Tag: Staff Plugin WordPress

It’s often said in business circles that people generally will buy from those they know, like and trust.

If you are looking for quicker and easier ideas to grow your business online and get people to interact more on your site, then help prospects get to know you and your business better.

Adding a directory of staff to your site can help increase your online credibility and get interested prospects buying from you.

This tutorial will show you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-update directory of employees in your website.

Plugin Tutorial: Adding 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 is free and lets you display information to visitors about your staff members on your site.

The first step is to install and activate the plugin.

Log into the WP dashboard and in your admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …

(WordPress 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 the Install Now button …

(WordPress Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new entry will be added to your main WP menu bar called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

All of the settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in this menu.

How To Configure The Plugin

Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could just start adding new staff members after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to assign youremployees into.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s start by configuring your directory categories. In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This brings up the Groups settings screen …

(Groups settings)

Note: Configuring directory groups works just like WordPress categories …

(Groups are like categories)

Create new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group category name
2. Slug – Enter 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 drop-down menu if you plan to set up nested categories
4. Description – Type in a category description in this field
5. Click Add New Group when finished to set up a new directory group …

(Groups area)

If you are a larger organization, the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for founders, developers, 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 groups)

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

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

Your selected category will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new group category from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button when done …

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

Click the Update Group button when done to save your changes …

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

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested groups)

Once you are done setting up your directory structure, you can start to add your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

From your WP admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member settings screen …

(Add New Staff Member screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The employee’s name
• Slug: Here you can edit the slug for your staff member if you want (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: The employee’s position
• Email: Enter the employee’s email
• Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type in your company’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Add 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 staff member here. As this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign your employee to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).

Click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options tab)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add New Staff Member settings)

Once you have entered details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups section in the sidebar …

(Groups feature)

Note: If you have not set up your directory groups before starting to add new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field for entering your group name will display, 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 …

A new category will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …

(New group)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or edited. 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 your staff or team member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the staff directory …

Click View Post …

To modify 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 dashboard admin toolbar, see this step-by-step tutorial:

• Your WordPress Administration Area – An Overview

Note: If you have set up groups and get errors like the one shown below, check that you have set up your site’s permalinks correctly …

(Not found error – Check your permalinks)

To learn more about setting up permalinks in WordPress, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:

• Configuring WordPress Permalinks

Repeat the above process to add more entries to your directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

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

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table listing all the directory items and their details …

(Staff Members table)

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

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

(Edit Staff Members profile)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can become unwieldy.

You can use the Search Staff Members search field to locate a member …

(Search members)

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

(Screen Options)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide fields. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when done to update your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that listings appear on your directory pages.

Select Staff Members > Order on your WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to its new location …

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you are done adding all of your employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to display your directory on your site.

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to a new position …

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you are done adding all of your members’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to add the directory to your site users.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This brings up the Templates screen …

(Customize your directory template)

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

For example, below is the Default Template …

(Default Staff Loop Template)

The The code shown above displays your directory listing as shown below …

(Default Template Listing)

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

(Use template tags to customize your directory page)

Here is what your listings page should now look like …

(Staff profiles with social media URLs)

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

Usage Menu

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

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

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List shortcodes)

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

For example, a useful 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=”senior staff”])

Or, you can 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 on the main menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – Options screen)

Here you can modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles

Finally, you can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export screen …

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need plugin help or support, visit the Simple Staff List faq page and request help from the plugin developer.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use. Here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can check out to add a directory on your website:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

This 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)

More info:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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

This plugin lets you use custom fields …

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

This plugin was developed to provide 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 profiles in a widget area.

Learn more here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)

This plugin lets you add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and single views, plus as fields like title, email, phone, photo 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 employee 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.

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays team members, 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.

With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.

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 website)

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin

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 an online staff directory …

(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, visit the plugin site here:

• Staffer – WordPress 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 Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-manage list of staff or faculty members in your WordPress site using free WordPress plugins.

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

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