Tag: WordPress Plugin Staff Directory

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

If you are searching for cost-effective ways to sell more products or services online and increase user interaction on your site, then help visitors get to know you and your business better.

If you use WordPress, a simple way to help visitors get to know you better is to add a staff list plugin that will let you display a directory containing information about your key partners, your business team, or your employees.

This step-by-step tutorial explains how to create and add a simple and easy-to-maintain directory of staff to your WordPress site.

How To Add A Staff Directory In WordPress: WordPress Plugin Tutorial

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

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List)

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

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

Log into the WP admin and navigate to Plugins > Add New …

(WordPress 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 …

(WordPress Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After your plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu will be added to your main WP menu bar called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

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

Configuring Simple Staff List

Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can start to add new staff details after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualemployees into.

Staff Members – Groups

To set up your categories go to your WordPress dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

This loads the Groups settings area …

(Groups settings)

Note: Configuring directory groups is similar to creating WordPress categories …

(Groups work just like categories)

Create new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your category name here
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 categories
4. Description – Type in the category description in this field
5. Click Add New Group when finished to set up the new group name …

(Groups screen)

If you manage a larger organization, having 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 groups and nested categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a hierarchical structure …

(Nested categories)

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

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

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

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

Click on Update Group  after making changes …

Add as many group names as you need to until you have created your directory structure …

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 staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

In your WordPress admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This loads the Add New Staff Member area …

(Add New Staff Member screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The employee’s name
• Permalink: Change the permalink URL associated with your staff member if you want (this section appears 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: Enter the staff member’s email address
• Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Enter your company’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Enter your company’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Type in a profile description for your employee here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

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

(Screen options tab)

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 have entered 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 create a group now by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …

(Groups - + Add New Group feature)

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. Type in the name of your new category and click on the Add New Group button …

Your new group will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign the list item to the group …

(New group)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or edited. To edit a group 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 your staff member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the staff directory …

Click View Post …

To modify your employee’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

We have created a detailed tutorial about using the WP admin toolbar here:

• The WP Control Screen Explained

Note: If you get an error like the one shown below, check that your site permalinks have been set up correctly …

(Page error? Check your permalinks)

To learn more about setting up permalinks in WordPress, refer to this tutorial:

• Changing Your WordPress Permalinks

Keep adding new members to your staff directory directory as shown above until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

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

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all your directory entries and any details you have added related to each entry …

(Staff Members list)

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

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

(Edit Staff Members profile info)

If you have added many employees to this section, your list can become unwieldy.

You can use the Search Staff Members search box to locate entries if required …

(Search members)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide specific fields. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when finished to update your settings …

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To reorder your items, click and drag the item to its desired location …

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered listings)

Once you are done adding staff details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory 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 that listings display on your directory pages.

Select Staff Members > Order on your main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to its new position …

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered listings)

Once you are done adding all of your staff details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your site users.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List 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 staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Simple Staff List Templates screen)

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 …

(Default Simple Staff List Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

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

Your employee entries will now display as shown in the screenshot below …

(Directory with social media URLs)

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

Usage Menu

In addition to being able to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

In your main admin menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode section)

This screen lists all different shortcode variations you can use.

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

Or, you can make your listings display in ascending or descending order by using 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 – customizable fields)

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

You can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export page …

(Export Staff Members info)

If you need plugin support, go to the Simple Staff List site and contact the plugin developer.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to display an employee directory in WordPress. For example, here are some other free plugins you can use for adding a staff directory on your site:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP 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)

For more details go here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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 churches, schools, etc.

You can also add custom fields …

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

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

This plugin 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 a profile in a widget area.

For more details go here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

With Company Directory, you can easily add your employees to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and single views, plus as fields like job title, email address, phone number, image and bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.

Visitors can click through from your list, grid, and table views to learn more about each employee in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory website)

This plugin uses shortcodes.

More info:

• Company Directory – WP Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just one 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 which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, 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)

More info:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer)

This plugin uses custom post types for staff 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 source: plugin website)

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

More info:

• Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

If the above plugins 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
• Staff Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple staff or team member directory to your WordPress site, so you can showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.

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

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