Tag: Staff Directory WordPress Plugin

Consumer behaviour research shows that people will mostly buy from those they already know, like and trust.

Are you looking for simple ways to grow your business online? Then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for your visitors to get to know your organization better.

Adding a directory of employees to your site can lead to increased trust, increase your credibility online and get interested prospects getting in touch with you.

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

Adding A Staff Directory: WordPress Plugin Tutorial

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

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List lets you easily staff.

First, let’s install and activate the plugin.

Log into the dashboard and from the admin menu section, choose 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 the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu entry will show up in the main WP menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

How To Configure The Plugin

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

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s set up your categories. In your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups screen …

(Groups screen)

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

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Add new groups by typing in the following information:

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

(Groups settings area)

If you run a business that employs many people, being able to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for investors, project teams, departments, etc.

Create as many groups and nested categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a directory hierarchy …

(Nested categories)

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

To edit Groups for specific entries, hover your mouse over a category title and select the Edit link …

The category open in the Edit Group page. Select a new group category from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update to save your changes …

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

Click on Update Group  to save your changes …

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

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested categories)

After you have finished setting up your groups, the next step is to start adding names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This brings up the Add New Staff Member settings screen …

(Add New Staff Member area)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The staff member’s name
• Slug: You can edit each employees’ permalink URL (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: The staff member’s position
• Email: Type in the employee’s email address
• Phone Number: Enter the staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Add your company’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Add 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 staff members here. Since this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign a staff or team member to a group (see above to learn how to set up groups).

Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …

(Screen options tab)

You can enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Add Staff Member fields)

After you have finished inputting details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups feature in your sidebar …

(Groups box)

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

(Groups - + Add New Group link)

A field will appear allowing you to enter a new group name, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new group and click on Add New Group …

A new category will be added. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

(New group added)

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

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

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the admin toolbar, refer to this tutorial:

• How To Use The WP Dashboard

Note: If you have set up groups and get ’not found’ page errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly set up your permalinks …

(Page error – Check your permalinks)

If you need help setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:

• Setting Up WordPress Permalinks

Repeat the above process to continue adding more members to your directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you have finished adding staff members into your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on the main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all the staff members and any details you have added for each entry …

(Staff Members details table)

If you need to change individual details, hover over their list name, and a submenu will appear.

Click on Edit if you need to make changes to their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from the employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …

(Edit Staff Members profile)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can grow quite large.

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

(Search members)

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

(Screen Options tab)

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

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order in which listings show on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered list)

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

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order that listings display on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin allows you to 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 menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up the Templates screen …

(Simple Staff List Templates page)

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

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

(Default Template)

The This code will display your listing as shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your listings page will now look like …

(Directory with social media URLs added)

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

Usage Menu

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

In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcodes)

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

For example, a useful shortcode variation you can choose to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Gold Level associates”])

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

Options Menu

Click Staff Members >Options in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

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

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

(Export Staff Members info)

If you need help with the Simple Staff List plugin, visit the Simple Staff List site and contact the plugin developer.

Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Staff Directories

Simple Staff List is not the only for displaying a directory of your staff in WordPress. For example, here are other free plugins you can use:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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)

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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

You can also create custom fields …

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

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

This plugin 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 profiles in a widget area.

Go here to learn more:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

With the Company Directory plugin, you can add your employees to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and table views, plus as fields like position title, email, phone number, pic and staff bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.

Visitors can click through from your list, grid, and table views to read more about each staff member in a customizable single view …

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

This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, 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 upon plugin activation.

The Employee Spotlight plugincomes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.

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

(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight plugin website)

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

Staffer

(Staffer)

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: Staffer website)

Staffer works 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 – WordPress 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
• WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
• Staff Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-maintain directory of staff members to your WordPress site without coding skills.

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

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