Tag: Simple Staff List Plugin

Something that’s been proven to work in business, is that people will mostly buy from those they already know, like and trust.

If you are looking for quicker, simpler and cost-effective ideas to grow your business online, then something you can do, is help prospects get to know you, your team and your organization better.

Adding a directory of employees to your website can help increase your online credibility and get interested prospects buying from you.

This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-update employee directory in your WordPress site.

How To Easily Add An Employee Directory

In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List)

Simple Staff List is free and lets you easily staff.

First, let’s install and activate this plugin.

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

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on Install Now …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new entry will show up in your main WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

All of the settings and options for this plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.

Plugin Configuration

Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your directory, you could begin to add new employee details after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual group members.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s configure your groups. From your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

The Groups screen …

(Groups settings)

Note: Configuring groups works just like WordPress categories …

(Groups work like WordPress categories)

Create a new group by entering the following information:

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

(Groups screen)

If you are a larger organization, the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups 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 new items …

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

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

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update 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 the Update Group button when done …

Continue adding group names in this section until you are done creating your directory structure …

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested categories)

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

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member settings screen …

(Add New Staff Member area)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The employee’s name
• Slug: Here you can edit 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: The employee’s role
• Email: Your employee’s email
• Phone Number: Your employee’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Enter your company’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Add the person’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your staff or team member here. Since this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign the person to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).

Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …

(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 employee’s details …

(Staff directory settings)

Once you have entered each staff member’s details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in the sidebar …

(Groups section)

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

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field will display allowing you to create a new group name, 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 …

A new directory category will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign an individual to the group …

(New group added)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to someone’s details. 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 filling in your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …

Click View Post …

You can make changes to the staff member’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

If you need help using the admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:

• The WordPress Control Section Explained

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

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

To learn more about setting up WP permalinks, see this tutorial:

• Setting Up Your WordPress Permalinks

Repeat the above process to continue adding new entries to your directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you are done entering staff details into your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members table)

If you need to edit an individual’s details, just hover over their list name, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit if you need to make changes to the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a list item from the staff directory by clicking on Trash, 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 box to locate member details if necessary …

(Search Staff Members search box)

The plugin also lets you specify which fields to display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …

(Screen Options tab)

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

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order that entries appear on your directory page.

Click Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered list)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order in the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Templates page)

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

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

(Default Template)

The This code will display your directory listing as shown below …

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

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

Here is what your directory will now look like …

(Directory with social media links)

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

Usage Menu

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

In your WordPress admin menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List shortcodes)

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

For example, a useful shortcode variation you can add to your page to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales trainers”])

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

Options Menu

In your menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – Options settings)

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

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

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

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

Additional Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use. For example, here are some other free WordPress plugins you can check out to add an employee directory on your site:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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)

Learn more here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

You can also set up custom fields …

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

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

Faculty And Staff Directory 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 – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

This plugin lets you easily add your employees to your website. Different layouts are available, including grid and table views, as well as fields like job title, email address, phone number, photo 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 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 also uses a simple shortcode system.

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Company Directory – WP Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just one individual person 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 that let you display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.

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

(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: plugin website)

Learn more here:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WP 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 a staff directory on your website …

(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 here:

• Staffer – Plugin For WordPress

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

Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple staff or faculty directory to your WordPress site, so you can better showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.

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

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