Tag: WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

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

Are you looking for quicker and simpler ideas to sell more products or services online? Then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for visitors to get to know you, your team and your business better.

If you use WordPress, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to display information about your partners, your faculty, or your employees using a WordPress directory plugin.

This tutorial shows you how to create a simple and easy-to-update employee directory in your WordPress site.

Plugin Tutorial: Adding A Staff Directory

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress 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 staff.

The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.

Log into your admin and navigate to Plugins > Add New …

(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)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu entry will show up in the WordPress menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

Configuring Simple Staff List

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

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s configure your directory groups. From your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

This brings up the Groups settings screen …

(Groups settings area)

Note: Configuring groups is just like configuring categories …

(Groups work like categories)

Create new groups by typing in the following information:

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

(Groups settings)

If you work with a medium to large organization, the ability to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for investors, project teams, departments, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

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

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

The category details open in the Edit Group page. Select a new category from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button when done …

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

Click the Update Group button when done to save your changes …

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

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested categories)

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

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This takes you to the Add New Staff Member area …

(Add New Staff Member settings area)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your employee’s name
• Permalink: Modify the slug associated with each staff member if required (this section appears after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: The staff member’s position
• Email: Type in the person’s email address here
• Phone Number: Enter the person’s phone number into this field
• Facebook URL: Type in your company’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Enter your staff member’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 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 group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).

Click on the Screen Options tab …

(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 …

(Staff directory fields)

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

(Groups feature)

Note: If you have not set up groups before adding staff member details, you can add a new group by selecting 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 dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new directory category and click on Add New Group …

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

(New group added in Groups feature)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing an employee or faculty 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 filling in your team member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …

Click View Post …

You can modify the employee’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the WordPress admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:

• How To Navigate Around Your WordPress Dashboard

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

(Check your permalinks if you get an error)

We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks here:

• Configuring Your WordPress Permalinks

Continue adding more details to your staff directory directory until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you are done adding employee or team members into your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on the menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a list of all your employees and their details …

(Staff Members list)

If you need to edit individual entries, simply hover your mouse over their listing, and a submenu will appear.

Click on Edit to modify their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove an entry from the staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …

(Editing Staff Members profile info)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can grow quite large.

You can use the Search Staff Members search field to locate a member …

(Search members)

The plugin also lets you 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 …

(Screen Options)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide specific fields. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when done to update your preferences …

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list)

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

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order in which entries display on your directory pages.

Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to the new position …

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered listings)

Once you have added members’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your site users.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List allows you to create the layout and style of your staff directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Customize your directory template)

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

For example, below is the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Template)

The This code will display your directory listing as 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 include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the screenshot below …

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your listings page will now look like …

(Directory listings with social media URLs)

Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with template tags or are not sure what to do, please contact us for help.

Usage Menu

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

In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage page …

(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)

This screen lists all different shortcode variations that the plugin allows you to use.

For example, a useful shortcode variation you can choose to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”customer representatives”])

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 – customizable fields)

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

You can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export screen …

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need plugin help or support, visit the plugin support page.

Other Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List isn’t the only for displaying a directory of your employees in WordPress. For example, here are some other plugins you can look at:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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 – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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

You can also set up custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory website)

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Staff Directory

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.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and table views, plus as fields like title, email address, phone number, photo and staff 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 employee in a customizable single view …

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

This plugin also uses shortcodes.

More info:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just a single member of your team in a 4-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, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.

Detailed information about  each staff member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)

This 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 a staff directory on your website …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

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

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Staffer – WordPress 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 List
• WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
• Simple Staff List Template WordPress
• etc.

Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple directory of staff members to your WordPress site without messing with code, so your web visitors can get to know you and your organization better.

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

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