Tag: WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Many business experts have successfully shown over the years that people generally tend to buy from those they already know, like and trust.

If you are looking for quicker, easier and cheaper ideas to grow your business online and get people to interact more on your site, then make it easier for your prospects to get to know, like and trust your business better.

Adding a directory of staff or team members to your website can help increase your online credibility and get interested prospects buying from you.

This tutorial explains how to create an easy-to-manage staff directory in WordPress.

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

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)

The Simple Staff List plugin is a no cost plugin that lets you easily employee (you could also use it to display faculty, etc.).

The first step is to install and activate the plugin.

Log into the WordPress admin and in your admin menu section, select Plugins > Add New …

(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

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 show up in the main WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you can start to add new staff member details at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualstaff into.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s start by configuring your directory groups. In your WP dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

This takes you to the Groups section …

(Groups settings)

Note: Configuring groups is just like setting up WordPress categories …

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Add a new group by typing in the following information:

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

(Groups area)

If you manage a business that employs many people, the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for founders, developers, faculties, etc.

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

(Nested groups)

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

To edit Groups for individual entries, hover your mouse button over a category title and click on the Edit link …

The item’s details open in the Edit Group page. Select a new group from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

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

Click Update Group when done to save your changes …

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

You can add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested categories)

After you are done setting up your directory structure, you can start adding your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

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

(Add New Staff Member screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The employee’s name
• Permalink: You can change each staff members’ slug (this section appears after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign your staff member to a group (see above to learn how to set up groups).

If you click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options)

You will see options to enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Staff directory settings)

Once you have entered each of you staff member’s details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups section in your sidebar …

(Groups section)

Note: If you have not set up groups before starting to add staff member details, 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 for entering your group name will appear, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …

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

(Groups section)

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 employee’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

You can make changes to the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

If you need help using the admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:

• An Overview Of The WP Dashboard

Note: If you see an error like the one shown below, check that you have correctly set up your site’s permalinks …

(Page error – Check your permalinks)

If you need help setting up permalinks, go here:

• How To Set Up Your WordPress Permalinks

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

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you have finished adding employee details into your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members table)

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

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

(Editing Staff Members profile info)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can get quite long.

Use the Search Staff Members search field to find items if required …

(Search Staff Members search box)

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

(Screen Options)

Placing a tick in the item’s checkbox displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when finished to save your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list)

After adding all employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory on your site.

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order that entries appear on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order in the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to its desired position …

(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin lets you create the style and layout of your staff list listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(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 template used for displaying directory listings …

(Default Plugin 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 example. To make these fields appear in your directory, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the screenshot below …

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Your directory listings will now display as shown in the screenshot below …

(Directory with social media links)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with code or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for assistance.

Usage Menu

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

In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Usage Shortcode screen)

This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations that the plugin lets you use.

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

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

Options Menu

In your main admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Options settings)

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

Finally, you can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export section …

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need plugin support, go to the plugin website.

Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Employee Directories

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to create an employee directory in WordPress. For example, here are some other free WordPress plugins you can check out:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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)

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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

You can also set up custom fields …

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

This plugin was developed to provide a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college or university.

The plugin also includes a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.

Learn more here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

The Company Directory plugin lets you add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and single views, as well as fields like position title, email address, phone number, pic and staff bio, allowing you to present 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 uses shortcodes.

Go here to learn more:

• Company Directory – WP Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

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

With this plugin, you also get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.

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

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

For more details go here:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

Staffer

(Staffer)

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 employee directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer plugin website)

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

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Staffer – WP Plugin

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

Hopefully, this tutorial has shown you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-update staff directory to your WordPress site.

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

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