Tag: WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

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

If you are searching for inexpensive ideas to grow your business online and get people to stay longer on your site, then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for prospects to get to know, like and trust you and your business better.

Adding a ‘Meet Our Team’ directory to your site is a great way to humanize your business.

In this step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to create and add an easy-to-update simple faculty directory to your site using free WordPress plugins.

Plugin Tutorial: Adding A Staff List Directory To Your Site

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

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)

Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you build a basic staff directory for.

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

Log into your dashboard and from the admin menu, click on Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

In the Plugins area, 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 your plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu will display on your WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can begin to add new staff members at this at this stage, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to assign yourstaff members into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

This brings up the Groups settings screen …

(Groups screen)

Note: Adding directory groups works in the same way as adding categories in WordPress …

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Add new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group 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 a directory hierarchy
4. Description – Enter the group description here
5. Click Add New Group when finished to set up the new group name …

(Groups screen)

If you are a business that employs many people, having the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for partners, developers, 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 assign these to a directory hierarchy …

(Nested groups)

Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating each item …

To edit Groups for a particular item, hover your mouse button over a category title and select the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update when done …

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

Click the Update Group button when done to save your changes …

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

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested categories)

Once you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, the next step is to start adding your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member area …

(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: Your staff member’s name
• Slug: Change the slug associated with your staff member if required (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Type the person’s role into this field
• Email: Type the person’s email address
• Phone Number: The employee’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Enter your company’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Add the person’s Twitter username here (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 format content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign an employee or faculty member to a group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).

If you click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add New Staff Member fields)

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

(Groups section)

Note: If you have not set up your directory groups before adding new staff members, you can add a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …

(Groups - + Add New Group link)

A field for creating a group name will display, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new group and click on the Add New Group button …

Your new directory category will be added. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

(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 of the tutorial above for details).

***

After entering your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your directory …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• Your WP Control Area – A Step-By-Step Tutorial

Note: If ’not found’ page errors like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that you have correctly configured your site permalinks …

(Check your permalinks if you get errors)

We have written a detailed tutorial on using WordPress permalinks here:

• Setting Up Your WordPress Permalinks

Keep adding new entries to your employee directory directory as described above.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff details to your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members table)

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

Click on Edit to modify the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a list item from the staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …

(Edit Staff Members profile info)

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

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

(Search members)

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

(Screen Options tab)

Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when done to update your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order in the WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list)

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

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which listings appear on your directory page.

Select Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to a new location …

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered list items)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Templates page)

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

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

(Default Staff Loop Template)

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

(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)

Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. To display these fields, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown in the screenshot below …

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

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

(Directory with social media URLs added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around 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 allowing you to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

In your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcode variations)

This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.

A useful shortcode variation you can insert in your page, 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 reps”])

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

Options Menu

In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

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

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

(Export Staff Members info)

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

Other Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List isn’t the only for displaying a directory of your faculty members. For example, here are a few other free plugins you can check out:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP 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)

More info:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

The Staff Directory plugin lets you easily create a directory 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 Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory website)

Go here to learn more:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin provides 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.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your employees, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are available, including grid and customizable single views, as well as fields like title, email, phone number, photo and staff bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.

Visitors can 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 in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Company Directory – WP Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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

Employee Spotlight comes with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, 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 source: Employee Spotlight website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)

Staffer uses custom post types for 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 sourced from plugin website)

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

More info:

• Staffer – WP 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
• WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
• Employee Directory WordPress
• etc.

Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple staff directory to your WordPress site without editing code, so you can showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.

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

***