Tag: Staff List

It’s often said in business and marketing circles that people generally tend to buy from people they know, like and trust.

Are you searching for simple ideas to grow your business online? Then something you can do, is make it easier for your visitors to get to know, like and trust your business better.

Adding a staff directory to your site can help to let visitors learn more about the people behind the scenes in your business.

This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to create and add an easy-to-update staff directory to your site.

How To Add A Staff List Directory To Your Site: Step-By-Step Tutorial

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you easily staff (you could also use it to display faculty, etc.).

First, let’s install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.

Log into your WP dashboard and go to Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on Install Now …

(WordPress Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members menu)

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

Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration

Depending on how many people are employed in your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could just start adding new staff details after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual employees.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s set up your directory groups. From your WordPress dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups screen …

(Groups settings screen)

Note: Setting up directory groups works just like categories in WordPress …

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Create a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group 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 drop-down menu if you plan to set up nested categories
4. Description – Type in your category description here (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when finished to create the new group name …

(Groups settings)

If you manage a larger organization, being able to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for partners, project teams, faculties, etc.

Create as many groups and nested groups as you need 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 new item …

To edit Groups for specific items, hover your mouse button over a category title and click on the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

To edit your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and choose Quick Edit …

Click the Update Group button when done to save your changes …

Continue adding group names to 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)

After you have finished setting up your groups, you can begin to add names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member area …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your staff member’s name
• Permalink: Modify each staff members’ slug (this section appears after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Your staff member’s position
• Email: Enter the person’s email here
• Phone Number: Your employee’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type in the person’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Add 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: Add a profile description for your employees here. Since this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign the individual to a specific group (see the previous section 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 can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add New Staff Member settings)

Once you have entered details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups box located in your sidebar …

(Groups feature)

Note: If you did not set up categories before starting to add 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 will appear allowing you to create a new group name, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new directory category and click on Add New Group …

A new group will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign a person to the group …

(New group)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing a staff member’s details. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).

***

After typing in the person’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

You can modify your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• How To Navigate Around Your WordPress Administration Page

Note: If ’not found’ page errors like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that you have configured your permalinks correctly …

(Check your permalinks if you get ’page not found’ errors)

We have written a detailed tutorial about using WP permalinks here:

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

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

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering employees into your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table of all the listing entries and their details …

(Staff Members details list)

If you need to edit an individual’s entry, simply hover your mouse over their name, and a submenu will appear.

Click on Edit if you need to update the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from the directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …

(Edit Staff Members profile)

If you have many names to add, your table can get quite long.

You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate a member …

(Search members)

The plugin also allows you to specify which fields can display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …

(Screen Options tab)

Selecting a check box 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 settings …

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order in which entries appear on your directory page.

Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list)

Once you are done adding all of your members’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your site users.

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.

Click Staff Members > Order on the WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you are done adding employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory on your site.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List lets you create the style and layout of your employee directory entries 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 the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Customize your directory template)

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

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

(Default Plugin Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)

Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are 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 in the example below …

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your directory will now look like …

(Staff profiles with social media URLs)

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

Usage Menu

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

In your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Usage Shortcode screen)

This screen displays all the shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.

A useful variation you can decide to use, 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=”senior staff”])

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

Options Menu

Choose Staff Members >Options in your main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – Options settings screen)

Here you can modify some of the labels used in the plugin

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

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need additional information about this plugin, go to the plugin plugin site.

Additional Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List is not the only adding a listing of your team members. For example, here are other plugins you can use:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

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)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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

You can also use custom fields …

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

For more details go here:

• Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

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

More info:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WP Plugin)

This plugin lets you add your employees to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and single views, plus as fields like job title, email, phone number, image and member bio, allowing you to present 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: plugin website)

This plugin also uses shortcodes.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

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

With Employee Spotlight, you also get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.

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

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

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

Staffer uses custom post types for staff/employee 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 source: plugin website)

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

To learn more about this plugin go 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
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Staff Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-maintain simple faculty directory to in WordPress using a free WP plugin.

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

***