coding skills.

Adding A Staff Directory To WordPress: WordPress Plugin Tutorial

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost 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 simple staff directory for.

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

Log into the WP administration and in your admin menu section, select Plugins > Add New …

(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  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new entry will be added to your WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

Here is where you will configure and manage all of the settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.

Configuring Simple Staff List

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

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

This brings up the Groups settings screen …

(Groups section)

Note: Setting up directory groups works just like categories …

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Create 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 group name. 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 – Enter the group description (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when done to create your new category …

(Groups area)

If you are a business that employs many people, the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for partners, 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 categories)

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

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

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

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update when done …

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

Click the Update Group button when done to save your changes …

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

You can add as many nested categories as you like …

(Add nested categories your staff directory)

After you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, you can begin to add your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

In your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member section …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The staff member’s name
• Slug: Here you can modify your employees’ slug (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Type in the person’s position
• Email: The employee’s email
• Phone Number: Add the person’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type your company’s Facebook address here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type your company’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 here. Since this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign the individual to a group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).

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

(Screen options)

You can enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

(Groups section)

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 …

(Groups > + Add New Group link)

A field for creating your new group name will appear, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new category and click on Add New Group …

Your new directory category will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign the entry to the group …

(New group added)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to an individual’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 team member’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

If you need help using the WP admin toolbar , go here:

• Your WordPress Admin Screen Explained

Note: If you have set up groups and get a ‘page not found’ error like the one shown below, check that you have configured your site permalinks correctly …

(Not found error? Check your permalinks)

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

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Continue adding new members to your employee directory directory until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you are done adding employees to your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on your main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members details)

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

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

(Editing Staff Members details)

If you have many entries, your list can get quite long.

Use the Search Staff Members search field to locate items …

(Search Staff Members search field)

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

(Screen Options tab)

Placing a tick in the item’s check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. 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

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order in which entries show on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order in the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you are done adding all of your members’ details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory on your site.

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered list items)

Once you have added all of your members’ details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory to your site users.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Customize your directory template)

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

For example, below is the Default Template …

(Default Simple Staff List Template)

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

(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)

Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. 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 example below …

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Your employee listings will now display Facebook and Twitter links as shown in the example 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 around with code or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.

Usage Menu

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

In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode screen)

This screen lists all different shortcode variations you can use.

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

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

Options Menu

Choose Staff Members >Options in your menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

Here you can modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles

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

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need plugin help or support, go to the plugin faq page and contact the plugin developer.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List is not the only WordPress staff directory plugin you can use. For example, here are some other free WordPress plugins you can check out for creating an employee directory on your site:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress 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)

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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

The plugin also lets you set up custom fields …

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

Learn more about this plugin here:

• 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 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 – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

With Company Directory, you can add your employees to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and customizable single views, plus as fields like position title, email address, phone number, pic and 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 staff member in a customizable single view …

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

This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders 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 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 screen in 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 website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

The Staffer plugin uses custom post types for employee management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an onsite employee directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)

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

Go here to learn more:

• 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
• WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
• Staff Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to add an updatable list of employees or faculty members in your site using free WordPress plugins.

Images used to display sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

***