Tag: WordPress Plugin Staff Directory

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

If you are looking for quicker, simpler and cheaper ideas to grow your business online, then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for visitors to get to know your organization better.

If your site is driven by WordPress, a simple way to help visitors get to know you better is to add a directory plugin that will let you display information about your key people, your business team, or your staff.

This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to add an easy-to-update directory of staff to your WordPress site.

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

(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List lets you easily display information about your staff on your website.

First, let’s install and activate this plugin.

Log into the administration and go to Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – plugin search results)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating your plugin, you will notice that new entry will have been added to the WordPress menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

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

Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you could begin to add new employee details after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualstaff into.

Staff Members – Groups

To configure your categories go to your WordPress dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

The Groups screen …

(Groups section)

Note: Configuring groups works just like WordPress categories …

(Groups are like categories)

Create a new group by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group name
2. Slug – Type in 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 – This section lets you set up a directory hierarchy
4. Description – Enter your category description in this field (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when finished to set up the new group name …

(Groups area)

If you run a business that employs many people, the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for founders, 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 build a hierarchical structure …

(Nested categories)

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

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

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

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

Click Update Group to save your changes …

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

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Add nested groups to your directory)

Once you have finished setting up your hierarchical structure, you can start adding names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This takes you to the Add New Staff Member screen …

(Add New Staff Member section)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your employee’s name
• Permalink: Modify the permalink URL for your staff member if you want (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: Type the person’s position here
• Email: Type in the employee’s email address
• Phone Number: Your employee’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Enter the person’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type in your employee’s Twitter username (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your employees here. As this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can format content in this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

Click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options tab)

You will see options to enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add Staff Member settings)

After you are done entering details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups box in the sidebar …

(Groups feature)

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

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field will display allowing you to create a new group name, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new category and click on Add New Group …

The new directory category will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign your staff member to the group …

(Groups feature)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or modified. To edit a group entry, 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 your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …

Click View Post …

To update the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

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

• Using The WordPress Administration Area

Note: If you get errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly configured your permalinks …

(Not found error – Check your permalinks)

For a detailed tutorial on setting up permalinks, go here:

• How To Improve Your WordPress SEO With Permalinks

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

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you have entered all staff or faculty members to your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members list)

If you need to make changes to an individual’s entry, just hover over their listing, and a menu will appear.

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

(Editing Staff Members details)

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

Use the Search Staff Members search box to locate member details if necessary …

(Search members)

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 tab)

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

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order in which listings appear on your directory page.

Select Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you have added staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order on the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the entry to its new position …

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list)

After adding your members’ details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The Simple Staff List plugin allows you to create the layout and style of your employee directory entries 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 admin menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Customize your directory template)

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

For example, below is the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Simple Staff List Template)

The This code displays your listing as shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

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

Your directory listings will now display with Facebook and Twitter links as as shown below …

(Employee profiles with social media URLs)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with CSS code and 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 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 opens the Usage page …

(Usage Shortcode section)

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

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=”sales managers”])

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

Options Menu

In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – Options screen)

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

You can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export page …

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need help with the plugin, visit the plugin faq page.

Additional Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to create a listing of your employees in WordPress. For example, here are some other free plugins you can look at:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory)

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 – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

The plugin also lets you insert custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory plugin website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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 installs a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.

Learn more here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

With Company Directory, you can easily add your staff, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and customizable single views, plus as fields like title, email, phone, photo and bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.

Visitors will be able to 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 also uses a simple shortcode system.

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders or just one individual person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.

Employee Spotlight includes two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, plus 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 sourced from plugin website)

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer)

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 onsite employee 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.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

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

Hopefully, now you know how to add a simple team members directory in your website.

Images of persons used in this tutorial to display sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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