Tag: WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Consumer buying habits have successfully shown that people will buy from those they know, like and trust.

Are you searching for simple ways to sell more products or services online or get people to interact more on your site? Then help your visitors get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.

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

This tutorial explains how to create a simple and easy-to-manage staff directory in WordPress.

Adding A Staff List Directory To Your Site: Tutorial

In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List lets you easily staff members.

The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.

Log into your WordPress 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 search results area.

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – plugin search results)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating your plugin, a new entry will display on your main WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

Configuring The Plugin

Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you can begin adding new employee details after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your employees.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s start by setting up your categories. From your WP dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

This loads the Groups area …

(Groups settings screen)

Note: Setting up groups works just like categories …

(Groups work just like WordPress categories)

Create new groups by entering the following information:

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

(Groups settings screen)

If you manage a medium to large organization, having the ability to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for founders, project teams, faculties, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

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

To change Groups for an entry, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …

The category details will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new category from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button when done …

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

Click Update Group after making changes …

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

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Add nested groups to your staff directory)

After you have finished setting up your hierarchical structure, you can begin to add names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This brings you to the Add New Staff Member settings screen …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The employee’s name
• Slug: Modify each employees’ permalink URL (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Type in the person’s role
• Email: The staff member’s email address
• Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type in the person’s Facebook address here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type your staff member’s Twitter username (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your employees here. As this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign the person to a specific 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 tab)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Staff directory fields)

Once you have finished entering details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups box located in the sidebar …

(Groups feature)

Note: If you did not set up directory groups before starting to add 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 dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on the Add New Group button …

Your new directory category will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign an individual to the group …

(New group)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing 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 filling in your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your directory …

Click View Post …

To make changes to your employee’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the dashboard admin toolbar, see this step-by-step tutorial:

• The WP Control Area – A Tutorial

Note: If you get ’not found’ page errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly set up your permalinks …

(Check your permalinks if you get a page error)

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

• Setting Up WordPress Permalinks

Continue adding new entries to your staff directory directory as described above.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you are done entering employee details into your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on your menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all the directory items and details you have added related to each entry …

(Staff Members details table)

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

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

(Editing Staff Members profile info)

If you have many names added to this section, your table can become unwieldy.

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

(Search members)

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

(Screen Options tab)

Placing a tick in the item’s check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are shown 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 lets you arrange the order that listings display on your directory page.

Select Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to its desired location …

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list)

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

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that your employees appear on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to a desired position …

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list)

Once you are done adding all of your employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin also lets you create the style and layout of your employee directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Simple Staff List Templates page)

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

For example, here is the Default Template …

(Default Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)

Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To make these fields show up in your directory, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown below …

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Your staff profiles will now display as as the example below shows …

(Directory with social media URLs added)

Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks but don’t want to mess with editing code 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 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 screen …

(Usage Shortcode section)

This screen displays all the shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin lets you use.

A useful 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=”customer representatives”])

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

Options Menu

Click Staff Members >Options on your main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Options settings screen)

Here you can modify some of the labels used in the plugin

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

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need specific help with the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the Simple Staff List faq page.

Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Staff Directories

Simple Staff List isn’t the only for creating a directory of your staff in WordPress. For example, here are a few other free plugins you can look at to add a staff directory on your site:

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)

More info:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

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

You can also add custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

Learn more here:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

This plugin 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

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

With Company Directory, you can easily add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, as well as fields like job title, email, phone, image and 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 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.

More info:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders 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.

This plugin includes 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 team member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …

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

For more details go here:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)

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 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.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staffer – Plugin For WordPress

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

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

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

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