Tag: WordPress Plugin Staff Directory

Many business and marketing experts have successfully shown over the years that people tend to buy from those they already know, like and trust.

If you are searching for quicker, simpler and cost-effective ideas to sell more products or services online, then something you can do, is help visitors get to know your organization better.

If you own a WordPress-driven website, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to use a directory plugin that will let you add information about your partners, your team, or your staff members.

In this tutorial, we show you how to easily add an easy-to-manage simple faculty members directory in your website using free WordPress plugins.

Tutorial: Adding A Staff List Directory

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

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)

The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you display basic information to visitors about your employee on your site.

The first step is to install and activate this plugin.

Log into the WP administration and in your admin menu section, choose Plugins > Add New …

(WP 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 the Install Now button …

(WordPress Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating your plugin, a new menu will show up in your WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

All of the settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from this menu.

Plugin Configuration

Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you could start adding new employee entries at this at this stage, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to place yourmembers into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

The Groups panel loads in your web browser …

(Groups area)

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

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Create new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group category name
2. Slug – Enter the slug of your category. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
3. Parent – This section lets you set up a directory hierarchy
4. Description – Enter a category description
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up the new group name …

(Groups section)

If you are a medium to large organization, the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for partners, developers, departments, etc.

Create as many groups 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 categories)

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

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

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update when done …

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

Click Update Group to save your changes …

Add as many group names 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 directory structure, the next step is to begin to add staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This takes you to the Add New Staff Member settings screen …

(Add New Staff Member area)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your staff member’s name
• Slug: Here you can edit the permalink URL for each employee if required (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: The employee’s email address
• Phone Number: Type the person’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Enter the person’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 a profile description for your employees here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign the individual 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 features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add New Staff Member settings)

Once you have entered your staff member’s details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature in your sidebar …

(Groups box)

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

(Groups > + Add New Group feature)

A field will display 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 Add New Group …

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

(Groups section)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing new employee details. To edit an item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).

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After entering the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …

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)

To learn more about using the admin toolbar, refer to this tutorial:

• How To Navigate Inside The WP Administration Section

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

(Not found error – Check your permalinks)

We have written a detailed tutorial about using WP permalinks here:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

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

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you are done entering employee details to your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in the main admin menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table listing all the staff members and details you have added related to each entry …

(Staff Members details table)

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

Click on Edit if you want to edit their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from the employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …

(Edit Staff Members details)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can get quite long.

Use the Search Staff Members search field to locate member details if required …

(Search Staff Members search feature)

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

(Screen Options)

Placing a tick in the item’s check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to update your preferences …

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order that your staff members appear on your directory pages.

Select Staff Members > Order in the main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order in your WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This brings up the Templates screen …

(Templates screen)

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

For example, here is the default template used for displaying listings …

(Default Staff Loop Template)

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

(Default Plugin Template Listing)

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

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

Here is what your staff list should now look like …

(Directory listings with social media links added)

Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess around with editing code or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for help.

Usage Menu

As well as being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

In your WP admin menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Usage shortcodes)

This screen displays all different shortcode variations that the plugin allows you to use.

For example, a useful variation you can select to display a list of persons belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales managers”])

You can also 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 opens the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – Options settings)

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

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

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need plugin help or support, go to the Simple Staff List faq page and request help from the plugin author.

Other Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use. For example, here are other free plugins you can look at:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory 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)

For more details go here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

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

You can also set up custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

For more details go here:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

This plugin was developed to provide a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.

The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.

More info:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

With the Company Directory plugin, 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 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 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 simple shortcodes.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just one individual 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 includes two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.

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

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

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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 online staff directory …

(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.

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Staffer

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

Hopefully, now you know how to easily add a list directory of employees to your website using free plugins.

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

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