Tag: Simple Staff List Template

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

Are you searching for simple ways to sell more products or services online and get people to stay longer on your site? Then one of the things you can do, is help your prospects get to know, like and trust your organization better.

Adding an employee directory to your site can help increase your online credibility and get more prospects to request quotes or more information.

This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to create an easy-to-update directory of staff in your site.

Adding An Employee List Directory

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

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)

The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you easily create a simple staff directory list for.

The first step is to install and activate this plugin.

Log into the dashboard and in your admin menu section, click on Plugins > Add New …

(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on Install Now …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members menu)

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

Plugin Configuration

Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you can just begin adding new staff member details at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual employees.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This opens up the Groups section …

(Groups settings area)

Note: Configuring directory groups is similar to creating WordPress categories …

(Groups work like WordPress categories)

Add new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your category 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 a directory hierarchy
4. Description – Type in your category description here
5. Click Add New Group when finished to set up your new category …

(Groups screen)

If you work with a business that employs many people, having the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for founders, project teams, 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 organize these into a hierarchical structure …

(Nested groups)

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

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

Your selected category open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update when done …

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

Click Update Group when done to save your changes …

Add as many categories as you need to until you have created your directory structure …

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested groups)

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

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member screen opens on your browser …

(Add New Staff Member screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The employee’s name
• Slug: Edit each employees’ permalink URL (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Type in the person’s role here
• Email: The employee’s email address
• Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Enter the employee’s Facebook URL here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type in 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: Type in a profile description for your employee or team member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign the individual to a group (see above to learn how to set up groups).

Click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options tab)

You will see options to enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add New Staff Member fields)

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

(Groups box)

Note: If you have not set up groups before starting to add 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 group name will display, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on Add New Group …

Your new directory category will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

(New group added)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to an individual’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 team member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your employee directory …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

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

• The WP Admin Screen – An Overview

Note: If you get a page error like the one shown below, check that you have configured your site’s permalinks correctly …

(Page error? Check your permalinks)

To learn more about setting up WordPress permalinks, go here:

• How To Set Up WordPress Permalinks

Repeat the above process to add new members to your directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

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

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table listing all your staff profiles and their details …

(Staff Members list)

If you need to make changes to an individual’s details, hover your mouse over their list name, and a menu will appear.

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

(Edit Staff Members profile)

If you have many employees, your table can become unwieldy.

Use the Search Staff Members search field to find items …

(Search members)

You can specify which fields to display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …

(Screen Options)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order on your main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered listings)

After adding all members’ listing details to the 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 set the order in which your employees appear on your directory page.

Select Staff Members > Order on your dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to its desired position …

(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you have added all of your member listing details to the directory, the next step is to display your directory to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin allows you to customize the layout and style of your employee directory items 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 Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Templates page)

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

For example, below is the Default Template …

(Default Simple Staff List Template)

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

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your staff list should now look like …

(Employee profiles with social media URLs)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with template tags or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.

Usage Menu

In addition to being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Usage Shortcode section)

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

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

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

Options Menu

In your menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

This section lets you modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title

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

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need help with the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the plugin support page and request help from the plugin developer.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List is not the only WordPress employee directory plugin you can use. For example, here are some other free WordPress plugins you can check out for adding a directory on your site:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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)

For more details go here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

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 set up custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: Staff Directory plugin website)

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

The Faculty And Staff Directory 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.

More info:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your employees to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable single views, plus as fields like position title, email, phone number, photo and staff 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 employee in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory website)

This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.

Learn more here:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays staff 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.

Employee Spotlight installs with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.

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

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

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

The Staffer 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 employee directory on your website …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer plugin website)

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

More info:

• 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 List
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Simple Staff List Template WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has explained how to create a simple and easy-to-maintain staff directory in your website.

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

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