Tag: WordPress Plugin Staff Directory

You have no doubt heard that people tend to buy from those they already know, like and trust.

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

Adding a directory of employees to your website can help to let visitors learn more about the team behind the scenes in your organization.

In this step-by-step tutorial, we show you how to easily create and add a simple and easy-to-update list of employees to your website using a free WordPress plugin.

Adding An Employee Directory: Step-By-Step Tutorial

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 WordPress Plugin)

The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you staff.

First, let’s install and activate this plugin.

Log into your WordPress dashboard and go to Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will 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, a new menu entry will appear on the main WP admin menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

All of the settings and options for your plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.

Configuring The Plugin

Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you can just begin to add new staff details at this at this stage, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your employees.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s start by setting up your groups. In your WP dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

This takes you to the Groups settings screen …

(Groups area)

Note: Configuring directory groups is very similar to working with categories …

(Groups work like categories)

Create a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group category name here
2. Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your group. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
3. Parent – This section lets you set up nested categories
4. Description – Type in the group description here (optional)
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to create your new category …

(Groups settings)

If you manage a business that employs many people, the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for founders, 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 groups)

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

To change Groups for a particular entry, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group screen)

Click the Update button when done …

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

Click the Update Group button after making changes …

Continue adding categories to this section until you are done creating your directory structure …

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested categories)

After you are done setting up your groups, the next step is to begin to add names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This takes you to the Add New Staff Member section …

(Add New Staff Member settings screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Enter the employee’s name
• Permalink: Here you can 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 here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: The employee’s position
• Email: The staff member’s email
• Phone Number: Enter the staff member’s phone number here
• Facebook URL: Add the staff member’s Facebook URL here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type the person’s Twitter username into this field (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your staff members here. As this uses the default 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 …

(Screen options)

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 New Staff Member settings)

Once you are done entering details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in your sidebar …

(Groups box)

Note: If you have not set up directory groups before adding new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

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 category and click on Add New Group …

Your new category will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …

(New group)

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

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After entering your staff member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your staff directory …

Click View Post …

You can make changes to the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

If you need help using the dashboard admin toolbar, see this tutorial:

• Using Your WP Dashboard

Note: If you see a ‘page not found’ error like the one shown below, check that your permalinks have been configured correctly …

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

To learn more about setting up WP permalinks, see this tutorial:

• How To Improve Your WordPress SEO With SEO-Friendly URLs

Keep adding more details to your directory directory as described above.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you are done adding employee details into your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table listing all your staff members and their details …

(Staff Members details table)

If you need to change individual entries, hover your mouse over their name, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit if you want to make changes to the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a listing from your employee directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …

(Edit Staff Members details)

If you have many names to add, your list can grow quite large.

Use the Search Staff Members search feature to find entries if required …

(Search members)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options)

Placing a tick in the item’s checkbox displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when finished to save your settings …

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

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

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order that listings show on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list items)

After adding your staff details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory show on your site.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin lets you customize the layout and style of your employee directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This brings up the Templates screen …

(Templates screen)

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

For example, below is a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Plugin Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Plugin Template Listing)

Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To display these fields, we will need to add 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 listings page should now look like …

(Staff profiles with social media URLs)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings 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

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

In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)

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

For example, a useful shortcode variation you can choose to display a list of staff members belonging only to 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 inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).

Options Menu

In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – Options settings)

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

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

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need specific help with the Simple Staff List plugin, visit the Simple Staff List support page and contact the plugin developer.

Other Employee Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List is not the only adding a listing of your faculty members in WordPress. For example, here are a few other free plugins you can look at:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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, visit the plugin site here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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

You can also add custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

More info:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin was developed to provide a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.

The plugin also includes a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

With the Company Directory plugin, you can add your staff, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and table views, as well as fields like title, email, phone, pic and staff 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 source: Company Directory plugin website)

This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Company Directory – WP Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

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

This plugin includes two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen in 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: plugin website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)

Staffer uses custom post types for 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 website)

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

Learn more here:

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

Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has explained how to create and add a simple and easy-to-manage directory of staff members to your WordPress site.

Images used to depict fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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