Tag: WordPress Plugin Staff Directory

Many business experts often raise the point that people will mostly buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.

Are you looking for quicker, simpler and cheaper ideas to sell more products online? Then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for prospects to get to know your organization better.

If you run a WordPress-driven site, a simple way to help visitors get to know you better is to display information about your key partners, your business team, or your staff members using a WordPress directory plugin.

This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to create an easy-to-maintain staff directory in your site.

WordPress Plugin Tutorial: Adding An Employee Directory

In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a free WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)

Simple Staff List lets you easily staff (you could also use it to display partners, etc.).

First, let’s install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.

Log into your WP dashboard and from the admin menu, choose Plugins > Add New …

(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on Install Now …

(WordPress Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new entry will show up in the main WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

Here is where you will manage and configure all of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from 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 can begin adding new employee details after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to assign yourgroup members into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This opens up the Groups screen …

(Groups settings)

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

(Groups work just like WordPress categories)

Add a new group by entering the following information:

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

(Groups screen)

If you manage a business that employs many people, having the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for partners, developers, faculties, etc.

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

(Nested groups)

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

To change Groups for individual items, hover your mouse button over a category title and click on the Edit link …

Your selected group details will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

To edit your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on Quick Edit …

Click Update Group when done …

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

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Add nested categories your staff directory)

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

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This loads the Add New Staff Member settings screen …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your employee’s name
• Permalink: Change the slug for your staff member if required (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your employee here. As this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign your employee to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).

Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …

(Screen options)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Add New Staff Member fields)

Once you have entered details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups box located in your sidebar …

(Groups feature)

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

(Groups - + Add New Group link)

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. Type in the name of your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …

Your new group will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

(Groups box)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to a staff member’s details. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).

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

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

We have written a detailed tutorial on using the admin toolbar here:

• The WordPress Dashboard – A Step-By-Step Tutorial

Note: If you have set up groups and get a page error like the one shown below, check that your permalinks have been set up correctly …

(Check your permalinks if you get a page error)

If you need help setting up permalinks in WordPress, see this tutorial:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Repeat the above process to continue adding new entries to your employee directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

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

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all the staff members and any details you have added with each entry …

(Staff Members details list)

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

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

(Editing Staff Members details)

If you have many entries, your list can get quite long.

Use the Search Staff Members search box to locate entries if required …

(Search Staff Members search box)

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

(Screen Options)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered list entries)

After adding all members’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory to your site users.

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order in which entries display on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order on the main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to a desired location …

(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you have added all of your employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory to your visitors.

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This brings up the Templates screen …

(Customize your directory template)

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

For example, below is the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default 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, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template, as shown in the screenshot below …

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Your employee entries will now appear with Facebook and Twitter links as shown in the example below …

(Directory with social media URLs)

Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with code or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.

Usage Menu

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

In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Usage shortcodes)

This screen displays all the shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.

A useful variation you can decide to use, for example, to display a list of individuals belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”property managers”])

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

Options Menu

In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

This section lets you modify some of the labels used in the plugin

Finally, you can also export your staff members info by going to the main menu and clicking Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

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

Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Staff Directories

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to build a faculty directory in WordPress. Here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can look at for adding an employee directory on your site:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory)

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)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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

You can also use custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: plugin website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

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

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)

The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable single views, as well as fields like position title, email address, phone, photo and bio, allowing you to present 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 Company Directory plugin website)

This plugin uses simple shortcodes.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders 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 that let you display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of 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 circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight plugin website)

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

Staffer 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: Staffer plugin website)

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

More info:

• Staffer – Plugin For WordPress

If the directory plugins listed above 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
• Employee Directory WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, this tutorial has helped you learn how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of staff in your web site.

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

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