Tag: WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Something that’s been proven to work in business, is that people often tend to buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.

If you are searching for ways to grow your business online, then make it easier for your prospects to get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.

Adding a directory to your website can lead to increased trust, boost your credibility online and get more prospects buying from your site.

In this step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to easily add an updatable list directory of staff members in WordPress with no coding skills required.

Tutorial: How To Easily Add A Staff List Directory

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

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)

The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you easily employee (you could also use it to display partners, etc.).

The first step is to install and activate the plugin.

Log into the administration and from the admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …

(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)

In the Plugins panel, 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 see that a new menu will appear in the main WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

Configuring The Plugin

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

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s start by configuring your categories. In your WordPress dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

This opens up the Groups screen …

(Groups area)

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

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Create a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your category name here
2. Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your category. 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 – Type in a group description here
5. Click Add New Group when done to create your new directory category …

(Groups screen)

If you work with a business that employs many people, being able to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for investors, project teams, faculties, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

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

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

The category will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new group category from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

To change your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and choose the Quick Edit menu feature …

Click on Update Group  after making changes …

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

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Add nested categories your staff directory)

After you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, you can begin to add staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This brings you to the Add New Staff Member section …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

This page provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member profile and includes the following fields:

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your staff member’s name
• Permalink: You can edit each staff members’ permalink URL (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Type the person’s position here
• Email: Type the employee’s email address
• Phone Number: Type in the person’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 person’s Twitter username here (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 WordPress Text Editor, you can format content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign the individual to a group (see above to learn how to set up groups).

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

(Screen options)

You can enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your staff member’s details …

(Add New Staff Member fields)

Once you have finished inputting each staff member’s details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups box located in your sidebar …

(Groups feature)

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

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field for creating your group name will display, 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 group will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign a staff member to the group …

(Groups box)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or modified. 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 entering your employee’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

To make changes to your employee’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the admin toolbar , go here:

• The WP Control Panel Explained

Note: If you get errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly configured your site’s permalinks …

(Page error – Check your permalinks)

If you need help setting up WP permalinks, go here:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Repeat the above process to continue adding new entries to your staff or partner directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff members to your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in the main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all your directory items and the details you have added with each entry …

(Staff Members table)

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

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

(Edit Staff Members profile)

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 entries if necessary …

(Search Staff Members search box)

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

(Screen Options tab)

Placing a tick in the item’s check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when finished to save your settings …

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list)

After adding all members’ details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order in which entries display on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to the new location …

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list)

After adding your staff details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List allows you to create the style and layout of your directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

To customize the style and layout of your staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from your main menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Simple Staff List Templates screen)

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

For example, here is a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)

The This code will display your listing as shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)

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

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your directory will now look like …

(Staff profiles with social media URLs added)

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

Usage Menu

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

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

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Usage shortcodes)

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

A useful variation you can add, for example, 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 make your listings display in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).

Options Menu

In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

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

Finally, you can also export your staff members info by going to your dashboard menu and selecting Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need plugin support, visit the plugin plugin site.

Additional Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List is not the only WordPress staff directory plugin you can use. Here are other free plugins you can look at to add a staff directory on your website:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP 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)

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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

The plugin also lets you add custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory website)

Learn more here:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

This plugin was developed to provide 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.

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

With Company Directory, you can add your employees to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, as well as fields like job title, email, phone number, pic and member 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 staff member in a customizable single view …

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

This plugin uses simple shortcodes.

More info:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders or just a single person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.

Employee Spotlight includes two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.

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

(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

The Staffer plugin uses custom post types for staff 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 source: Staffer website)

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

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Staffer – Plugin For WordPress

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 Directory Plugin
• WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
• Simple Staff List Template WordPress
• etc.

Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple directory of staff members to your WordPress site without touching code, so your site visitors can get to know your team better.

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

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