Tag: WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

It’s often said in marketing that people often tend to buy from those they already know, like and trust.

Are you searching for quicker and simpler ideas to sell more products online and get people to stay longer on your site? Then one of the things you can do, is help visitors get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.

If your online business is powered by the WordPress Content Management System, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to display information about your key partners, your team, or your employees using a staff list plugin.

In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to easily add an easy-to-maintain simple faculty directory in your site without coding skills.

How To Add An Employee List Directory To Your Site: WordPress Plugin Tutorial

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

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)

The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you easily employee.

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

Log into your WordPress admin and go to 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 the Install Now button …

(WordPress Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating the plugin, you will see that a new entry will appear on the WordPress menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could just begin adding new staff entries after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign yourmembers into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This loads the Groups section …

(Groups settings)

Note: Adding directory groups is just like configuring categories …

(Groups work like categories)

Create a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your category name
2. Slug – Enter the slug of your group name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
3. Parent – This section lets you set up nested categories
4. Description – Enter a category description here
5. Click Add New Group when finished to create the new category …

(Groups section)

If you run a larger organization, having the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for founders, developers, departments, etc.

Create as many categories and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a directory hierarchy …

(Nested groups)

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

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

The group will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group category from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

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

Click the Update Group button when done to save your changes …

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

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Add nested groups to your staff directory)

Once you are done setting up your groups, you can begin adding your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This takes you to the Add New Staff Member settings area …

(Add New Staff Member area)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The staff member’s name
• Slug: Here you can modify the slug for each staff member if required (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign your employee to a group (see above to learn how to set up your 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 staff member’s details …

(Add New Staff Member fields)

After you have entered details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups box located in the sidebar …

(Groups box)

Note: If you have not set up categories before adding new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field will appear allowing you to create a new group name, 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 …

A new directory category will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign the person’s details to the group …

(New group)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or edited. To edit a group 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 filling in the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

If you need help using the dashboard admin toolbar, see this tutorial:

• Your WordPress Admin Screen – A Tutorial

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

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

If you need help setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Repeat the above process to add new entries to your staff directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you are done adding staff or faculty members to your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on the menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members details)

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

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

(Edit Staff Members profile info)

If you have many entries, your table can get quite long.

You can use the Search Staff Members search field to find listing items if required …

(Search members)

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

(Screen Options tab)

Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your settings …

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order on the 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 directory will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you are done adding staff listing details to the directory, the next step is to display the directory to your site visitors.

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list entries)

After adding your member details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List allows you to edit the layout and style of your directory listings 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 WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Customize your directory template)

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

For example, here is the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Staff Loop Template)

The This code displays your listing as shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your directory page)

Here is what your listings page will now look like …

(Directory listings with social media URLs added)

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

Usage Menu

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

In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcodes)

This screen displays all the shortcode variations that the plugin allows you to use.

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

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

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options on the main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

This section lets you edit some of the labels used in the plugin

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

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need any help with the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the Simple Staff List plugin website.

Additional Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List isn’t the only for displaying a directory of your staff. For example, here are some other free plugins you can check out:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress 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)

Go here to learn more:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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

This plugin also lets you use custom fields …

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

More info:

• 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 includes a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your staff to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and table views, as well as fields like title, email address, phone number, image 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 learn more about each staff member in a customizable single view …

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

This plugin also uses shortcodes.

For more details go here:

• Company Directory – WordPress Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

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

With Employee Spotlight, you also get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.

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

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

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory 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 a staff directory on your website …

(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.

More info:

• Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

If the above plugins 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 List
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Employee Directory WordPress
• etc.

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

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

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