Tag: Simple Staff List Plugin

Consumer buying habits have successfully shown that people generally will buy from people they know, like and trust.

If you are looking for quicker and easier ideas to sell more products or services online or get people to stay longer on your site, then something you can do, is help your prospects get to know you and your organization better.

Adding a faculty directory to your website can help to generate greater trust, boost your credibility online and get more prospects to contact you.

In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to easily create and add an easy-to-maintain directory of employees or team members to your WordPress site.

How To Add An Employee Directory

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

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List)

The Simple Staff List plugin is a free WordPress plugin that lets you create a basic staff directory list for.

The first step is to install and activate the plugin.

Log into your WP dashboard and navigate to 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 the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click on the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members menu)

All of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.

Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration

Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could just begin to add new staff details at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your members.

Staff Members – Groups

To set up your categories go to your WP dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

The Groups settings panel …

(Groups settings screen)

Note: Setting up directory groups works just like categories in WordPress …

(Groups work like categories)

Create a new group by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group category name
2. Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your group. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
3. Parent – This section lets you set up a directory hierarchy
4. Description – Type in a group description in this field (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when done to set up your new category …

(Groups settings area)

If you work with a medium to large organization, the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for founders, developers, departments, etc.

Create as many categories 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 groups)

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

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

The group 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 edit the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and select the Quick Edit menu feature …

Click on Update Group  after making changes …

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

You can add as many nested categories as you like …

(Add nested groups to your staff directory)

Once you are done setting up your directory structure, the next step is to start to add staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This takes you to the Add New Staff Member settings …

(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: Your employee’s name
• Slug: Here you can change the permalink URL for each staff member if required (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your employees here. Since this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …

(Screen options)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Add New Staff Member fields)

After you have entered details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups feature located in the sidebar …

(Groups box)

Note: If you did not set up directory groups before starting to add 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 drop-down menu to 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 created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …

(New group added)

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

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

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

• An Overview Of Your WordPress Control Area

Note: If ’page not found’ errors like the one shown in the screenshot below shows up, check that your permalinks have been set up correctly …

(Not found error – Check your permalinks)

If you need help setting up permalinks, go here:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Keep adding new members to your employee directory directory as shown above until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

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

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members details list)

If you need to edit individual details, simply hover over their name, and a menu will appear.

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

(Edit Staff Members profile details)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can become unwieldy.

You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to find member details if necessary …

(Search members)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button 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 your employees display on your directory page.

Select Staff Members > Order in the main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered listings)

After adding all employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to display the directory to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order that your employee profiles appear on your directory page.

Click Staff Members > Order in the main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to a desired location …

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List lets you edit the layout and style of your directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

To customize the style and layout of your staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from the WP admin menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Customize your directory template)

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

For example, below is the Default Template …

(Default Template)

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

(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)

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

(Use template tags to customize your listings page)

Here is what your directory will now look like …

(Directory with social media links added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with 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 directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your dashboard menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Usage Shortcode section)

This screen displays all different shortcode variations that the plugin allows you to use.

A useful variation you can add to 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=”property managers”])

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

Options Menu

In your menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Options settings)

This section lets you change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles

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

(Export Staff Members info)

If you need plugin support, visit the plugin faq page.

Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Employee Directories

Simple Staff List is not the only adding a directory of your team members. For example, here are some other free plugins you can look at:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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 – WordPress Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

The 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)

Faculty And Staff Directory 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.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)

With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable single views, as well as fields like title, email, phone number, image and member 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: Company Directory plugin website)

This plugin uses shortcodes.

Go here to learn more:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

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

With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and 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 website)

For more details go here:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

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 onsite employee directory …

(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.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staffer

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

Hopefully, now you know how to easily add an easy-to-manage simple employee directory in your web site using free WP plugins.

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

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