Tag: Staff List

Many business experts often raise the point that people generally buy from people they already know, like and trust.

Are you searching for simple ideas to sell more products online? Then make it easier for your prospects 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 add a staff list plugin that lets you display a directory containing information about your partners, your faculty, or your staff.

This step-by-step tutorial explains how to create a simple and easy-to-manage directory of employees in your WordPress site.

Adding An Employee List Directory To WordPress

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

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

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

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

(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on Install Now …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating the plugin, a new menu entry will display on your main WP menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

All of the settings and options for this plugin are configured and managed in this menu.

How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin

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

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

This opens up the Groups screen …

(Groups settings)

Note: Configuring directory groups works just like categories in WordPress …

(Groups are like categories)

Create a new group by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your category name here
2. Slug – Type in 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 to set up nested categories
4. Description – Enter your category description in this field
5. Click Add New Group when done to create a new group …

(Groups screen)

If you run a business that employs many people, being able to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for partners, developers, faculties, etc.

Create as many categories 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 the Add New Group button after creating new items …

To edit Groups for an individual item, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update to save your changes …

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

Click Update Group to save your changes …

Add as many group names as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Add nested groups to your directory)

Once you have finished setting up your directory structure, you can start adding your people 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 settings screen …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Type the staff member’s name
• Slug: Change your staff members’ 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: Type the person’s role
• Email: Add the person’s email address
• Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type the person’s Facebook address into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Enter 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: Type a profile description for your employee or faculty member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign an employee or faculty member to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up groups).

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

(Screen options)

You will see options to enable additional features …

(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)

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

(Groups section)

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

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field for entering a group name will appear, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on the Add New Group button …

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

(New group)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing 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).

***

After typing in your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the staff directory …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the WP admin toolbar, see this tutorial:

• The WP Administration Section – An Overview

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

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

If you need help setting up WP permalinks, see this tutorial:

• Setting Up Your WordPress Permalinks

Continue adding new entries to your directory directory as shown above until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

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

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members list)

If you need to change an individual’s details, just hover your mouse over their listing, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit to update their 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 your employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …

(Edit Staff Members details)

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

You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to find a member if required …

(Search Staff Members search box)

The plugin also lets you specify which fields to display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …

(Screen Options)

Placing a tick in the item’s checkbox 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

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

Choose Staff Members > Order in the main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to the desired position …

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order in the main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List also lets you edit the layout and style of your directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Templates page)

To customize your directory, reorganize 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 Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)

Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. 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 …

(Use template tags to customize your listings page)

Here is what your directory should now look like …

(Directory listings 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 how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.

Usage Menu

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

In your main menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage page …

(Usage shortcodes)

This screen displays all the shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin lets you use.

For example, a useful shortcode variation you can decide to use to display only members of 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

In your main admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

This section lets you modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles

You can also export your staff members info by going to your main admin menu and choosing Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need specific help with the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the Simple Staff List faq page.

Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Staff Directories

Simple Staff List is not the only adding a listing 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 – WP 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)

Learn more here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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

You can also add custom fields …

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

Learn more here:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin was developed to provide 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 – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WP Plugin)

With Company Directory, you can 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 number, image and staff bio, allowing you to present 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 in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory plugin website)

This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders or just a single member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.

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

Detailed information about  each employee 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 Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

This plugin 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 a staff directory on your website …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer website)

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

Hopefully, this tutorial has explained how to create and add an easy-to-update employee directory to WordPress.

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

***