Tag: WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

It’s often said in business and marketing that people generally will buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.

If you are looking for cost-effective ways to grow your business online and increase user interaction with your site, then one of the things you can do, is help prospects get to know you, your team and your business better.

If your online business 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 explains how to create and add an easy-to-update staff directory to your WordPress site.

Plugin Tutorial: How To Easily Add A Staff List Directory To Your Site

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

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List lets you easily employee (you could also use it to display board of directors, etc.).

First, let’s install and activate the plugin.

Log into your WordPress dashboard and go to 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 search results area.

Click on Install Now …

(WordPress Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating your plugin, you will notice that new menu will have been added to the WordPress menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration

Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could just begin to add new employee entries at this at this stage, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualstaff into.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s set up your directory categories. From your WordPress dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

This loads the Groups settings area …

(Groups settings screen)

Note: Setting up directory groups works in the same way as configuring WordPress categories …

(Groups work like categories)

Add a new group by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your category name here
2. Slug – Enter 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 groups
4. Description – Type in your category description in this field (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when done to set up the new group …

(Groups screen)

If you run a larger organization, having the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories 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 organize these into a directory hierarchy …

(Nested groups)

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

To change or reassign Groups for individual items, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …

Your selected item’s details will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new group from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button when done …

To edit the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and select the Quick Edit menu feature …

Click the Update Group button to save your changes …

Add as many groups as you need to until you have created your directory structure …

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested categories)

After you have finished setting up your groups, you can begin adding your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This brings up the Add New Staff Member screen in your web browser …

(Add New Staff Member section)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Add your staff member’s name
• Permalink: Change the permalink URL associated with your employee if you want (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Add the person’s position
• Email: Your employee’s email address
• Phone Number: Type in your employee’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: Enter your company’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your staff member here. Since this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign the individual to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up your groups).

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

(Screen options)

You will see options to enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add Staff Member settings)

Once you have entered details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups feature located in your sidebar …

(Groups section)

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

(Groups > + Add New Group)

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 category and click on Add New Group …

Your new group will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

(New group)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to a person’s 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 typing in your employee or faculty member’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

To modify your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• Understanding Your WordPress Dashboard

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

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

To learn more about setting up permalinks, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Repeat the above process to add more members to your employee directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

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

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members details list)

If you need to edit individual entries, hover your mouse over their list name, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit if you need to update the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove an entry from the directory by clicking on Trash, 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 table can grow quite large.

You can use the Search Staff Members search field to find 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 tab)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order on your WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list entries)

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

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order that your employee listings appear on your directory pages.

Choose 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 items using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered list)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin lets you edit the style and layout of your employee directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Templates page)

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

For example, below is the Default Template …

(Default Simple Staff List Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your staff list should now look like …

(Directory with social media URLs added)

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

Usage Menu

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

In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Usage shortcodes)

This screen displays all the shortcode variations you can use with this plugin.

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

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

Options Menu

In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Options settings)

Here you can modify some of the labels used in the plugin

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

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need specific help with the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the Simple Staff List faq page and request help from the plugin developer.

Other Staff Directory Plugins

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

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 about the plugin here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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

The plugin also lets you insert custom fields …

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

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

Faculty And Staff Directory was developed to provide a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.

The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.

More info:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)

This plugin lets you easily add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and customizable single views, plus as fields like title, email, phone, photo 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 read more about each employee 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 also uses simple shortcodes.

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)

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

Employee Spotlight installs with two sidebar widgets which 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 circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

Staffer 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 onsite staff directory …

(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 – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

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

Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has explained how to add an easy-to-manage directory of staff to your WordPress site.

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

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