Tag: Simple Staff List Plugin

Business experts often raise the point that people generally will buy from people they already know, like and trust.

Are you searching 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 staff or faculty members to your website can generate greater trust, increase your online credibility and get interested prospects to contact you.

In this step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to easily create and add a simple staff directory in your site.

How To Add A Staff Directory To Your Site: WordPress Plugin Tutorial

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

Simple Staff List

(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)

Simple Staff List lets you create a simple staff directory list for.

The first step is to install and activate the plugin.

Log into your admin and go to Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on Install Now …

(Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating the plugin, a new menu entry will appear in your main WordPress menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

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

Configuring Simple Staff List

Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can start adding new employee entries at this point, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to assign yourstaff members into.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s start by configuring your directory categories. From your WP dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups settings screen …

(Groups section)

Note: Configuring directory groups is just like setting up categories …

(Groups work just like categories)

Add new groups by entering the following information:

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

(Groups settings screen)

If you manage a medium to large organization, the ability to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for partners, developers, faculties, 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 hierarchical structure …

(Nested categories)

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

To change or reassign Groups for specific entries, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update to save your changes …

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

Click on Update Group  when done to save your changes …

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

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested categories)

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

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This loads the Add New Staff Member section …

(Add New Staff Member section)

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 for your employee if required (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: Your staff member’s position
• Email: Your employee’s email
• Phone Number: Enter your employee’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type in the person’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type the staff member’s Twitter username into this field (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your employee here. Since this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can format content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign the person to a specific group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up your groups).

If you click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Staff directory fields)

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

(Groups section)

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

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field will appear 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 the Add New Group button …

A new directory category will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign your listing to the group …

(New group)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing a staff or team member’s details. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).

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

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• Using The WordPress Dashboard

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

(Page error – Check your permalinks)

We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks in WordPress here:

• Changing WordPress Permalinks

Continue adding more members to your staff directory directory as described above.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you are done adding staff details to your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on your menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a list with all your directory entries and all details you have added related to each entry …

(Staff Members table)

If you need to edit individual entries, hover over their listing, and a submenu will appear.

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

(Editing Staff Members profile info)

If you have many entries, your list can grow quite large.

Use the Search Staff Members search field to find listing items if necessary …

(Search Staff Members search field)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options)

Selecting a check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are listed 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 arrange the order that listings display on your directory pages.

Click Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to the new position …

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you are done adding all of your employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to add the directory to your site visitors.

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order in which entries display on your directory pages.

Select Staff Members > Order in the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you are done adding all of your members’ details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display on your site.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin lets you customize the layout and style of your directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Templates page)

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

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

(Default Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Template Listing)

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

(Use template tags to customize your listings page)

Your directory profiles will now appear with Facebook and Twitter links as as the screenshot below shows …

(Employee profiles with social media URLs)

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 assistance.

Usage Menu

As well as allowing you to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

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

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Usage Shortcode section)

This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.

For example, a useful shortcode variation you can add 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”])

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

Options Menu

In the main menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

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, visit the Simple Staff List plugin website.

Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Staff Directories

Simple Staff List is not the only WordPress staff directory plugin you can use. Here are a few other free 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)

Go here to learn more:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

With the Staff Directory plugin, you can easily display a list of faculty/team/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.

You can also use custom fields …

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

For more details go here:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

This plugin provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.

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

Learn more here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and table views, plus as fields like job title, email, phone number, image and bio, allowing you to present 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 members in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory website)

This plugin uses shortcodes.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just an 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 this plugin, you also get two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, plus 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 go here:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)

The Staffer plugin uses custom post types for staff/employee management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an online 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.

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• 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
• Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to easily add a directory of employees to your site without messing with code.

Models used to depict fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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