Tag: Staff Plugin WordPress

No doubt you’ve already heard that people generally buy from people they know, like and trust.

Are you searching for inexpensive ideas to grow your business online or get people to interact more on your site? Then help your visitors get to know, like and trust you and your business better.

If your site uses the WordPress Content Management System, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to display information about your partners, your faculty, or your employees using a WordPress directory plugin.

In this tutorial, you are going to learn how to create and add a list directory of staff members to WordPress with no coding skills required.

WordPress Plugin Tutorial: How To Add A Staff Directory To Your Site

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

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you easily staff (you could also use it to display faculty members, etc.).

First, let’s install and activate the plugin.

Log into your WP dashboard and in your admin menu, click on Plugins > Add New …

(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(WordPress Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members)

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

Configuring The Plugin

Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you could just start to add new employee entries at this point, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual members.

Staff Members – Groups

To configure your directory categories go to your WP dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

The Groups section …

(Groups settings area)

Note: Configuring groups is just like setting up WordPress categories …

(Groups are like categories)

Create a new group by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group name
2. Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version 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 groups
4. Description – Enter your category description in this field
5. Click Add New Group when done to create the new directory category …

(Groups settings screen)

If you manage a business that employs many people, the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for partners, project teams, departments, etc.

Create as many categories and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a directory hierarchy …

(Nested groups)

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

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

The selected category details open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group category from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update to save your changes …

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

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

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

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Add nested categories your directory)

After you are done setting up your directory structure, the next step is to start adding staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member screen …

(Add New Staff Member screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your staff member’s name
• Permalink: Change each staff members’ permalink URL (you will see this section 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: The employee’s email
• Phone Number: Enter your staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Enter the person’s Facebook URL here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type in the person’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your employee or faculty member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatted content in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign the person to a group (see above to learn how to set up groups).

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 employee’s details …

(Add New Staff Member fields)

Once you have finished entering each of you staff member’s details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups section located in the sidebar …

(Groups box)

Note: If you did not set up categories before starting to add staff member details, you can create a new group 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 dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on the Add New Group button …

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

(New group)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing a staff member’s details. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).

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After typing in your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your employee directory …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

For a detailed step-by-step tutorial on using the admin toolbar , go here:

• Your WordPress Control Area – A Step-By-Step Tutorial

Note: If errors shows up like the one shown in the example below, check that your site permalinks have been configured correctly …

(Check your permalinks if you get ’not found’ page errors)

We have written a detailed tutorial about using WP permalinks here:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Keep adding more details to your directory directory as shown above until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you have entered all employees into your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all your staff profiles and their details …

(Staff Members details table)

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

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

(Editing Staff Members profile)

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

Use the Search Staff Members search box to find a member if necessary …

(Search Staff Members search box)

The plugin also allows you to specify which fields can display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …

(Screen Options)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide fields. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your settings …

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order that entries show on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list items)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order on your main menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Customize your directory template)

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

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

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)

The This code displays your directory listing as shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)

Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. To make these fields appear in your directory, we 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 the Staff Loop Template to customize your listings page)

Here is what your staff list should now look like …

(Employee profiles with social media URLs)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with template tags or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.

Usage Menu

In addition to 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, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage page …

(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)

This screen displays all the shortcode variations that the plugin lets you use.

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

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

Options Menu

Click Staff Members >Options in your dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – Options settings screen)

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

You can also export your staff members data by going to your menu and clicking Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members info)

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

Additional Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to display a faculty directory in WordPress. Here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can use:

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)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

You can also use custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

The Faculty And Staff Directory 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.

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)

The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, as well as fields like job title, email address, phone, pic and member 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 read more about each staff member in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory website)

This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

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

With Employee Spotlight, you also get two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, 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 employee circle grid. Screenshot source: plugin website)

Go here to learn more:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

The Staffer 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 an online staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: 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 – Plugin For WordPress

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

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

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

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