Tag: Employee Directory WordPress

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

Are you looking for quicker, easier and cost-effective ideas to sell more products or services online and get people to stay longer on your site? Then help visitors get to know, like and trust you, your team and your organization better.

Adding a directory of employees or faculty members to your site can generate more trust, increase your credibility online and get interested prospects making enquiries.

This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to create a simple and easy-to-maintain staff directory in your site.

WordPress Plugin Tutorial: Adding A Staff Directory In WordPress

In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List

(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)

The Simple Staff List plugin is a free plugin that lets you display information to visitors about your employee on your site.

The first step is to install and activate the plugin.

Log into your WP admin and go to Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating the plugin, a new menu entry will appear on your WordPress menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

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

Plugin Configuration

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

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

This brings you to the Groups panel …

(Groups screen)

Note: Configuring directory groups works in the same way as configuring WordPress categories …

(Groups are like categories)

Add a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your category name here
2. Slug – Type in 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 drop-down menu if you plan to set up nested categories
4. Description – Type in a category description here (optional)
5. Click the Add New Group button when done to create your new directory category …

(Groups screen)

If you work with a business that employs many people, the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category 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 directory hierarchy …

(Nested groups)

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

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

The selected category details will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update to save your changes …

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

Click Update Group after making changes …

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

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested groups)

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

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This brings you to the Add New Staff Member area …

(Add New Staff Member settings screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The staff member’s name
• Slug: Edit the slug associated with your staff member if required (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Type the person’s role here
• Email: Type in the person’s email address
• Phone Number: Add your staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Add the person’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Enter the staff member’s Twitter username (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your employees here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered into 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 at the top of your 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 of your staff member’s details …

(Staff directory fields)

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

(Groups section)

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

(Groups - + Add New Group feature)

A field for entering your group name will appear, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on Add New Group …

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

(New group)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or modified. To edit a group item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).

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

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the dashboard admin toolbar , go here:

• Your WP Admin Area – An Overview

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

(Check your permalinks if you get errors)

To learn more about setting up permalinks, see this step-by-step tutorial:

• How To Improve Your WordPress SEO With Permalinks

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

Staff Members – All Staff Members

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

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members details)

If you need to modify individual entries, hover over their listing, and a menu will appear.

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

(Editing Staff Members profile info)

If you have many employees, your list can become unwieldy.

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

(Search Staff Members search field)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order in the main menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to the desired location …

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered list items)

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

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order that your staff profiles display on your directory page.

Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered listings)

Once you have added staff details to the directory, the next step is to display the directory to your site users.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The Simple Staff List plugin lets you customize the layout and style of your employee directory 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 main menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up the Templates screen …

(Customize your directory template)

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

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

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)

The This code displays your listing as shown below …

(Default Plugin Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your listings page will now look like …

(Employee profiles with social media links)

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

Usage Menu

In addition to allowing you to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

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

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Usage Shortcode screen)

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

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

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

Options Menu

Click Staff Members >Options in your main menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – Options settings screen)

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

You can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export screen …

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need additional information about the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the plugin plugin site and request help from the plugin developer.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use. For example, here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can use:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory)

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)

For more details go here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

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

You can also add custom fields …

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

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

This plugin provides 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.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

With the Company Directory plugin, you can add your staff, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and single views, plus as fields like job title, email, phone, photo and member 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 learn more about each staff member in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory website)

This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just a single member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.

With Employee Spotlight, you also 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 employee can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …

(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

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 an onsite staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer plugin website)

Staffer works with many popular 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, search the WordPress plugin directory or go online and search for:

• Add Staff Directory To WordPress
• WordPress Staff Directory Plugin
• WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
• Staff Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to add a simple and easy-to-manage directory of employees in your web site with no coding skills required.

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

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