Tag: WordPress Plugin Staff Directory

Something that’s been proven to work in business, is that people generally buy from people they already know, like and trust.

If you are searching for ideas to sell more products or services online, then make it easier for visitors to get to know, like and trust your organization better.

If you are a WordPress user, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to use a WordPress staff list plugin that will let you display a directory listing with information about your partners, your team, or your staff members.

In this step-by-step tutorial, we explain how to easily create and add a simple and easy-to-maintain simple faculty directory in your site without messing around with code.

Adding A Staff Directory: Step-By-Step Tutorial

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List is free and lets you easily build a basic staff directory for.

First, let’s install and activate the plugin.

Log into the WordPress administration and from the admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …

(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(WordPress Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu will have been added to the WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

This menu is where you will manage and configure all of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from this menu.

Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you can start to add new employee details at this at this stage, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualemployees into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

The Groups settings screen …

(Groups area)

Note: Adding directory groups works just like categories …

(Groups work just like WordPress categories)

Create a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your category 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 – This section lets you set up nested categories
4. Description – Type in the category description
5. Click the Add New Group button when done to set up your new group name …

(Groups section)

If you manage a larger organization, being able to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for founders, project teams, faculties, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

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

To edit Groups for specific entries, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …

The selected item open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent category 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 click on the Quick Edit menu feature …

Click on Update Group  when done …

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

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Add nested categories your directory)

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

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member settings …

(Add New Staff Member screen)

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: You can modify the slug for your staff member if required (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Type in a profile description for your staff member here. Since this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can format content in this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …

(Screen options)

You will see options to enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add Staff Member settings)

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

(Groups section)

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

(Groups - + Add New Group)

A field for creating a group name will appear, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …

The new category will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign the entry to the group …

(Groups feature)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing a staff member’s details. To edit a group 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 the person’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

To make changes to the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

If you need help using the WordPress admin toolbar, refer to this tutorial:

• Your WP Control Panel – A Step-By-Step Tutorial

Note: If errors shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that your permalinks have been set up correctly …

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

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

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Keep adding new members to your employee or partner directory as shown above until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff or team members to your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in the WP admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a list displaying all the staff members and their details …

(Staff Members details)

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

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

(Edit Staff Members profile info)

If you have many entries, your table can become unwieldy.

You can use the Search Staff Members search field to locate member details if required …

(Search members)

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

(Screen Options)

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

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 page.

Choose Staff Members > Order in the WP admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered listings)

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

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order in which your employees display on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list entries)

After adding all staff details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory on your site.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The Simple Staff List plugin lets you create the style and layout of your employee directory listings 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 opens the Templates page …

(Simple Staff List Templates screen)

To customize your directory, reorganize 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 Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Your staff listings will now display as shown in the example below …

(Directory listings with social media URLs)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with CSS styles and template tags or are not sure what to do, 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, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Usage Shortcode section)

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

For example, a useful shortcode variation you can insert in your page to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Gold Level associates”])

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

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options in the menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

This section lets you change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title

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

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need help with this plugin, go to the Simple Staff List support page.

Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Staff Directories

Simple Staff List is not the only for displaying a directory of your faculty. For example, here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can use:

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)

Go here to learn more:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

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

This plugin lets you add custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: plugin website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin provides 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 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 easily add your employees to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and customizable single views, plus as fields like job title, email, phone, photo 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 read more about each employee in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory website)

This plugin also uses shortcodes.

Go here to learn more:

• Company Directory – WP Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

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

With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, 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 plugin website)

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress 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 an onsite staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer plugin website)

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

Go here to learn more:

• Staffer – WordPress Plugin

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

Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple employee directory to your WordPress site with no coding skills required, so your web visitors can get to know your company better.

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

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