Tag: WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Consumer buying habits show that people often tend to buy from people they already know, like and trust.

If you are searching for quicker and simpler ideas to sell more products or services online or get people to stay longer on your site, 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 your website is powered by WordPress, a simple way to help visitors get to know you better is to display information about your partners, your team, or your staff members using a WordPress staff list plugin.

This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-manage employee directory in your site.

Adding A Staff List Directory: Tutorial

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you easily create a simple staff directory list for.

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

Log into the administration and in your admin menu section, click on 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 Install Now …

(WordPress Plugins  – plugin search results)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members menu)

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

How To Configure The Plugin

Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you could just start adding new employee entries at this point, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to place yourmembers into.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s set up your categories. From your WP dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups settings screen …

(Groups settings)

Note: Configuring directory groups is similar to working with categories in WordPress …

(Groups work like categories)

Create new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group category name
2. Slug – Type in the slug of your group 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 here (optional)
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to create your new category …

(Groups settings)

If you work with a business that employs many people, the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for partners, project teams, faculties, 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 groups)

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

To edit or reassign Groups for specific items, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update to save your changes …

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

Click the Update Group button when done …

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

You can add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested categories)

After you are done setting up your groups, you can begin adding your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member screen opens up …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

This screen 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: Type your staff member’s name
• Permalink: Edit your employees’ slug (this section appears after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Type your staff member’s role
• Email: Your employee’s email address
• Phone Number: Your staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type in the person’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type in the employee’s Twitter username (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 WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign your staff member to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).

If you click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options tab)

You will see options to enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Add Staff Member settings)

Once you are done inputting each of you staff member’s details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups section in your sidebar …

(Groups section)

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

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field will appear allowing you to create a new group name, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on the Add New Group button …

Your new category will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign your employee’s details to the group …

(New group added)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or edited. 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 filling in the person’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

You can modify your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• An Overview Of The WP Dashboard

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

(Not found error? Check your permalinks)

To learn more about setting up WP permalinks, go here:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Repeat the above process to add more entries to your directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you are done adding employee or faculty members into your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table listing all your employees and their details …

(Staff Members details list)

If you need to make changes to individual details, hover your mouse over their list name, and a submenu will appear.

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

(Edit Staff Members profile details)

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

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

(Search members)

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

(Screen Options tab)

Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when finished to update your settings …

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 in your main menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to the desired position …

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list items)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order on the WP admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list)

After adding all employees’ listing 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 also lets you create the layout and style of your employee directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Simple Staff List Templates page)

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

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

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)

The The code shown above displays your listing as shown below …

(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Use template tags to customize your listings page)

Here is what your staff list should now look like …

(Directory with social media URLs added)

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

Usage Menu

In addition to allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

In your WP admin menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Usage shortcodes)

This screen displays all different shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin lets you use.

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

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

Options Menu

In the main menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

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

Finally, you can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export menu …

(Export Staff Members information)

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

Other Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to display a listing of your staff in WordPress. For example, here are other free WordPress plugins you can use for adding a staff directory on your site:

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

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

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

You can also add custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: plugin website)

Learn more here:

• Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

This 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

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

With Company Directory, you can add your employees to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and single views, plus as fields like job title, email, phone number, image 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 learn more about each employee in a customizable single view …

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

This plugin also uses shortcodes.

Learn more here:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

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

Employee Spotlight includes two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, and 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 employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

Staffer

(Staffer – WP 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 a staff directory on your site …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer plugin website)

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

Learn more here:

• Staffer – Plugin For WordPress

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

Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has shown you how to create a simple and easy-to-manage directory of staff in your site.

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

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