Tag: WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

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

Are you searching for quicker, simpler and cheaper ideas to sell more products or services online and get people to stay longer on your site? Then make it easier for your prospects to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your organization better.

If you own a WordPress site, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to display information about your partners, your team, or your staff using a WordPress staff list plugin.

In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add an easy-to-update list of staff members in your web site without touching code.

How To Easily Add An Employee Directory

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

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)

Simple Staff List is free and lets you display information to visitors about your staff members on your site.

First, let’s install and activate the plugin.

Log into your WP dashboard and from the admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(WordPress Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members)

All of the options and settings for your plugin are configured and managed in this menu.

Configuring Simple Staff List

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

Staff Members – Groups

To set up your categories go to your dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups section …

(Groups section)

Note: Configuring directory groups works just like WordPress categories …

(Groups are like categories)

Create new groups by typing in the following information:

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

(Groups settings screen)

If you work with a larger organization, being able to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for partners, developers, 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 organize these into a hierarchical structure …

(Nested groups)

Remember to click on 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 …

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

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update to save your changes …

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

Click on Update Group  to save your changes …

Continue adding groups to this section until you are done creating your directory structure …

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested groups)

Once you are done setting up your groups, you can start to add staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This loads the Add New Staff Member settings screen …

(Add New Staff Member section)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The staff member’s name
• Permalink: Here you can modify the slug associated with your employee if you want (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Enter your employee’s position
• Email: Type in the person’s email
• Phone Number: Add the staff member’s phone number into this field
• Facebook URL: Enter the person’s Facebook address into this field (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: Type a profile description for your employee here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign the person to a specific group (see the previous section of this tutorial 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 staff member’s details …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

Once you have entered details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups section in your sidebar …

(Groups feature)

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

(Groups - + Add New Group feature)

A field will display 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 group and click on Add New Group …

Your new group will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign a person to the group …

(New group added)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing a staff member’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 entering your employee or team member’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• The WP Admin Screen Explained

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

(Page error – Check your permalinks)

To learn more about setting up permalinks, go here:

• Changing WordPress Permalinks

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

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering employees into your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on your menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members table)

If you need to change an individual’s details, hover your mouse over their listing, and a submenu will appear.

Click on Edit to make changes to the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete an entry from the directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …

(Editing Staff Members details)

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

Use the Search Staff Members search feature to find a member if necessary …

(Search Staff Members search field)

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

(Screen Options)

Placing a tick in the item’s checkbox displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when done to update your settings …

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order on the WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order in the WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you have added member listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show on your site.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The Simple Staff List plugin also lets you create the layout and style of your staff 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 – Templates)

This brings up the Templates screen …

(Customize your directory template)

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

For example, here is the default template used for displaying listings …

(Default Template)

The The code shown above will display your directory listing as shown below …

(Default Template Listing)

Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are 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 Staff Loop Template)

Your staff entries will now display as as the screenshot below shows …

(Directory listings with social media URLs added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with template tags or are unsure of 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 lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Usage shortcodes)

This screen displays all the shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.

For example, a useful variation you can decide to use to display a list of employees belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Asia Pacific Region”])

Or, you can make your listings display 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 Menu – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

This section lets you modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title

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

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need additional information about the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the Simple Staff List plugin site and request help from the plugin developer.

Other Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use. Here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can look at:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory)

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)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

You can also set up custom fields …

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

Faculty And Staff Directory provides 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 – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your employees to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable single views, as well as fields like title, email address, phone, pic and bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.

Visitors will be able to click through from your list, grid, and table views to learn 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 a simple shortcode system.

More info:

• Company Directory – WordPress Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

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

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

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

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

Learn more here:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer)

This 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 plugin website)

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

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

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

Hopefully, now you know how to easily add an easy-to-update list directory of employees to in WordPress using free plugins.

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

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