Tag: WordPress Plugin Staff Directory

Consumer buying habits show that people will mostly buy from those they know, like and trust.

If you are searching for cost-effective ways to sell more products or services online, then help prospects get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.

If your site is powered by the WordPress CMS, a simple way to help visitors get to know you better is to add a WordPress directory plugin that will let you add information about your key people, your team, or your staff members.

In this step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to easily create and add an updatable list directory of employees to your web site without coding skills.

Tutorial: Adding An Employee Directory To Your WordPress Site

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List is free and lets you easily build a basic staff directory list for.

The first step is to install and activate the plugin.

Log into the WordPress admin and in your admin menu section, select 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 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 notice that new menu entry will appear in your main WordPress menu section 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.

Configuring Simple Staff List

Depending on the size of your team and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can just start adding new employee details after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual group members.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This brings you to the Groups settings panel …

(Groups screen)

Note: Adding groups works just like categories …

(Groups work like WordPress categories)

Add new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group name
2. Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your group. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
3. Parent – This section lets you set up nested groups
4. Description – Type in your category description in this field (optional)
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to create a new directory group …

(Groups settings screen)

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

Create as many categories and nested groups 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 on the Add New Group button after creating each new item …

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

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update when done …

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

Click on Update Group  when done to save your changes …

Continue adding groups to this section until you are done creating your directory structure …

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested groups)

Once you are done setting up your groups, you can start to add staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This takes you to the Add New Staff Member settings …

(Add New Staff Member area)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The staff member’s name
• Permalink: Change the permalink URL associated with your staff member if required (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: Add the employee’s position
• Email: Type in the person’s email address
• Phone Number: Type your staff member’s phone number here
• Facebook URL: Add your staff member’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Add 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 staff member here. Since this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …

(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 Staff Member settings)

Once you are done entering each staff member’s details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in the sidebar …

(Groups section)

Note: If you did not set up categories before starting to add new staff members, you can create a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Groups - + Add New Group link)

A field will appear allowing you to enter a new group name, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …

Your new group will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

(Groups feature)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or modified. 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 filling in your employee’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

If you need help using the admin toolbar , go here:

• Using Your WordPress Admin Area

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

(Not found error – Check your permalinks)

We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks here:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

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

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff details to your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in the main menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all the staff members and their details …

(Staff Members list)

If you need to modify individual details, hover your mouse over their listing, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit to modify their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a listing from your staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …

(Edit Staff Members profile details)

If you have many names to add, your table can become unwieldy.

You can use the Search Staff Members search box to locate listing items if necessary …

(Search members)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered listings)

Once you have added all of your member listing details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory show on your site.

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order in which entries display on your directory pages.

Select Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to the desired location …

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List lets you create the style and layout of your employee directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Simple Staff List Templates screen)

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

For example, here is a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Plugin Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)

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

(Use template tags to customize your directory page)

Here is what your staff list should now look like …

(Directory with social media URLs added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with CSS code and template tags or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for assistance.

Usage Menu

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

In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Usage Shortcode section)

This screen displays all the shortcode variations you can 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=”senior staff”])

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

Options Menu

Click Staff Members >Options in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – Options screen)

This section lets you change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles

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

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need additional information about the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the plugin support page and contact the plugin author.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List is not the only for displaying a directory of your employees. Here are other plugins you can check out:

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)

For more details go here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

This plugin also lets you insert custom fields …

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

Learn more here:

• Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

Faculty And Staff Directory was developed to provide 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 – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

This plugin lets you easily add your employees to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and customizable single views, as well as fields like job title, email address, phone number, photo and member 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 in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

This plugin uses simple shortcodes.

Go here to learn more:

• Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

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

The Employee Spotlight plugincomes with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.

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)

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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 onsite staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staffer

If the above plugins 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 Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple directory of staff members to your WordPress site without messing with code, so your web visitors can get to know you and the people in your business better.

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

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