Tag: Staff Plugin WordPress

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

If you are searching for quicker, easier and cheaper ideas to sell more products online, then help your prospects get to know, like and trust you, your team and your organization better.

Adding a directory of staff or faculty members to your website is a great way to personalize your business.

In this step-by-step tutorial, we show you how to easily add a simple and easily updatable simple employee directory to your web site using free WP plugins.

How To Add An Employee Directory To Your Site

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

Simple Staff List

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List lets you staff.

First, let’s install and activate this plugin.

Log into the WordPress administration and from the admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …

(WP 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  – Add Plugins screen)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating the plugin, you will notice that new menu will show up in the WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

All of the settings and options for your plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members 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 directory, you can start adding new staff details at this point, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualstaff members into.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s start by configuring your groups. From your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups screen …

(Groups screen)

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

(Groups work just like categories)

Create new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group name
2. Slug – Type in the slug of your category name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
3. Parent – This section lets you set up nested categories
4. Description – Type in a category description in this field (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when done to create the new directory category …

(Groups area)

If you run a larger organization, the ability to create categories 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 want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a hierarchical structure …

(Nested categories)

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

To edit or reassign Groups for specific entries, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group screen)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

To change the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and select Quick Edit …

Click on Update Group  when done …

Add as many categories as you need to until you have created your directory structure …

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested categories)

Once you have finished setting up your directory structure, the next step is to begin to add staff details 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 screen …

(Add New Staff Member screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Add the employee’s name
• Permalink: Here you can edit the slug associated with each staff member if you want (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 staff member’s role
• Email: The employee’s email
• Phone Number: Your employee’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Add your company’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type in 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: Enter a profile description for your staff members here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatted content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your 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 each staff member’s details …

(Staff directory fields)

Once you have finished entering details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in the sidebar …

(Groups feature)

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

(Groups > + Add New Group)

A field for creating a group name will appear, 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 …

Your new directory category will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign the employee’s details to the group …

(New group added)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing an employee or faculty member’s 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 entering the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the staff directory …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

If you need help using the admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:

• Understanding The WP Control Screen

Note: If you get a ‘page not found’ error like the one shown below, check that you have correctly configured your site’s permalinks …

(Not found error – Check your permalinks)

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

• Setting Up Your WordPress Permalinks

Continue adding new members to your employee directory directory as described above.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you are done entering staff or faculty members to your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in the WP admin menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a list of all the employees and all details you have added for each entry …

(Staff Members list)

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

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

(Edit Staff Members details)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can get quite long.

Use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate listing items …

(Search members)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

Selecting a check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when done to update your settings …

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered list items)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order on your main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered listings)

Once you are done adding staff details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your site visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The Simple Staff List plugin also lets you create the style and layout of your directory entries 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 – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Customize your directory template)

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 directory listings …

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)

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

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Use template tags to customize your listings page)

Here is what your staff list will now look like …

(Directory with social media links)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with code or are not sure what to do, please contact us for assistance.

Usage Menu

As well as being able to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List shortcodes)

This screen displays all the shortcode variations you can use.

For example, a useful shortcode variation you can choose to display a list of individuals belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Gold Level associates”])

You can also display listings 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 page …

(Simple Staff List – Options settings)

This section lets you change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title

Finally, you can also export your staff members details by going to the main menu and choosing Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need plugin help or support, go to the plugin site and request help from the plugin developer.

Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Employee Directories

Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a directory of your faculty in WordPress. For example, here are other free WordPress plugins you can use for creating 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)

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

Staff Directory 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 insert custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: plugin website)

For more details go here:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

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)

This plugin lets you easily add your staff to your website. Different layouts are available, including grid and table views, as well as fields like title, email address, phone, pic and staff 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 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 uses shortcodes.

Go here to learn more:

• Company Directory – WP Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)

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

Employee Spotlight comes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.

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

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

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

The Staffer plugin 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 online employee directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer plugin website)

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

Go here to learn more:

• 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
• Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, this tutorial has shown you how to add an easy-to-update directory of staff members to WordPress.

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

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