Tag: Simple Staff List Plugin

Consumer buying habits show that people generally will buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.

Are you looking for inexpensive ideas to sell more products online? Then make it easier for your prospects to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your business better.

Adding a staff directory to your website can help boost your credibility online and get interested prospects to get in touch with you.

In this tutorial, you are going to learn how to create and add a directory of staff or team members in your website using free plugins.

Tutorial: Adding An Employee Directory To Your WordPress Site

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List lets you easily staff.

The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.

Log into the WordPress admin and from the admin menu, choose 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  – plugin search results)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After the plugin has been installed and activated, a new entry will display on the WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

How To Configure The Plugin

Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could just start to add new staff 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 categories go to your WordPress dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This takes you to the Groups settings …

(Groups settings screen)

Note: Setting up groups is just like configuring WordPress categories …

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Create a new group by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group category name here
2. Slug – Enter the slug of your group category name. 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 a directory hierarchy
4. Description – Enter a group description in this field (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when done to set up a new directory category …

(Groups settings screen)

If you work with a business that employs many people, having the ability to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for partners, project teams, departments, etc.

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

(Nested groups)

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

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

Your selected item will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group category from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click the Update button when done …

To change the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on Quick Edit …

Click on Update Group  after making changes …

Continue adding group names to this section until you have created your directory structure …

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested categories)

Once you are done setting up your directory structure, the next step is to begin to add names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

From your admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This takes you to the Add New Staff Member area …

(Add New Staff Member screen)

This screen provides you with 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
• Permalink: Edit the slug for each employee if required (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can 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 can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Staff directory fields)

After you are done inputting your staff member’s details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups section located in your sidebar …

(Groups feature)

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

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field for creating a new group name will display, 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 the Add New Group button …

Your new category will be added. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …

(New group added)

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 above for details).

***

After entering your staff or team member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the staff directory …

Click View Post …

You can update the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• The WordPress Administration Section Explained

Note: If you have set up groups and get errors like the one shown below, check that your permalinks have been set up correctly …

(Check your permalinks if you get an error)

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

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

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

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you are done entering employee or faculty members to your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a list displaying all your directory items and the details you have added for each entry …

(Staff Members details table)

If you need to make changes to an individual’s entry, just hover over their name, and a menu will appear.

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

(Edit Staff Members profile info)

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

Use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate listing items if necessary …

(Search members)

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

(Screen Options)

Selecting a check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when finished to save your settings …

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order in which listings appear on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to its desired position …

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered listings)

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

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which listings appear on your directory pages.

Select Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin also lets you customize the style and layout of your staff directory items 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 your menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(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 a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Staff Loop Template)

The This code displays your directory listing as shown below …

(Default Template Listing)

Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To display these fields, you will need to add 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 the example below shows …

(Directory with social media URLs added)

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

Usage Menu

As well as being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Usage Shortcode screen)

This screen displays all different shortcode variations that you can use.

A useful variation you can decide to use, 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=”sales reps”])

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

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – Options settings screen)

Here you can change 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 info)

If you need additional information about the plugin, visit the plugin plugin website.

Additional Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to create a listing of your staff in WordPress. Here are other free WordPress plugins you can use:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

This 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)

For more details go here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP 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 set up custom fields …

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staff Directory – WP Plugin

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 installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

With Company Directory, you can easily add your employees to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable single views, plus as fields like job title, email address, phone, image and staff 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 employee 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 shortcodes.

Go here to learn more:

• Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just one individual person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.

This plugin comes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, 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 source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

This 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 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.

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Staffer – Plugin For WordPress

If the directory plugins listed above 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
• Simple Staff List Template WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-update list directory of staff members in your website without touching code.

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

***

***