Tag: WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

You have no doubt heard that people will mostly buy from businesses they know, like and trust.

Are you looking for quicker and simpler ideas to sell more products online? Then make it easier for your prospects to get to know, like and trust you and your business better.

Adding a directory of employees to your site can generate more trust, boost your credibility online and get more prospects to get in touch with you.

This tutorial explains how to create a simple and easy-to-manage directory of staff members in your web site.

Step-By-Step Tutorial: How To Add An Employee List Directory To Your Site

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

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List)

Simple Staff List lets you easily staff.

The first step is to install and activate this plugin.

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

(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on Install Now …

(WordPress Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu entry will appear on your WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

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

Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on how many people are employed in your organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could start to add new entries at this point, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to assign yourstaff into.

Staff Members – Groups

To configure your directory groups go to your WordPress dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups settings panel …

(Groups settings area)

Note: Configuring groups works in the same way as configuring categories in WordPress …

(Groups work like categories)

Add a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your category name here
2. Slug – Enter 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 drop-down menu if you plan to set up a directory hierarchy
4. Description – Enter the group description in this field
5. Click Add New Group when done to create your new group name …

(Groups area)

If you manage a larger organization, having the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for partners, developers, departments, etc.

Create as many groups and nested groups as you want 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 new items …

To change Groups for an item, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …

The group details will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group category from the Parent drop-down 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 select the Quick Edit menu feature …

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

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

You can add as many nested categories as you like …

(Add nested groups to your directory)

After you have finished setting up your directory structure, you can begin to add your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member settings screen …

(Add New Staff Member settings area)

This page 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
• Slug: You can edit the slug associated with your staff member if you want (this section appears after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Enter the employee’s position here
• Email: Add the employee’s email here
• Phone Number: The employee’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type your staff member’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Add your employee’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 a profile description for your employee here. As this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign a staff or faculty member to a specific group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).

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

(Screen options)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add New Staff Member fields)

After you have entered details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups section in the sidebar …

(Groups box)

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

(Groups > + Add New Group)

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

Your new directory category will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign an entry to the group …

(New group added)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing an individual’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 the person’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

If you need help using the dashboard admin toolbar , go here:

• An Overview Of The WordPress Control Area

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

(Not found error – Check your permalinks)

To learn more about setting up permalinks, go here:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Keep adding more details to your directory directory as shown above until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you have finished entering employees into your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on your menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all the directory entries and any details you have added for each entry …

(Staff Members details list)

If you need to modify an individual’s entry, simply hover over their name, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit to modify their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from the directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …

(Edit Staff Members profile info)

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

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

(Search Staff Members search box)

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 …

(Screen Options)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide fields. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when done to update your settings …

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order in the main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered list)

After adding all employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your site visitors.

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list)

Once you are done adding all of your members’ details to the directory, the next step is to display your directory to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin also lets you customize the layout and style of your directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This brings up the Templates screen …

(Simple Staff List Templates screen)

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

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

(Default Plugin Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your staff list will now look like …

(Staff profiles with social media URLs added)

Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks 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 listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage page …

(Usage shortcodes)

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

A useful shortcode variation you can add, for example, to display a list of employees belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”property managers”])

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

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options in the WP admin menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Options settings screen)

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

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

(Export Staff Members info)

If you need plugin help or support, go to the plugin plugin website.

Additional Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List isn’t the only WordPress employee directory plugin you can use. Here are other free WordPress plugins you can use:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress 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)

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 staff/faculty/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.

This plugin lets you set up custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory 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)

Faculty And Staff Directory provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college or university.

The plugin also installs 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 – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your employees, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and table views, plus as fields like title, email address, phone number, pic and staff 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 employee in a customizable single view …

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

This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.

Go here to learn more:

• Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just one individual 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, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.

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)

Learn more here:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Plugin)

The Staffer plugin 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 sourced from Staffer plugin website)

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

More info:

• Staffer – Plugin For WordPress

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
• Staff Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-maintain directory of staff or faculty members in your website using free WordPress plugins.

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

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