Tag: WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

No doubt you already know that people generally will buy from people they already know, like and trust.

Are you searching for ideas to sell more products or services online? Then help visitors get to know you and your organization better.

If your site runs on the WordPress Content Management System, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to display information about your key partners, your team, or your staff using a directory plugin.

In this tutorial, we show you how to add an easy-to-maintain simple staff directory in WordPress using free WP plugins.

Step-By-Step Tutorial: Adding A Staff Directory To WordPress

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

Simple Staff List

(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)

Simple Staff List lets you staff members (you could also use it to display board of directors, etc.).

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

Log into the admin and navigate to 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 search results area.

Click on Install Now …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating your plugin, you will notice that new menu will appear in your WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

Configuring The Plugin

Depending on how many people are employed in your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you can start adding new staff entries at this at this stage, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to place yourgroup members into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This takes you to the Groups section …

(Groups section)

Note: Configuring groups is just like configuring categories in WordPress …

(Groups are like categories)

Create new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group category name
2. Slug – Type in the slug of your group name. 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 a category description here (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when done to set up your new group name …

(Groups settings)

If you run a business that employs many people, having the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for founders, project teams, faculties, etc.

Create as many categories and nested categories as you need 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 change Groups for individual items, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …

The item open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new category from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button when done …

To edit the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on Quick Edit …

Click the Update Group button after making changes …

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

You can add as many nested categories as you like …

(Add nested groups to your staff directory)

After you are done setting up your groups, the next step is to begin adding your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

In your WP admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This brings up the Add New Staff Member area in your browser …

(Add New Staff Member section)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Enter your employee’s name
• Permalink: Here you can edit each staff members’ permalink URL (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign the person to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up groups).

Click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options)

You will see options to 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)

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

(Groups feature)

Note: If you did not set up your directory groups before adding new staff members, you can create a new group 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 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 Add New Group …

The new category will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign your listing to the group …

(New group)

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 of the tutorial above for details).

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After typing in the person’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

You can modify the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

We have created a detailed tutorial about using the admin toolbar here:

• Your WordPress Dashboard – A Tutorial

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

(Not found error? Check your permalinks)

We have written a detailed tutorial about using WP permalinks here:

• How To Improve Your WordPress SEO With Permalinks

Repeat the above process to continue adding new entries to your employee or team directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you have added employee details into your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a list of all your listing entries and any details you have added with each entry …

(Staff Members details)

If you need to make changes to an individual’s entry, just hover your mouse over their list name, and a submenu will appear.

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

(Editing Staff Members info)

If you have many names to add, your list can become unwieldy.

Use the Search Staff Members search field to locate a member if necessary …

(Search members)

The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …

(Staff Members Screen Options)

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

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which listings appear 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 location …

(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered listings)

Once you have added all of your member details to your 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 that allows you to arrange the order in which entries show on your directory page.

Select Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to its new position …

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list)

Once you have added employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to display the directory on your site.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Simple Staff List Templates page)

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

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

(Default Staff Loop Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

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

Your directory details will now display as as shown below …

(Directory with social media links added)

Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess with CSS styles and template tags 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 lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

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

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Usage shortcodes)

This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations you can use.

For example, a useful shortcode variation you can insert in your page to display only members belonging 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 adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options on your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

Here you can change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title

Finally, you can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export screen …

(Export Staff Members info)

If you need plugin help or support, visit the plugin plugin website and request help from the plugin developer.

Other Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List is not the only for creating a directory of your staff. Here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can check out for creating a directory on your site:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP 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)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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

This plugin lets you insert custom fields …

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

For more details go here:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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 a profile in a widget area.

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

The Company Directory plugin lets you add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and single views, as well as fields like title, email, phone number, image and staff bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.

Visitors will be able to 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 source: Company Directory website)

This plugin uses shortcodes.

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Company Directory – WordPress Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)

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

This plugin comes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.

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

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

Go here to learn more:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

Staffer

(Staffer)

This 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 onsite staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer website)

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

For more details go here:

• Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin

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 Plugin
• WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
• Simple Staff List Template WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to easily add an easy-to-manage directory of staff or team members in your web site.

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

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