Tag: WordPress Plugin Staff Directory

Many business experts often raise the point that people tend to buy from people they know, like and trust.

Are you searching for simple ideas to grow your business online? Then something you can do, is make it easier for visitors to get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.

If your web presence is built with the WordPress Content Management System, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to add a staff list plugin that will let you display information about your partners, your business team, or your employees.

In this tutorial, you are going to learn how to add an easy-to-update simple faculty members directory in your website without messing around with code.

How To Add An Employee List Directory: Step-By-Step Tutorial

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

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

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

First, let’s install and activate the plugin.

Log into the WordPress admin and go to Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members menu)

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

How To Configure The Plugin

Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can start adding new staff details after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual employees.

Staff Members – Groups

To set up your directory categories go to your WP dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This loads the Groups section …

(Groups area)

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

(Groups work 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 group name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
3. Parent – Use this section to set up nested categories
4. Description – Type in a group description here (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when finished to create the new group …

(Groups section)

If you run a medium to large organization, having the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for partners, developers, departments, etc.

Create as many categories and nested categories as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a directory hierarchy …

(Nested groups)

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

To change or reassign Groups for individual items, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button when done …

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

Click Update Group when done …

Continue adding group names to this section until you have created your directory structure …

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Add nested groups to your directory)

After you have finished setting up your directory structure, the next step is to begin adding your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member section …

(Add New Staff Member settings screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The staff member’s name
• Slug: You can edit each staff members’ 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: The employee’s position
• Email: Type in the person’s email
• Phone Number: Enter the staff member’s phone number here
• Facebook URL: Type the person’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Add the employee’s Twitter username (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 default WordPress Text Editor, you can format content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign the person to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up your 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 of your staff member’s details …

(Add Staff Member fields)

After you have entered details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups feature located in the sidebar …

(Groups section)

Note: If you have not set up groups before adding new staff members, you can add a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field will appear allowing you to create a new group name, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on the Add New Group button …

Your new category will be added. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

(Groups box)

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 above for details).

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After typing in your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the WordPress admin toolbar, see this tutorial:

• Understanding Your WP Control Screen

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

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

We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks here:

• How To Configure Your WordPress Permalinks

Repeat the above process to add new details to your employee directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering employees into your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table listing all the directory items and their details …

(Staff Members details)

If you need to make changes to an individual’s entry, simply hover your mouse over their listing, and a submenu will appear.

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

(Editing Staff Members profile information)

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

You can use the Search Staff Members search field to locate listing items if required …

(Search Staff Members search feature)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options)

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

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order that entries appear on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to its desired position …

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered listings)

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

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order in which entries appear on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to the new location …

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list)

After adding your member details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your site visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin lets you edit the style and layout of your 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 your main menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Customize your directory template)

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

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

(Default Staff Loop Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your staff list should now look like …

(Directory listings with social media links)

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

Usage Menu

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

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

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode section)

This screen displays all the shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.

A useful shortcode variation you can insert in your page, 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=”partners”])

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

Options Menu

Click Staff Members >Options in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

Here you can change some of the labels used in the plugin

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

(Export Staff Members info)

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

Additional Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List is not the only for creating a directory of your staff in WordPress. For example, here are other free plugins you can check out to add a directory on your site:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP 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)

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

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

You can also set up custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: plugin website)

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Staff Directory – WordPress 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 Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

This plugin lets you easily add your staff, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, as well as fields like title, email, phone number, image 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 learn more about each staff member in a customizable single view …

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

This plugin uses shortcodes.

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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

With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get 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 employee can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …

(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: plugin website)

More info:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

Staffer uses custom post types for staff management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an onsite staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)

Staffer works with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.

More info:

• Staffer – WP 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 Plugin
• WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
• Employee Directory WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-update list of employees in in WordPress without coding skills.

Images used in this tutorial to portray fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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