Tag: Simple Staff List Plugin

Many business experts often raise the point that people often tend to buy from people they know, like and trust.

Are you searching for ideas to grow your business online or increase user interaction with your site? Then one of the things you can do, is help prospects get to know, like and trust your business better.

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

This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to create an easy-to-maintain staff directory in WordPress.

How To Add A Staff Directory To Your Site: Step-By-Step Tutorial

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

Simple Staff List

(Simple Staff List)

The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you easily employee.

The first step is to install and activate the plugin.

Log into your dashboard and go to Plugins > Add New …

(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(WordPress Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members)

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

Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your directory, you could begin to add new entries at this at this stage, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to place yourgroup members into.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s set up your groups. In your WP dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

This loads the Groups settings screen …

(Groups screen)

Note: Setting up directory groups is similar to creating categories in WordPress …

(Groups work just like WordPress categories)

Create new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group category name here
2. Slug – Enter 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 section if you plan to set up nested groups
4. Description – Type in a category description (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when done to create your new directory group …

(Groups screen)

If you run 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, developers, faculties, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

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

To edit Groups for specific items, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …

Your selected category open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent category from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

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 groups as you like …

(Add nested groups to your staff directory)

After you are done setting up your groups, you can start adding your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member settings …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The staff member’s name
• Slug: Change the permalink URL for each staff member if required (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 staff member’s role
• Email: Add the employee’s email address
• Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Add the employee’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Add the staff member’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your staff member here. Since this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign your staff member to a group (see the previous section 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)

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

(Staff directory fields)

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

(Groups feature)

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

(Groups - + Add New Group feature)

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

The new group will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign an employee’s details to the group …

(Groups feature)

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).

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

Click View Post …

To update the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• Your WP Control Screen Explained

Note: If you get ’not found’ page errors like the one shown below, check that your site’s permalinks have been configured correctly …

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

To learn more about setting up WordPress permalinks, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:

• Improve Your WordPress SEO With SEO-Friendly URLs

Keep adding more entries to your staff or member directory as described above.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

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

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members details table)

If you need to change individual entries, hover over their list name, and a menu will appear.

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

(Editing Staff Members profile information)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can grow quite large.

Use the Search Staff Members search field to locate items …

(Search members)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options)

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 Apply when finished to update your preferences …

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered list)

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

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order that entries display on your directory pages.

Select Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered listings)

After adding your members’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your site users.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin lets you edit the layout and style of your staff 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 menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Customize your directory template)

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

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

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Plugin Staff Loop 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 can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your directory page)

Your directory listings will now display with Facebook and Twitter links as as shown below …

(Directory listings with social media links added)

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

Usage Menu

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

In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Usage Shortcode screen)

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

A useful 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=”senior staff”])

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

Options Menu

In your main menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

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

You can also export your staff members info by going to the main admin menu and choosing Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members information)

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

Other Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to display an employee directory in WordPress. Here are some other free WordPress plugins you can look at:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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, visit the plugin site here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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

You can also set up custom fields …

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

Learn more here:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

This plugin provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.

The plugin also includes a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.

For more details go here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

Company Directory lets you easily add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, 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 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.

More info:

• Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

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

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

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 Employee Spotlight plugin website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

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

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

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

Learn more here:

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

Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple directory of staff members to your WordPress site with no coding skills required, so your web visitors can get to know you and your organization better.

Images of models used to portray staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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