Tag: WordPress Plugin Staff Directory

Something that is generally well known in marketing circles, is that people tend to buy from people they know, like and trust.

If you are searching for inexpensive ways to sell more products online or get people to interact more with your site, then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for prospects to get to know, like and trust your organization better.

If your site runs on the WordPress CMS platform, a simple way to help visitors get to know you better is to use a directory plugin that lets you add information about your key partners, your team, or your staff.

This tutorial will show you how to create an easy-to-manage employee directory in WordPress.

WordPress Plugin Tutorial: Adding A Staff List Directory

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 Plugin For WordPress)

Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you easily build a simple staff directory for.

First, let’s install and activate this plugin.

Log into your dashboard and go to Plugins > Add New …

(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu entry will show up in your main WP admin menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could just begin to add new staff details after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place yourstaff into.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s configure your directory categories. In your WordPress dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

This brings you to the Groups section …

(Groups settings)

Note: Setting up groups works in the same way as configuring categories …

(Groups work like categories)

Create new groups by entering the following information:

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

(Groups section)

If you are a business that employs many people, being able to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for founders, project teams, faculties, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

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

To change Groups for an item, hover your mouse button over a category title and click on the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group screen)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

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

Click Update Group 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 categories as you like …

(Add nested groups to your directory)

Once you have finished setting up your groups, you can begin adding your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

From your WordPress admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This brings up the Add New Staff Member screen in your browser …

(Add New Staff Member screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Type the employee’s name
• Permalink: Here you can edit the slug associated with your employee if you want (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Your employee’s role
• Email: Your employee’s email
• Phone Number: Enter the staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Add the employee’s Facebook URL into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type in your company’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 or team member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign the person to a specific 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 your screen …

(Screen options)

You will see options to enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Staff directory settings)

After you are done entering details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups section located in the sidebar …

(Groups section)

Note: If you have not set up categories before starting to add staff member details, you can create a group now by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …

(Groups > + Add New Group)

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 directory category and click on the Add New Group button …

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

(New group)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to a staff member’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 entering the person’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

To edit your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

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

• The WordPress Administration Section Explained

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

(Check your permalinks if you get errors)

If you need help setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:

• How To Set Up WordPress Permalinks

Repeat the above process to continue adding new entries to your directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you are done adding staff details into your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all your listing entries and their details …

(Staff Members details list)

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

Click on Edit if you need to update the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove an entry 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, your list can become unwieldy.

You can use the Search Staff Members search box to find items if required …

(Search members)

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

(Screen Options tab)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order in the main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list items)

Once you are done adding all of your employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order in which entries show on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin lets you edit the layout and style of your employee directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up 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 the default template used for displaying directory listings …

(Default Simple Staff List Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your listings page should now look like …

(Directory with social media links added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with template tags or are not sure what to do, please contact us for assistance.

Usage Menu

In addition to allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Usage shortcodes)

This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.

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=”Asia Pacific Region”])

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

Options Menu

In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Options settings)

This section lets you edit some of the labels used in the plugin

You can also export your staff members data by going to the main admin menu and choosing Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need plugin help or support, go to the Simple Staff List plugin site.

Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Employee Directories

Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to create a staff directory in WordPress. Here are a few other free plugins you can look at:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

Modern Team Staff Directory 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)

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP 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 create custom fields …

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

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

This 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 a profile in a widget area.

For more details go here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

With Company Directory, you can add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and customizable single views, plus as fields like title, email, phone, pic 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 staff member in a customizable single view …

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

This plugin uses shortcodes.

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just a single person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.

This plugin comes with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, 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 circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight website)

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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 an online employee directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from 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 about the plugin:

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

Hopefully, this tutorial has helped you learn how to create and add a simple and easy-to-manage employee directory to WordPress.

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

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