Tag: Staff Directory WordPress Plugin

Consumer behavior research shows that people generally will buy from those they know, like and trust.

If you are searching for quicker, simpler and cost-effective ways to grow your business online, then help visitors get to know your organization better.

If your website runs on WordPress, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to use a WordPress staff list plugin that lets you add a directory listing with information about your key partners, your team, or your employees.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to easily create and add an easy-to-maintain directory of staff members to WordPress using free WP plugins.

Step-By-Step Tutorial: Adding A Staff Directory

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

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)

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

First, let’s install and activate this plugin.

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

(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  – plugin search results)

Click on the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After your plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu will show up in the main WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

Configuring The Plugin

Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can start to add new staff members at this point, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff.

Staff Members – Groups

To configure your categories go to your dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This loads the Groups area …

(Groups settings screen)

Note: Setting up groups works in the same way as configuring WordPress categories …

(Groups work just like WordPress categories)

Create new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group category name
2. Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version 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 section if you plan to set up nested groups
4. Description – Type in the group description here
5. Click Add New Group when finished to set up your new directory category …

(Groups settings area)

If you run a business that employs many people, having the ability 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 categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a directory hierarchy …

(Nested categories)

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

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

The item will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent category from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click the Update button when done …

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

Click on Update Group  when done …

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

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Add nested categories your directory)

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

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This brings you to the Add New Staff Member area …

(Add New Staff Member settings area)

This area 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: The staff member’s name
• Slug: You can change your employees’ slug (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: The employee’s role
• Email: The employee’s email
• Phone Number: Your staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Add your employee’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: Enter a profile description for your employees here. Since this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign an employee or faculty member to a group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).

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

(Screen options tab)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Add New Staff Member fields)

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

(Groups box)

Note: If you did not set up categories before adding staff member details, you can create a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field for entering your group name will appear, 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 group will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign your entry to the group …

(Groups box)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing new employee 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 typing in your staff member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your staff directory …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

For a detailed step-by-step tutorial on using the WordPress admin toolbar , go here:

• How To Navigate Inside Your WP Administration Page

Note: If you have set up groups and get errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly set up your site’s permalinks …

(Not found error? Check your permalinks)

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

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

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

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering employees to your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on the menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table listing all the listing entries and details you have added for each entry …

(Staff Members details)

If you need to make changes to individual entries, just hover over their name, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit to edit their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove someone from your directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …

(Edit Staff Members profile details)

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

You can use the Search Staff Members search box to locate a member if necessary …

(Search Staff Members search field)

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

(Screen Options)

Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when finished to update your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order that entries display on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order in the WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list items)

After adding your members’ details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory show on your site.

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order on the WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list entries)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Simple Staff List Templates page)

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

For example, here is the default template used for displaying listings …

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)

The This code will display your listing as shown below …

(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your listings 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 around with CSS styles and template tags or are not sure what to do, please contact us for help.

Usage Menu

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

In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)

This screen displays all the shortcode variations you can use.

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

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

Options Menu

In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – Options screen)

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

Finally, you can also export your staff members info by going to your dashboard menu and selecting Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members info)

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

Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Employee Directories

Simple Staff List is not the only adding a directory of your staff in WordPress. For example, here are some other free WordPress plugins you can check out:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory 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, visit the plugin site here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

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

You can also insert custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

Go here to learn more:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

Faculty And Staff Directory provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.

The plugin also includes 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 – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WP Plugin)

The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your staff to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and customizable single views, as well as fields like title, email address, phone, photo and bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.

Visitors will be able to 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 sourced from Company Directory plugin website)

This plugin uses simple shortcodes.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just an individual person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.

The Employee Spotlight plugincomes 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 faculty member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …

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

Learn more here:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

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 employee directory on your site …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

Staffer works with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.

For more details go here:

• Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin

If the directory plugins listed above 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
• Simple Staff List Template WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-manage simple staff directory to your website.

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

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