Tag: Simple Staff List Template

Many business and marketing experts have successfully shown over the years that people generally will buy from those they already know, like and trust.

If you are looking for cost-effective ways to sell more products or services online, then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for visitors to get to know, like and trust your organization better.

If you use WordPress, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to use a WordPress directory plugin that will let you display information about your partners, your team, or your staff members.

In this step-by-step tutorial, we show you how to add an updatable simple faculty members directory in your website without using code.

Adding An Employee List Directory: Plugin Tutorial

In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List)

Simple Staff List lets you staff members (you could also use it to display partners, etc.).

The first step is to install and activate this plugin.

Log into the administration and navigate to Plugins > Add New …

(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)

In the Plugins panel, 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 the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu entry will be added to the WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

All of the settings for your plugin are configured and managed from this menu.

Configuring The Plugin

Depending on the size of your team and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can just start adding new staff member details at this point, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualgroup members into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This brings up the Groups section …

(Groups screen)

Note: Adding directory groups works in the same way as configuring categories …

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Add new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your category name
2. Slug – Enter the slug of your category. 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 categories
4. Description – Enter your group description here
5. Click Add New Group when done to create the new group …

(Groups screen)

If you are a business that employs many people, being able to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for partners, project teams, departments, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

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

To change or reassign Groups for a specific entry, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update when done …

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

Click the Update Group button after making changes …

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

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested groups)

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

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This takes you to the Add New Staff Member settings area …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Add the employee’s name
• Permalink: Change each employees’ slug (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Add your staff member’s role
• Email: Your employee’s email address
• Phone Number: Enter the employee’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Add the person’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Add your company’s Twitter username (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 faculty member here. Since this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, 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 your groups).

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

(Screen options tab)

You will see options to enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Staff directory fields)

After you have entered each staff member’s details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups box located in the sidebar …

(Groups section)

Note: If you have not set up groups before starting to add new staff members, you can add a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Groups > + Add New Group feature)

A field will appear allowing you to enter 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 group and click on the Add New Group button …

Your new directory category will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign your listing to the group …

(Groups feature)

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 of the tutorial above for details).

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After filling in your staff or faculty member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your directory …

Click View Post …

You can modify the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the dashboard admin toolbar , go here:

• Your WP Administration Panel Explained

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

(Check your permalinks if you get a ‘page not found’ error)

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

• How To Improve Your WordPress SEO With SEO-Friendly URLs

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

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering employee details to your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on the main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members list)

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

Click on Edit if you want to make changes to the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove someone 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 become unwieldy.

You can use the Search Staff Members search field to locate items …

(Search Staff Members search feature)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide specific fields. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when done to update your preferences …

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you have added all of your members’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory on your site.

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list items)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List lets you edit the style and layout of your staff directory items 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 the main 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 used for displaying listings …

(Default Staff Loop Template)

The This code 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, as shown below …

(Use template tags to customize your directory page)

Here is what your listings page will now look like …

(Directory with social media URLs)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with editing code or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for assistance.

Usage Menu

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

In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcode variations)

This screen lists all the shortcode variations that you can use with the plugin.

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

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

Options Menu

Click Staff Members >Options on the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Options screen)

Here you can edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title

You can also export your staff members data by going to the menu and selecting Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need plugin help or support, visit the Simple Staff List plugin website.

Other Employee Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List is not the only for displaying a directory of your faculty. For example, here are some other free plugins you can check out for adding a 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)

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

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

You can also use custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: plugin website)

Learn more here:

• Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory 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, school or university.

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and single views, plus as fields like position title, email address, phone, pic 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 members in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Company Directory – WordPress Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)

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

Employee Spotlight comes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, 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 plugin website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

Staffer 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 onsite staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer plugin website)

Staffer works immediately with almost all 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 List
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has explained how to create an easy-to-manage directory of employees in your website.

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

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