Tag: Staff Plugin WordPress

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

Are you looking for quicker and simpler ways to grow your business online or get people to stay longer on your site? Then make it easier for your prospects to get to know, like and trust you and your business better.

If you are a WordPress user, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to use a staff list plugin that lets you display information about your key partners, your team, or your employees.

In this tutorial, we explain how to easily add an updatable simple staff directory in WordPress with no coding skills required.

WordPress Plugin Tutorial: How To Add A Staff Directory

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

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)

The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you staff.

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

Log into your admin and go to 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 plugin search results.

Click on Install Now …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After the plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu entry will show up in your WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

Here is where you will configure and manage all of the settings and options for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in this menu.

Plugin Configuration

Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could just begin to add new employee entries after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your group members.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

This loads the Groups screen in your web browser …

(Groups settings area)

Note: Setting up directory groups is just like configuring WordPress categories …

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Add new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your category name
2. Slug – Type in the slug of your group category name. 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 the category description here (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when finished to create a new directory group …

(Groups screen)

If you manage a business that employs many people, being able to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for founders, project teams, departments, etc.

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

(Nested groups)

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

To change or reassign Groups for specific items, hover your mouse button over a category title and click on the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

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

Click Update Group when done to save your changes …

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

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Add nested groups to your directory)

After you have finished setting up your hierarchical structure, you can start to add names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

In your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member area …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Type your staff member’s name
• Permalink: Modify the permalink URL associated with your employee if required (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your employee here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

If you click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options)

You will see options to enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Add New Staff Member settings)

Once you are done inputting details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups section in the sidebar …

(Groups feature)

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

(Groups - + Add New Group feature)

A field for entering your new group name will display, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new group and click on the Add New Group button …

The new directory category will be added. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …

(New group)

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

Click View Post …

You can make changes to the employee’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• Your WP Dashboard – A Step-By-Step Tutorial

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

(Not found error? Check your permalinks)

We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks here:

• How To Improve Your WordPress SEO With SEO-Friendly URLs

Keep adding more members to your staff directory directory as described above.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you have entered all staff members into your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on the menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members list)

If you need to change individual entries, just hover your mouse over their name, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit if you want to modify the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details like 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 selecting View …

(Editing Staff Members profile info)

If you have many entries added to this section, your list can grow quite large.

Use the Search Staff Members search feature to find items if necessary …

(Search Staff Members search box)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options)

Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when done to save your preferences …

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 staff entries display on your directory pages.

Select Staff Members > Order on your dashboard menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list items)

After adding all member details to the directory, the next step is to display your directory to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order that entries appear on your directory page.

Click Staff Members > Order on your WP admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered listings)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(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 Staff Loop Template …

(Default Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your listings page)

Here is what your directory will now look like …

(Directory listings with social media links added)

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

Usage Menu

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

In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcode variations)

This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to use.

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=”partners”])

Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by inserting 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 page …

(Simple Staff List – Options settings)

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

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

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need plugin support, go to the Simple Staff List faq page.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List isn’t the only WordPress staff directory plugin you can use. Here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can look at:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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)

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

The plugin lets you create custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: plugin website)

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

Faculty And Staff Directory 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.

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, plus as fields like position title, email, phone number, pic and member bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.

Visitors can 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 members in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory plugin website)

This plugin also uses a simple shortcode system.

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

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 on plugin activation.

This plugin comes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, and 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)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer)

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 site …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer 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

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 Plugin
• WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
• Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple staff or team member directory to your WordPress site without using code, so you can better showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.

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

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