Tag: WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Many business and marketing experts often raise the point that people often tend to buy from people they know, like and trust.

If you are looking for inexpensive ways to sell more products or services online and get people to stay longer on your site, then make it easier for your visitors to get to know you and your business better.

Adding a staff directory to your site can help personalize your organization.

This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to add a simple and easy-to-maintain staff directory to your site.

How To Easily Add A Staff Directory To WordPress

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

Simple Staff List

(Simple Staff List)

Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you easily staff members (you could also use it to display faculty, etc.).

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

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

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After the plugin has been installed and activated, a new entry will be added to your WordPress menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

All of the settings for this plugin are configured and managed from this menu.

Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can begin adding new staff entries after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your staff.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s start by setting up your groups. In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

The Groups section …

(Groups section)

Note: Setting up groups works just like WordPress categories …

(Groups work like WordPress categories)

Add a new group by typing in the following information:

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

(Groups settings area)

If you are a medium to large organization, the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for partners, developers, 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 organize these into a directory hierarchy …

(Nested categories)

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

To change or reassign Groups for an individual 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 category from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button when done …

To change the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …

Click on Update Group  when done …

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

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Add nested groups to your directory)

Once you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, you can start 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)

The Add New Staff Member settings area …

(Add New Staff Member area)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Type the employee’s name
• Slug: Change each employees’ permalink URL (this section appears after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Groups Section (5)

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

If you click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Add New Staff Member fields)

Once you are done entering details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups section located in the sidebar …

(Groups section)

Note: If you did not set up directory groups before adding new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on 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 to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new category and click on the Add New Group button …

Your new category will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign a staff member to the group …

(Groups section)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to new employee details. To edit an item, 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 to add them to the directory …

Click View Post …

You can modify your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

If you need help using the WordPress admin toolbar, refer to this tutorial:

• Using Your WP Control Page

Note: If you see errors like the one shown below, check that you have set up your permalinks correctly …

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

We have written a detailed tutorial about using permalinks in WordPress here:

• Changing Your WordPress Permalinks

Keep adding new entries to your staff directory directory as shown above until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you have finished entering employee details into your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members details)

If you need to change individual details, hover your mouse over their listing, and a menu will appear.

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

(Editing Staff Members profile information)

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

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

(Search members)

You can specify which fields to 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 shown per page. Click Apply when finished to update your preferences …

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list items)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order on your WP admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List 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 the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Templates page)

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

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

(Default Staff Loop Template)

The This code will display your listing as shown below …

(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Use template tags to customize your listings page)

Here is what your directory should now look like …

(Directory listings with social media links)

Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with template tags or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.

Usage Menu

As well as allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

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

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Usage Shortcode screen)

This screen lists all different shortcode variations you can use with the plugin.

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

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

Options Menu

In your menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Options screen)

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

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

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need any help with the Simple Staff List plugin, visit the Simple Staff List support page.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List is not the only adding a listing of your faculty in WordPress. Here are other free plugins you can look at:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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 here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

With Staff Directory, you can easily create a directory of faculty/staff/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 Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory website)

Go here to learn more:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

Faculty And Staff Directory 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 a profile in a widget area.

Learn more here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

With the Company Directory plugin, you can add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and single views, plus as fields like job title, email address, phone, image 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 members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory plugin website)

This plugin also uses shortcodes.

More info:

• Company Directory – WordPress Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just one single 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 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 team member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …

(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight website)

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

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 online staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer website)

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

More info:

• Staffer – WP 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 Directory Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to easily add a simple and easy-to-maintain simple faculty directory in your website using free WordPress plugins.

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

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