Tag: WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Business experts have successfully proven that people generally tend to buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.

Are you searching for quicker and simpler ways to sell more products or services online? Then something you can do, is make it easier for your prospects to get to know, like and trust your business better.

If you own a WordPress-powered website, 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 directory plugin.

This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to create a simple and easy-to-maintain staff directory in your website.

Adding An Employee Directory

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

Simple Staff List

(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you easily staff members.

First, let’s install and activate this plugin.

Log into the dashboard and navigate 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 the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu entry will display on the main WordPress menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

All of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.

How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your directory, you can start adding new employee entries at this point, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to place yourstaff members into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This takes you to the Groups settings …

(Groups screen)

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

(Groups are like categories)

Add a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group category name
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 – Use this section to set up nested categories
4. Description – Type in your category description here
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to create your new group …

(Groups screen)

If you run a business that employs many people, being able to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for investors, developers, departments, etc.

Create as many categories and nested groups as you need 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 creating each item …

To edit Groups for a particular item, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …

The group will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent category from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update when done …

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

Click Update Group when done …

Add as many group names as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested groups)

Once you have finished setting up your directory structure, the next step is to begin to add your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This brings you to the Add New Staff Member area …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your employee’s name
• Permalink: Change your employees’ permalink URL (this section appears after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Type in the employee’s position
• Email: Type the person’s email
• Phone Number: Add the staff member’s phone number into this field
• Facebook URL: Add your company’s Facebook URL here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type your 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 employee here. Since this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

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

(Screen options)

You can enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add New Staff Member fields)

After you have entered each staff member’s details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in the sidebar …

(Groups section)

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

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

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. Type in the name of your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …

Your new group will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign your employee’s details to the group …

(Groups box)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or modified. To edit a group item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).

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After typing in the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• An Overview Of The WordPress Control Area

Note: If you have set up groups and get a page error like the one shown below, check that your permalinks have been set up correctly …

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

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

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Continue adding new members to your staff or faculty directory as shown above until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you have finished adding employees into your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on your main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table of all the directory items and their details …

(Staff Members list)

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

Click on Edit if you need to update 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 Trash, 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 grow quite large.

You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to find member details if required …

(Search members)

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

(Staff Members 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 the Apply button when done to save your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order in which listings display on your directory page.

Select Staff Members > Order in your dashboard menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to its new position …

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you are done adding all of your staff details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your site users.

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order in your WP admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – 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 reordered …

(Reordered list entries)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin lets you customize the layout and style of your employee directory entries 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 Menu – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Templates screen)

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

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

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)

The This code displays your listing as shown below …

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)

Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To display these fields, 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 listings page will now look like …

(Directory listings with social media links)

Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with CSS code and template tags or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, 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 listings differently using modified shortcodes.

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

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Usage Shortcode section)

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

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

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

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options on your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

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

Finally, you can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export menu …

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need plugin support, visit the plugin faq page.

Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Staff Directories

Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to create a faculty directory in WordPress. For example, here are some other free WordPress plugins you can look at:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

Modern Team Staff Directory 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)

More info:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

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

This plugin lets you add custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: plugin website)

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

The Faculty And Staff Directory 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 profiles in a widget area.

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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

(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory website)

This plugin uses shortcodes.

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Company Directory – WP Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)

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.

With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets that let you 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 staff member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …

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

Go here to learn more:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

Staffer

(Staffer)

The Staffer 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 onsite staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

Staffer works 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

If the directory plugins listed above 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 Directory Plugin
• WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
• Staff Directory Plugin 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 you and your company better.

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

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