Tag: WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Consumer buying habits show that people generally will buy from people they know, like and trust.

If you are looking for quicker and easier ideas to sell more products or services online, then one of the things you can do, is help your visitors get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.

Adding a directory to your site is a great way to let visitors learn more about the team working behind the scenes in your organization.

In this tutorial, we show you how to easily add a simple and easy-to-maintain simple employee directory to WordPress using free WP plugins.

How To Add An Employee 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 – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you easily display information to visitors about your employee on your website.

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

Log into the WordPress administration and from the admin menu section, click on Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will 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 the plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu will be added to the main WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

Here is where you will manage and configure all of the settings and options for your plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.

Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration

Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you could start adding new entries after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualstaff members into.

Staff Members – Groups

To set up your directory categories go to your WP dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This brings you to the Groups settings …

(Groups settings area)

Note: Configuring directory groups is just like adding categories …

(Groups work like categories)

Add a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group name
2. Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version 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 nested groups
4. Description – Type in a category description here (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when finished to create your new directory category …

(Groups settings screen)

If you work with a business that employs many people, having the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups 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 assign these to a hierarchical structure …

(Nested groups)

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

To edit or reassign Groups for an entry, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …

Your selected group will 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 edit the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …

Click the Update Group button after making changes …

Continue adding group names to this section until you are done creating your directory structure …

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested groups)

Once you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, you can begin adding names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This brings you to the Add New Staff Member screen …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The staff member’s name
• Permalink: Edit your employees’ permalink URL (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Add the person’s position here
• Email: The staff member’s email address
• Phone Number: Add the person’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Add the person’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type in the person’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. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatted content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …

(Screen options tab)

You will see options to enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Add Staff Member fields)

After you have finished entering your staff member’s details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups section located in the sidebar …

(Groups box)

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

(Groups > + Add New Group feature)

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

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

(New group added via Groups section)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or edited. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).

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After typing in your employee’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the admin toolbar, see this step-by-step tutorial:

• The WordPress Administration Screen – A Tutorial

Note: If you have set up groups and get errors like the one shown below, check that your site’s permalinks have been set up correctly …

(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

Keep adding more details to your staff or faculty directory as described above.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you are done entering staff details to your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on the main admin menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a list with all the directory entries and details you have added related to each entry …

(Staff Members table)

If you need to make changes to individual details, hover over their listing, and a submenu will appear.

Click on Edit to make changes to their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a list item from the staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …

(Edit Staff Members profile information)

If you have many employees, your table can become unwieldy.

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 show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …

(Staff Members Screen Options)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list items)

After adding all staff details to the 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 allowing you to arrange the order that your employee listings show on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin allows you to edit 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 list, 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, reorganize any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.

For example, here is the default template used for displaying listings …

(Default Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your listings page will now look like …

(Directory with social media links)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with template tags or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for assistance.

Usage Menu

In addition to allowing you to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

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

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode section)

This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin lets you use.

For example, a useful shortcode variation you can add to your page 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 the dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

Here you can modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title

You can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export menu …

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need help with the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the Simple Staff List site and contact the plugin developer.

Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Employee Directories

Simple Staff List is not the only adding a listing of your faculty in WordPress. Here are a few other free plugins you can check out for adding an employee directory on your site:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

The Modern Team Staff Directory 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 go here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

You can also add custom fields …

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

For more details go here:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

This 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.

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

The Company Directory plugin lets you add your employees to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and single views, as well as fields like title, email, phone number, photo and staff bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.

Visitors will be able to 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.

More info:

• Company Directory – WP Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

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

This plugin includes two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.

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)

More info:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer)

Staffer uses custom post types for employee management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an online staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

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

For more details go here:

• Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin

If the directory plugins listed above aren’t what you’re looking for, search the WordPress plugin directory or go online and search for:

• Add Staff Directory To WordPress
• WordPress Staff Plugin
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Employee Directory WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has explained how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of employees in your site.

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

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