Tag: Staff Plugin WordPress

No doubt you already know that people tend to buy from those they already know, like and trust.

If you are looking for ways to sell more products online, then one of the things you can do, is help visitors get to know you and your organization better.

Adding a staff directory to your site can help increase your online credibility and get interested prospects to send you enquiries for quotes or more information.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to easily create and add an updatable simple team members directory in your website using a free plugin.

Plugin Tutorial: How To Easily Add A Staff List Directory

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

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List lets you easily employee.

First, let’s install and activate this plugin.

Log into the admin and from the admin menu, choose Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on Install Now …

(WordPress Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu entry will have been added to the main WordPress menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on how many people are in your team and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can just begin to add new employee entries at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign yourstaff into.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s start by setting up your directory categories. From your WP dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This takes you to the Groups section …

(Groups settings screen)

Note: Configuring directory groups works in the same way as configuring categories in WordPress …

(Groups work like categories)

Create new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group name
2. Slug – Type in 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 section if you plan to set up nested categories
4. Description – Type in your group description here (optional)
5. Click the Add New Group button when done to set up your new directory group …

(Groups 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 groups for partners, project teams, faculties, etc.

Create as many categories and nested categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a hierarchical structure …

(Nested categories)

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

To change Groups for an item, hover your mouse button over a category title and click on the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button when done …

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

Click Update Group after making changes …

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

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested categories)

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

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This loads the Add New Staff Member area …

(Add New Staff Member section)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your employee’s name
• Permalink: Modify the slug associated with each employee if required (this section appears after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: The staff member’s role
• Email: Enter the employee’s email here
• Phone Number: Enter the person’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Add the person’s Facebook address here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Enter your company’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your employees here. Since this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign your employee to a specific group (see the previous section 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 will see options to enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Add Staff Member settings)

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

(Groups section)

Note: If you did not set up categories before adding staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Groups > + Add New Group feature)

A field for creating a new group name will appear, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new directory category and click on Add New Group …

Your new group will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign an individual to the group …

(New group added in Groups section)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to 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 the person’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• The WP Control Screen – A Tutorial

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

(Not found error – Check your permalinks)

We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks in WordPress here:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Keep adding more entries to your employee or partner directory as shown above until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

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

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table of all the directory items and all details you have added with each entry …

(Staff Members table)

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

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

(Edit Staff Members profile information)

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

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

(Search Staff Members search feature)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list items)

After adding your employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display 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 listings show on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order on the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the entry to a new location …

(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list items)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The Simple Staff List plugin allows you to customize 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 menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up 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 used for displaying directory listings …

(Default Simple Staff List Template)

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

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)

Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above listing. To display these fields, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template loop, as shown in the example below …

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Your employee entries will now display as as shown below …

(Directory with social media URLs added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory 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 help.

Usage Menu

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

In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)

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

For example, a useful variation you can insert in your page to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales managers”])

Or, you can make your listings display in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).

Options Menu

In your menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

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

You can also export your staff members data by going to the WP admin menu and choosing Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need plugin support, go to the Simple Staff List faq page and request help from the plugin author.

Other Employee Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to display a directory of your faculty members in WordPress. Here are a few other free plugins you can look at for creating a directory on your site:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory)

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, visit the plugin site here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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

You can also set up custom fields …

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

Go here to learn more:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

Faculty And Staff Directory provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college or university.

The plugin also includes a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your employees, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and table views, as well as fields like title, email, phone, pic and 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 employee 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 simple shortcodes.

For more details go here:

• Company Directory – WordPress Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just a single member of your team in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.

The Employee Spotlight pluginincludes two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, and 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)

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress 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 employee directory on your site …

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

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

Go here to learn more:

• Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

If the directory plugins listed above aren’t what you’re looking for, just go online or visit the WordPress plugin directory and search for:

• Add Staff Directory To WordPress
• WordPress Staff Plugin
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple staff directory to your WordPress site with no coding skills required, so you can showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.

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

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