Tag: WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Many business experts have successfully proven over time that people often tend to buy from those they already know, like and trust.

If you are looking for quicker, easier and cheaper ways to grow your business online, then something you can do, is help your prospects get to know, like and trust your organization better.

If your website runs on the WordPress CMS platform, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to display information about your key people, your business team, or your employees using a WordPress directory plugin.

In this step-by-step tutorial, we are going to show you how to add an easy-to-update simple staff directory in your web site using free plugins.

Adding A Staff Directory To Your Site: Step-By-Step Tutorial

In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List lets you create a simple staff directory list for.

The first step is to install and activate the plugin.

Log into your admin and from the admin menu section, select 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 plugin search results.

Click on Install Now …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating the plugin, you will notice that new menu will display on your WordPress menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

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

Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could just start adding new staff members at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual group members.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This brings you to the Groups settings screen …

(Groups settings area)

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

(Groups work just like WordPress categories)

Create new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group name here
2. Slug – Enter 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 your category description here
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to create your new directory group …

(Groups settings)

If you run a medium to large organization, the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for founders, project teams, departments, etc.

Create as many categories and nested categories as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a hierarchical structure …

(Nested groups)

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

To edit or reassign Groups for a particular entry, hover your mouse over a category title and select the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update when done …

To change 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 when done to save your changes …

Add as many group names as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested categories)

After you are done setting up your directory structure, you can start to add names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This takes you to the Add New Staff Member area …

(Add New Staff Member screen)

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: The staff member’s name
• Permalink: Here you can change each staff members’ slug (this section appears after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your employees here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign an employee or faculty member to a group (see above to learn how to set up groups).

If you click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options tab)

You can enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Staff directory fields)

After you are done entering details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in your sidebar …

(Groups box)

Note: If you did not set up categories before adding new staff members, you can create a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Groups > + Add New Group)

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

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

(New group)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to new employee details. 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 filling in your team member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your directory …

Click View Post …

To modify your employee’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the WP admin toolbar, see this tutorial:

• The WordPress Administration Area Explained

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

(Check your permalinks if you get ’page not found’ errors)

For a detailed tutorial on setting up WordPress permalinks, go here:

• Configuring Your WordPress Permalinks

Continue adding more entries to your staff or partner directory until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you are done adding staff details to your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on your dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table listing all your staff profiles and the details you have added with each entry …

(Staff Members details table)

If you need to change individual details, hover over their list name, and a menu will appear.

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

(Edit Staff Members details)

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

Use the Search Staff Members search field to locate listing items if necessary …

(Search Staff Members search feature)

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

(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 listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to update your settings …

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order in which entries show on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you are done adding members’ details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory to your site users.

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to the new location …

(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered listings)

Once you are done adding members’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your site visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List also lets you edit the style and layout of your directory items 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 the menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Templates page)

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

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

(Default Plugin Template)

The This code displays your listing as shown below …

(Default Template Listing)

Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs 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 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 listings but don’t want to mess with code or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.

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 main admin menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Usage Shortcode screen)

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

A useful shortcode variation you can insert in your page, for example, to display a list of staff members belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”partners”])

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

Options Menu

In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – Options screen)

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

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

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need plugin support, visit the Simple Staff List faq page.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to build a listing of your staff in WordPress. Here are other free WordPress plugins you can check out:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory)

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)

Learn more here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

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

You can also create custom fields …

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

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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.

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

Company Directory lets you easily add your employees, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are available, including grid and customizable single views, plus as fields like title, email address, phone, photo and 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 uses shortcodes.

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just an 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, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen in 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 employee circle grid. Screenshot source: plugin website)

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)

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 an employee directory on your website …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

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

For more details, visit the plugin site 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.

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

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

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