Tag: WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Something often said in business and marketing, is that people often tend to buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.

If you are searching for inexpensive ideas to sell more products online or get people to stay longer on your site, then make it easier for your visitors to get to know your business better.

If your online business is built using WordPress, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to display information about your partners, your business team, or your staff using a WordPress staff list plugin.

In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to create and add an easy-to-update list of staff members to your web site using free WP plugins.

Adding An Employee Directory To Your Site

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

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)

The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you build a simple staff directory list for.

First, let’s install and activate this plugin.

Log into your admin and in your admin menu section, choose Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(WordPress Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click on the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating your plugin, a new menu entry will appear in the main WP admin menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

Plugin Configuration

Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could just start to add new staff member details after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualstaff members into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

This brings you to the Groups panel …

(Groups settings screen)

Note: Setting up groups is similar to working with categories in WordPress …

(Groups work like 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 group. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
3. Parent – Use this drop-down menu if you plan to set up nested categories
4. Description – Enter the group description here (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when finished to set up your new directory category …

(Groups settings area)

If you manage a business that employs many people, being able to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for partners, project teams, 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 organize these into a directory hierarchy …

(Nested categories)

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

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

The item’s details open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button when done …

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

Click the Update Group button when done …

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

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Add nested categories your staff directory)

Once you have finished setting up your groups, you can begin adding names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This brings up the Add New Staff Member area …

(Add New Staff Member screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The staff member’s name
• Permalink: Change the slug associated with your staff member if required (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your staff members 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 your employee to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).

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

(Screen options tab)

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 employee’s details …

(Add Staff Member fields)

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

(Groups section)

Note: If you did not set up groups before starting to add staff member details, you can add a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …

(Groups > + Add New Group link)

A field will appear allowing you to enter a new group name, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new group and click on the Add New Group button …

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

(New group added)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to new employee details. To edit an 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 typing in the person’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

You can edit the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

For a detailed tutorial about using the admin toolbar , go here:

• Your WordPress Admin Area Explained

Note: If you get ’page not found’ errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly set up your site’s permalinks …

(Check your permalinks if you get errors)

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

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Repeat the above process to continue adding more details to your directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

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

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members details list)

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

Click on Edit if you need to update their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove someone from the staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …

(Edit Staff Members profile information)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can become unwieldy.

You can use the Search Staff Members search field to find listing items if necessary …

(Search Staff Members search field)

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 tab)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered listings)

Once you are done adding member listing details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order that your staff members display on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order on the WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list items)

Once you are done adding staff details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your site users.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List also lets you create the style and layout of your directory listings 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 menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Customize your directory template)

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

For example, below is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying listings …

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)

Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. To make these fields appear in the directory, we will need to include 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 directory page)

Here is what your directory will now look like …

(Directory listings with social media URLs added)

Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks 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 assistance.

Usage Menu

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

In your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List shortcodes)

This screen lists all the shortcode variations you can 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=”Asia Pacific Region”])

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

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options in the menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

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

You can also export your staff members details by going to the menu and choosing Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need plugin support, go to the Simple Staff List support page and request help from the plugin author.

Other Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to build a directory of your faculty members in WordPress. For example, here are a few other plugins you can use to create a directory on your website:

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)

Go here to learn more:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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

You can also insert custom fields …

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

Learn more here:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin provides 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 here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

With Company Directory, you can easily add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and table views, plus as fields like job title, email, phone number, pic and bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.

Visitors can click through from your list, grid, and table views to read more about each staff member in a customizable single view …

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

This plugin uses shortcodes.

For more details go here:

• Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, 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 on plugin activation.

This plugin comes with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.

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

(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

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 a staff directory on your site …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin website)

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staffer

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

Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple staff directory to your WordPress site, so your site visitors can get to know you and the people in your business better.

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

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