Tag: Simple Staff List Template

No doubt you already know that people will buy from those they already know, like and trust.

Are you looking for quicker, simpler and cheaper ways to sell more products or services online? Then help prospects get to know, like and trust your business better.

Adding a directory of employees to your site can help increase your online credibility and get more prospects to get in touch with you.

This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to create a simple and easy-to-update directory of staff members in WordPress.

WordPress Plugin Tutorial: Adding An Employee List Directory To Your WordPress Site

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)

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

The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.

Log into your WP admin and in your admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …

(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on Install Now …

(Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click on the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating your plugin, a new menu will display on your main WordPress menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

Plugin Configuration

Depending on how many people are in your team and how you want to structure your directory, you could start to add new staff entries after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your staff.

Staff Members – Groups

To set up your categories go to your WordPress dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

This brings up the Groups area …

(Groups screen)

Note: Adding directory groups works just like WordPress categories …

(Groups work like WordPress categories)

Add a new group by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group category name here
2. Slug – Type in the slug 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 drop-down menu if you plan to set up a directory hierarchy
4. Description – Enter the group description here
5. Click the Add New Group button when done to set up a new group name …

(Groups settings screen)

If you manage a business that employs many people, the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for founders, developers, faculties, etc.

Create as many groups 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 the Add New Group button after entering new items …

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

Your selected item’s details 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 change your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on Quick Edit …

Click Update Group when done …

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

You can add as many nested categories as you like …

(Add nested categories your staff directory)

Once you are done setting up your directory structure, you can start adding names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This brings you to the Add New Staff Member area …

(Add New Staff Member screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your employee’s name
• Slug: Here you can edit each staff members’ slug (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your employee here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatted content in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign your staff 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 tab)

You can enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add Staff Member settings)

After you have finished inputting your staff member’s details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups section in the sidebar …

(Groups section)

Note: If you have not set up groups before starting to add staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …

(Groups > + Add New Group link)

A field will display allowing you to create a new group name, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on Add New Group …

The new group will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

(Groups feature)

Note: Groups cannot be edited 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 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 your directory …

Click View Post …

To edit your staff member’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• Your WordPress Dashboard – A Tutorial

Note: If a page error shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that your site’s permalinks have been set up correctly …

(Check your permalinks if you get a page error)

To learn more about setting up permalinks in WordPress, see this step-by-step tutorial:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

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

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you have finished entering staff details to 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 displaying all your staff members and any details you have added with each entry …

(Staff Members table)

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

Click on Edit if you want to edit their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a list item from the employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …

(Editing Staff Members details)

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

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

(Search Staff Members search box)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide fields. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when finished to update your settings …

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose 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 automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to a desired position …

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up the Templates screen …

(Simple Staff List Templates screen)

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

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

(Default Simple Staff List Template)

The This code displays your directory listing as shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Your employee details will now display as shown in the screenshot below …

(Directory with social media links)

Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks 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

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

In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage page …

(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)

This screen displays all different shortcode variations you can use with this plugin.

For example, a useful variation you can select to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Asia Pacific Region”])

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

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options on your main menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

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

You can also export your staff members details by going to the WordPress admin menu and choosing Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members info)

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

Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Employee Directories

Simple Staff List isn’t the only for displaying a directory of your faculty. Here are some other free plugins you can look at to add an employee directory on your website:

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 – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

With Staff Directory, 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. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress 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 installs a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.

Learn more here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

This plugin lets you easily add your staff to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and customizable single views, as well as fields like title, email address, phone number, pic and member 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 employee in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: plugin website)

This plugin also uses a simple shortcode system.

Go here to learn more:

• Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just one single person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.

Employee Spotlight installs with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, plus 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 employee circle grid. Screenshot source: plugin website)

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

Staffer

(Staffer)

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 employee directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from 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 – WP Staff Directory Plugin

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

Hopefully, now you know how to easily add an easy-to-update simple faculty members directory in your website using a free WordPress plugin.

Images of models used to portray sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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