Tag: Staff List

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

Are you looking for simple ideas to sell more products or services online? Then help your visitors get to know you, your team and your organization better.

If you use WordPress, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to display information about your partners, your business team, or your staff using a WordPress staff list plugin.

In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add an easy-to-update simple faculty directory to your web site using free plugins.

How To Add An Employee List Directory: Plugin Tutorial

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

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)

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

The first step is to install and activate this plugin.

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

(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(WordPress Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click on the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu entry will appear on the WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

Here is where you will manage and configure all of the settings for your plugin are configured and managed in this menu.

How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can begin to add new staff entries after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff members.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

This brings up the Groups section …

(Groups area)

Note: Adding groups is very similar to creating WordPress categories …

(Groups work just like categories)

Create a new group by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group name
2. Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your group 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 groups
4. Description – Enter a group description in this field
5. Click Add New Group when done to set up your new directory category …

(Groups settings screen)

If you work with a medium to large organization, having the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for partners, developers, departments, etc.

Create as many categories and nested categories 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 on the Add New Group button after entering each new item …

To change Groups for a specific item, hover your mouse button over a category title and select the Edit link …

The item open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group category from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update when done …

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

Click on Update Group  to save your changes …

Continue adding groups to this section until you have created your directory structure …

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested groups)

Once you are done setting up your groups, you can start adding names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member settings …

(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: Add your employee’s name
• Permalink: You can change your staff members’ permalink URL (you will see this section 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 the person’s email address
• Phone Number: Your employee’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type the employee’s Facebook URL into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type your employee’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 staff members here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign your staff member to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).

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

(Screen options)

You can enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Staff directory settings)

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

(Groups box)

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

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field will display allowing you to create a new group name, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on the Add New Group button …

The new category will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign an employee’s details to the group …

(Groups section)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to a staff member’s details. To edit a group 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 entering the person’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

To update the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

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

• How To Use The WordPress Dashboard

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

(Page error – Check your permalinks)

For a detailed tutorial about setting up permalinks, go here:

• Setting Up Your WordPress Permalinks

Continue adding new details to your employee or partner directory until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff members to your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all the directory entries and their details …

(Staff Members details)

If you need to make changes to an individual’s entry, hover over their list name, and a submenu will appear.

Click on Edit to make changes to the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a list item from the employee directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …

(Editing Staff Members profile information)

If you have many entries, your table can get quite long.

Use the Search Staff Members search field to find a member if necessary …

(Search Staff Members search field)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options)

Selecting a check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when finished to save your preferences …

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order that listings display on your directory page.

Click Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to the new location …

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered list)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List allows you to customize the layout and style of your staff directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Templates page)

To customize your directory listings, insert any of the allowed 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 Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your listings page)

Here is what your staff list will now look like …

(Staff profiles with social media URLs)

Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with CSS styles and template tags or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.

Usage Menu

In addition to allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Usage Shortcode screen)

This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations that the plugin allows you to use.

For example, a useful shortcode variation you can select 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”])

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

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options in your main admin menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Options settings)

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

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

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

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

Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Employee Directories

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

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)

For more details go here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

This plugin lets you add custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory website)

More info:

• 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.

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your employees, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and table views, as well as fields like job title, email address, phone, pic and staff bio, allowing you to present 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 source: Company Directory plugin website)

This plugin also uses shortcodes.

More info:

• Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders or just one single person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon 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 team member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

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 a staff directory on your website …

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

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

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Staffer – Plugin For WordPress

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

Hopefully, this tutorial has shown you how to add an easy-to-maintain employee directory to your website.

Images of persons used in this tutorial to display staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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