Tag: WordPress Plugin Staff Directory

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

If you are searching for inexpensive ways to grow your business online, then one of the things you can do, is help your visitors get to know, like and trust you and your business better.

If you have a WordPress-powered site, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to use a WordPress staff list plugin that lets you display information about your key people, your team, or your employees.

This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-update employee directory to your website.

Plugin Tutorial: How To Easily Add An Employee Directory To Your WordPress Site

In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost 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 create a simple staff directory list for.

The first step is to install and activate this plugin.

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

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating your plugin, you will see that a new entry will be added to the main WP menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

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

How To Configure The Plugin

Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your directory, you could just begin adding new staff details at this point, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to place yourstaff members into.

Staff Members – Groups

To configure your directory categories go to your dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This brings you to the Groups settings …

(Groups screen)

Note: Adding groups works just like WordPress categories …

(Groups work like WordPress categories)

Add a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group name here
2. Slug – Type in the slug of your 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 groups
4. Description – Type in the group description in this field
5. Click Add New Group when finished to create the new directory category …

(Groups settings screen)

If you work with a larger organization, being able to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for partners, developers, faculties, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

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

To edit Groups for an individual item, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …

The category details open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent category from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update to save your changes …

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

Click Update Group when done to save your changes …

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

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested categories)

After you have finished setting up your directory structure, you can begin to add names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This opens up the Add New Staff Member area …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your employee’s name
• Slug: Change your employees’ slug (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Type in the person’s position
• Email: Add your employee’s email
• Phone Number: Your staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Add your employee’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Add your staff member’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 employees here. As this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can format content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign the individual to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).

Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your 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 your employee’s details …

(Add New Staff Member fields)

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

(Groups box)

Note: If you did not set up directory groups before adding 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 to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on Add New Group …

The new directory category will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

(New group)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or modified. 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 staff member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the dashboard admin toolbar, see this step-by-step tutorial:

• The WP Admin Screen – A Tutorial

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

(Check your permalinks if you get ’not found’ page errors)

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

• How To Improve Your WordPress SEO Using Permalinks

Repeat the above process to continue adding new details to your staff directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff or faculty members to your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on the main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members table)

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

Click on Edit if you want to make changes to the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a list item from the staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …

(Edit Staff Members profile details)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can become unwieldy.

Use the Search Staff Members search feature to find listing items if necessary …

(Search Staff Members search field)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order on the main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the entry to its desired position …

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list items)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to a new location …

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list)

After adding your members’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display on your site.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List also lets you edit the layout and style of your staff list entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up the Templates screen …

(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 Staff Loop Template …

(Default 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 example. 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 added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your directory will now look like …

(Directory listings with social media links added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with code or are unsure of 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 staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

In your dashboard menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Usage Shortcode section)

This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations you can use with the Simple Staff List plugin.

For example, a useful variation you can add to your page to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales reps”])

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

Options Menu

Choose Staff Members >Options in your WP admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

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

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

(Export Staff Members info)

If you need plugin support, visit the Simple Staff List support page.

Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Staff Directories

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to create a staff directory in WordPress. Here are some other free WordPress plugins you can check out:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

This 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

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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

You can also set up custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: plugin website)

Learn more here:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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 profiles in a widget area.

Go here to learn more:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

This plugin lets you add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable single views, as well as fields like title, email address, phone, pic and staff bio, allowing visitors to get to know 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 source: plugin website)

This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just one single person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.

With Employee Spotlight, you also get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.

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

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

Go here to learn more:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WP 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 a staff directory on your website …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer plugin website)

Staffer works 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 – Plugin For WordPress

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

Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has shown you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-maintain directory of staff in your web site.

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

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