Tag: Staff List

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

If you are searching for quicker, easier and cost-effective ways to grow your business online and get people to stay longer on your site, then something you can do, is help your visitors get to know your organization better.

Adding a staff directory to your website can generate increased trust, boost your credibility online and get interested prospects to consider using your services.

This tutorial shows you how to create and add an easy-to-update employee directory to WordPress.

Adding A Staff List Directory: WordPress Plugin Tutorial

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

Simple Staff List

(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 your WordPress admin and go to Plugins > Add New …

(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on Install Now …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating your plugin, you will see that a new menu entry will show up in your main WordPress menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

All of the options and settings for this plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.

Configuring The Plugin

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

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups settings panel …

(Groups settings screen)

Note: Adding directory groups is just like adding categories in WordPress …

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Create a new group by entering the following information:

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

(Groups settings screen)

If you work with a medium to large organization, having the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for investors, project teams, departments, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

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

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

Your selected group open 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 the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and choose Quick Edit …

Click the Update Group button after making changes …

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

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Add nested groups to your staff directory)

Once you are done setting up your directory structure, you can begin adding staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

In your WordPress admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members – Add New)

This takes you to the Add New Staff Member section …

(Add New Staff Member settings area)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Enter the employee’s name
• Slug: Modify each staff members’ slug (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign your staff member to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).

Click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add Staff Member settings)

After you have finished inputting each of you staff member’s details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups section in the sidebar …

(Groups feature)

Note: If you have not set up directory groups before adding new staff members, you can create a group now by selecting 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 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 …

The new group will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign an individual to the group …

(New group added via Groups box)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing a staff member’s details. To edit an 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 staff member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the staff directory …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the WordPress admin toolbar , go here:

• Your WordPress Control Panel – An Overview

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

(Not found error? Check your permalinks)

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

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

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

Staff Members – All Staff Members

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

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all your staff profiles and any details you have added with each entry …

(Staff Members details table)

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

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

(Editing Staff Members profile)

If you have many employees, your list can grow quite large.

You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to find listing items …

(Search members)

The plugin also lets you specify which fields can 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)

Placing a tick in the item’s check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to update your preferences …

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order in the main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to its desired location …

(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list)

Once you have added staff details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order that entries appear 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 item to a desired position …

(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered list items)

Once you are done adding all of your staff listing details to the directory, the next step is to add the directory to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Customize your directory template)

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

For example, here is a screenshot of the Default Template …

(Default Simple Staff List Template)

The The code shown above will display your directory listing as shown below …

(Default Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Your staff entries will now display as shown in the screenshot below …

(Employee profiles with social media URLs added)

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

Usage Menu

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

In your main admin menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Usage Shortcode screen)

This screen lists all different shortcode variations that you can use.

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=”sales trainers”])

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

Options Menu

Click Staff Members >Options on your menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

Here you can edit 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 additional information about the plugin, go to the Simple Staff List plugin website.

Additional Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List isn’t the only for displaying a directory of your staff. Here are some other free plugins you can check out:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP 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 – WordPress Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

The plugin also lets you insert custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: plugin website)

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress 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 a profile in a widget area.

For more details go here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

Company Directory lets you easily add your employees to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and single views, plus as fields like title, email address, phone, 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 employee in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

This plugin uses simple shortcodes.

More info:

• Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)

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

With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, plus 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 source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

The Staffer 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 employee directory on your site …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin website)

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

More info:

• 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
• Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to easily add an updatable simple staff directory in your site without coding skills.

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

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