Tag: Simple Staff List Plugin

You have no doubt heard that people generally will buy from people they already know, like and trust.

Are you searching for quicker, easier and cost-effective ways to sell more products or services online and increase user interaction on your site? Then something you can do, is help your prospects get to know you, your team and your organization better.

If you have a WordPress site, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to display information about your partners, your business team, or your staff members using a WordPress directory plugin.

In this step-by-step tutorial, we explain how to easily add a simple faculty directory in your web site using free WordPress plugins.

Adding An Employee Directory To Your WordPress Site: Step-By-Step Tutorial

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

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List is free and lets you staff.

The first step is to 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 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 menu will show up in your WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

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

Plugin Configuration

Depending on the size of your team and how you want to structure your directory, you can just start adding new staff members after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your group members.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s start by setting up your directory groups. In your WP dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This takes you to the Groups screen …

(Groups settings)

Note: Configuring groups is just like adding categories in WordPress …

(Groups are like categories)

Add a new group by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group name here
2. Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your group 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 nested groups
4. Description – Type in the group description (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when done to create your new directory category …

(Groups screen)

If you run a larger organization, the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for investors, developers, faculties, etc.

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

(Nested groups)

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

To edit or reassign Groups for individual entries, hover your mouse over a category title and select the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update to save your changes …

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

Click on Update Group  when done to save your changes …

Continue adding groups to this section 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)

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

Staff Members – Add New

In your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member settings area …

(Add New Staff Member screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your employee’s name
• Permalink: Edit the slug associated with your staff member if you want (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: Add the person’s role here
• Email: Type in the person’s email address
• Phone Number: Add the person’s phone number into this field
• Facebook URL: Type your company’s Facebook address here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Enter 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: Add a profile description for your employees here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign a staff or faculty member to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).

Click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options)

You can enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add Staff Member fields)

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

(Groups box)

Note: If you did not set up groups before adding staff member details, you can add a new group by clicking on 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 that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on the Add New Group button …

Your new group will be added. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

(New group added)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to a staff member’s details. To edit an item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).

***

After filling in your staff member’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

To make changes to your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

If you need help using the admin toolbar, see this tutorial:

• Your WordPress Admin Area – An Overview

Note: If you see errors like the one shown below, check that your site permalinks have been configured correctly …

(Check your permalinks if you get an error)

If you need help setting up permalinks, see this tutorial:

• How To Set Up WordPress Permalinks

Continue adding new members to your directory directory until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you have finished adding employee details to your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table with all the listing entries and their details …

(Staff Members details table)

If you need to edit individual details, hover over their 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 edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from your employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …

(Editing Staff Members profile info)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can get quite long.

You can use the Search Staff Members search box to find entries if required …

(Search Staff Members search field)

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

(Screen Options tab)

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

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order in which entries appear on your directory page.

Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to its desired location …

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list)

Once you are done adding staff details to your directory, the next step is to display your directory to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order on your main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to its new position …

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list)

Once you are done adding all of your staff details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The Simple Staff List plugin also lets you create the style and layout of your employee directory listings 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 WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Customize your directory template)

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

For example, below is a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Plugin Template)

The The code shown above displays your listing as shown below …

(Default Plugin 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] tags to the template loop, as shown below …

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your staff list will now look like …

(Directory listings with social media URLs added)

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 how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.

Usage Menu

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

In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Usage Shortcode screen)

This screen lists all the shortcode variations you can use with the Simple Staff List plugin.

A useful shortcode variation you can insert in your page, for example, to display a list of individuals belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”senior staff”])

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

Options Menu

In the WordPress admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Options settings)

Here you can change some of the labels used in the plugin

Finally, you can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export menu …

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

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

Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Employee Directories

Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use. For example, here are some other plugins you can look at for creating an employee directory on your website:

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, visit the plugin site here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

With Staff Directory, you can 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 sourced from Staff Directory website)

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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, visit the plugin site here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your staff to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and table views, plus as fields like position title, email address, phone number, pic and staff bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.

Visitors can 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: plugin website)

This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just one 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.

With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.

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)

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• 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 employee directory on your site …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin website)

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

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin

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 List
• 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, so your site visitors can get to know you and the people in your team better.

Images of persons used in this tutorial to portray staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

***