Tag: WordPress Plugin Staff Directory

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

If you are looking for quicker and simpler ways to sell more products or services online, then one of the things you can do, is help your prospects get to know, like and trust your organization better.

If you use WordPress, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to display information about your key partners, your faculty, or your employees using a staff list plugin.

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

WordPress Plugin Tutorial: How To Add An Employee Directory

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

Simple Staff List

(Simple Staff List)

Simple Staff List lets you easily employee (you could also use it to display board of directors, etc.).

The first step is to install and activate the plugin.

Log into your WordPress dashboard and from the admin menu, click on Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on Install Now …

(Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click on the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu will appear on your WordPress menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

Configuring The Plugin

Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could just begin adding new employee details at this at this stage, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualmembers into.

Staff Members – Groups

To set up your directory groups go to your dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups screen …

(Groups area)

Note: Setting up directory groups works just like categories in WordPress …

(Groups work like WordPress categories)

Create new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group name
2. Slug – Type in 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 a directory hierarchy
4. Description – Type in the group description here
5. Click Add New Group when finished to create a new group …

(Groups area)

If you manage a larger organization, 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 want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a directory hierarchy …

(Nested groups)

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

To edit Groups for an individual entry, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …

The item’s details will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new category from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

To edit the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and select Quick Edit …

Click Update Group when done …

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 …

(Nested groups)

After you have finished setting up your groups, the next step is to start adding names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

From your admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This brings up the Add New Staff Member settings area …

(Add New Staff Member settings screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your staff member’s name
• Slug: Change your employees’ permalink URL (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Your employee’s role
• Email: Type in your staff member’s email address
• Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type 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 (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 employees here. Since this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML into this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

Click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options)

You will see options to enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

Now that you know what each section does, enter your staff member’s details …

(Add Staff Member settings)

Once you have finished inputting details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature in your sidebar …

(Groups feature)

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

(Groups > + Add New Group feature)

A field will appear allowing you to enter 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 group and click on the Add New Group button …

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

(New group added in Groups section)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing employee 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 your employee’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• Your WordPress Control Area Explained

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

(Page error – Check your permalinks)

We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks here:

• How To Improve Your WordPress SEO With Permalinks

Keep adding more entries to your employee or faculty directory until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you have finished adding employee details to your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in the main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a list displaying all the directory entries and their details …

(Staff Members list)

If you need to change individual details, just hover your mouse over their list name, and a submenu will appear.

Click on Edit to make changes to the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from your 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 list can grow quite large.

Use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate entries if necessary …

(Search members)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order in the WP admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to its new location …

(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered listings)

After adding your member details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order that entries appear on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order on the main menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List allows you to create 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 …

(Templates screen)

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

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

(Default Staff Loop Template)

The The code shown above displays your directory listing as shown below …

(Default 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 include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template loop, as shown in the screenshot below …

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your listings page will now look like …

(Staff profiles with social media links added)

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

Usage Menu

In addition to allowing you to customize your directory 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 …

(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode screen)

This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin lets you use.

A useful 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 display listings in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).

Options Menu

In the main admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – Options screen)

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

Finally, you can also export your staff members details by going to your main menu and selecting Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

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

Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Staff Directories

Simple Staff List isn’t the only for creating a directory of your staff in WordPress. Here are a few other free plugins you can look at:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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 Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

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

You can also create custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: plugin website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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 installs a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.

Learn more here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

With Company Directory, you can add your staff to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and single views, plus as fields like title, email address, phone, photo and member bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.

Visitors can 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 members in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory website)

This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.

More info:

• Company Directory – WP Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)

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 upon plugin activation.

Employee Spotlight installs with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.

Detailed information about  each staff member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …

(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

Go here to learn more:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer)

This 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 employee directory on your website …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer 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 this plugin:

• Staffer – WP Plugin

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

Hopefully, now you know how to easily add an updatable simple employee directory to in WordPress with no coding skills required.

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

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