Tag: WordPress Plugin Staff Directory

Consumer buying habits show that people tend to buy from people they already know, like and trust.

If you are looking for quicker and simpler ways to sell more products or services online and increase user interaction with your site, then make it easier for prospects to get to know you and your business better.

Adding a directory of employees or team members to your website can generate increased trust, increase your credibility online and get interested prospects making enquiries.

In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-manage directory of staff or faculty members in WordPress using free WordPress plugins.

Step-By-Step Tutorial: Adding A Staff Directory

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

Simple Staff List

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List lets you easily display information to visitors about your staff on your website.

The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.

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

(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on Install Now …

(WordPress Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating the plugin, you will see that a new menu will have been added to your WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can just start to add new employee entries at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff members.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s start by setting up your categories. In your WordPress dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups panel …

(Groups settings)

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

(Groups work like categories)

Create a new group by entering the following information:

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

(Groups area)

If you are a larger organization, the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for partners, developers, 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 organize these into a hierarchical structure …

(Nested groups)

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

To change Groups for an individual entry, hover your mouse over a category title and select the Edit link …

The selected category details will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new group from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

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

Click on Update Group  when done …

Continue adding categories in this section until you have created your directory structure …

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Add nested categories your staff 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 admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members – Add New)

This loads the Add New Staff Member screen in your web browser …

(Add New Staff Member section)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Add your employee’s name
• Slug: You can edit the slug associated with each employee if you want (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Groups Section (5)

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

If you click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options tab)

You will see options to enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add New Staff Member settings)

After you are done entering each of you staff member’s details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups box in your sidebar …

(Groups section)

Note: If you have not set up groups before starting to add staff member details, you can add a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Groups - + Add New Group link)

A field will display allowing you to enter a new group name, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on Add New Group …

Your new directory category will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign an individual to the group …

(New group added)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or edited. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).

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

Click View Post …

You can edit the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

For a detailed tutorial on using the dashboard admin toolbar , go here:

• The WordPress Control Screen – An Overview

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

(Check your permalinks if you get errors)

To learn more about setting up WordPress permalinks, go here:

• How To Improve Your WordPress SEO Using Permalinks

Repeat the above process to add more members to your staff or faculty directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff details into your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on your main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table with all your directory items and their details …

(Staff Members table)

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

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

(Editing Staff Members details)

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

Use the Search Staff Members search field to locate entries …

(Search members)

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

(Screen Options)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order in the main menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the entry to the new position …

(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list)

After adding your staff details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered list items)

Once you have added all of your staff details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List 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 staff directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Templates page)

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

For example, below is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying listings …

(Default Plugin Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Your directory entries will now display as shown in the example below …

(Employee profiles with social media URLs)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings 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 assistance.

Usage Menu

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

In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Usage shortcodes)

This screen lists all the shortcode variations you can use with this plugin.

A useful shortcode variation you can decide to use, for example, to display only members of 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=”ASC”] (ascending).

Options Menu

Click Staff Members >Options in your menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

This section lets you 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 information)

If you need plugin support, go to the Simple Staff List plugin website and request help from the plugin developer.

Other Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to create an employee directory in WordPress. Here are other free WordPress plugins you can use to add a directory on your site:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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)

More info:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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

You can also add custom fields …

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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

The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

The Company Directory plugin lets you add your staff, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are available, including grid and table views, as well as fields like title, email address, phone number, pic and staff bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.

Visitors will be able to click through from your list, grid, and table views to read more about each employee in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: plugin website)

This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Company Directory

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 screen size of the viewer’s device.

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: Employee Spotlight website)

Go here to learn more:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

The Staffer plugin uses custom post types for employee management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage a staff directory on your website …

(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.

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Staffer

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

Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple employee directory to your WordPress site without messing around with code, so you can 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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