Tag: Simple Staff List Plugin

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

If you are looking for inexpensive ways to sell more products online or increase user interaction with your site, then help your visitors get to know your organization better.

Adding a directory of employees or team members to your site will help to let visitors learn more about the people behind the scenes in your organization.

In this step-by-step tutorial, we are going to show you how to easily create and add an easy-to-manage simple team members directory to your site without coding skills.

Plugin Tutorial: Adding A Staff Directory

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

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List)

The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you easily employee (you could also use it to display faculty members, etc.).

The first step is to install and activate the plugin.

Log into your admin and from the admin menu section, click on Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

In the Plugins screen, 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 installing and activating your plugin, you will see that a new menu entry will appear on your WordPress menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

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

Plugin Configuration

Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your directory, you can just begin adding new staff member details after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to assign yourstaff into.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s configure your directory groups. In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups settings screen …

(Groups screen)

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

(Groups work like categories)

Add new groups by entering the following information:

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

(Groups settings)

If you work with a business that employs many people, having the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for partners, developers, faculties, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

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

To change Groups for a specific item, hover your mouse over a category title and select the Edit link …

The group will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new group category from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update to save your changes …

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

Click Update Group after making changes …

Continue adding categories to this section until you have created 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 start to add names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This brings you to the Add New Staff Member screen …

(Add New Staff Member section)

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: Add your staff member’s name
• Permalink: You can change your staff members’ permalink URL (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your employee or faculty member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML in this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

Click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options)

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 employee’s details …

(Add Staff Member settings)

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

(Groups box)

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

(Groups > + Add New Group feature)

A field will appear allowing you to create a new group name, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new group and click on the Add New Group button …

Your new category will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign your list entry to the group …

(Groups feature)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or edited. 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 the person’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the admin toolbar, see this step-by-step tutorial:

• The WordPress Control Section Explained

Note: If you have set up groups and get ’page not found’ errors like the one shown below, check that your permalinks have been set up correctly …

(Check your permalinks if you get a ‘page not found’ error)

If you need help setting up permalinks, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:

• How To Set Up Your WordPress Permalinks

Continue adding new entries to your staff or faculty directory until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff or team members to your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a list of all your listing entries and all details you have added for each entry …

(Staff Members details table)

If you need to make changes to individual entries, hover over their list name, and a submenu will appear.

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

(Editing Staff Members profile)

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

You can use the Search Staff Members search field to locate listing items if required …

(Search members)

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

(Screen Options)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide fields. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when done to update your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose 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 location …

(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list)

After adding all members’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order in the main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list entries)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List 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 the menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up 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 Template …

(Default Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)

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

(Use template tags to customize your directory page)

Here is what your listings page will now look like …

(Directory listings with social media links)

Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks but don’t want to mess with code or are not sure what to do, please contact us for help.

Usage Menu

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

In your main 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 the shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to use.

A useful variation you can choose, 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=”senior staff”])

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

Options Menu

Choose Staff Members >Options on your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

Here you can edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title

Finally, you can also export your staff members data by going to your menu and choosing Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need plugin help or support, visit the Simple Staff List support page.

Other Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List is not the only adding a directory of your employees in WordPress. Here are a few other plugins you can use:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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)

More info:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

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

You can also insert custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

Learn more here:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

Faculty And Staff Directory was developed to provide 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 a profile in a widget area.

For more details go here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)

The Company Directory plugin lets you add your staff to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and single views, plus as fields like position title, email address, phone number, image and staff bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.

Visitors can 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 source: Company Directory plugin website)

This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.

Go here to learn more:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders or just one individual 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 the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.

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

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

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

This 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 online staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)

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

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Staffer

If the directory plugins listed above 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 Plugin
• WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
• Staff Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has explained how to add an easy-to-maintain employee directory to WordPress.

Models used in this tutorial to display staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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