Tag: WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

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

If you are searching for quicker and simpler ways to grow your business online, then something you can do, is make it easier for visitors to get to know, like and trust your organization better.

If you run a WordPress-powered website, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to display information about your key partners, your faculty, or your staff using a directory plugin.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to easily create and add a list of employees in your web site using a free WP plugin.

Adding A Staff Directory: Plugin Tutorial

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

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List)

Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you display basic information about your staff members on your site.

The first step is to install and activate the plugin.

Log into the admin and from the admin menu section, select Plugins > Add New …

(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)

In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings 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 your plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu will display on the WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

All of the settings for this plugin are configured and managed from this menu.

Configuring The Plugin

Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can just start to add new staff members at this at this stage, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual group members.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

This brings you to the Groups settings …

(Groups screen)

Note: Configuring directory groups works just like categories in WordPress …

(Groups work like categories)

Add new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your category name
2. Slug – Enter the slug 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 categories
4. Description – Type in the category description in this field (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when finished to set up a new directory category …

(Groups settings)

If you manage a larger organization, being able to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for founders, project teams, faculties, etc.

Create as many groups and nested categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a hierarchical structure …

(Nested categories)

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

To edit or reassign Groups for specific items, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update when done …

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

Click the Update Group button when done to save your 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 …

(Nested groups)

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

Staff Members – Add New

From your admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members – Add New)

This takes you to the Add New Staff Member area …

(Add New Staff Member area)

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

Name Section (1)

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

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Type in a profile description for your staff member here. As this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign a staff or team member to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).

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

(Screen options tab)

You will see options to enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Staff directory fields)

After you have finished inputting your staff member’s 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 directory groups before starting to add new staff members, you can create a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field for entering a new group name will display, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new category and click on the Add New Group button …

A new category will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

(New group)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing a person’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 filling in the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the employee directory …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• Understanding Your WP Dashboard

Note: If a ‘page not found’ error shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that you have correctly set up your site permalinks …

(Check your permalinks if you get errors)

We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks here:

• Setting Up WordPress Permalinks

Continue adding more details to your employee directory directory until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you have finished adding staff members to your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all your directory entries and their details …

(Staff Members table)

If you need to edit an individual’s entry, just hover your mouse over their name, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit to modify the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a member from your staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …

(Edit Staff Members profile)

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

Use the Search Staff Members search field to find entries …

(Search members)

You can specify which fields can display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide fields. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when finished to update your preferences …

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order that listings show on your directory page.

Click Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to the desired location …

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list entries)

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

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order that your employees appear on your directory pages.

Click Staff Members > Order on your main admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you have added staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin allows you to create the style and layout of your 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 the WP admin menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Simple Staff List Templates page)

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

For example, here is the Default Template …

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)

The The code shown above displays your listing as shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your listings page will now look like …

(Directory with social media URLs)

Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with editing code or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.

Usage Menu

In addition to allowing you to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

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

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)

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

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

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

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options on the WP admin menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Options screen)

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

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

(Export Staff Members info)

If you need plugin support, visit the Simple Staff List site and request help from the plugin author.

Additional Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to display a listing of your staff in WordPress. Here are other free WordPress plugins you can look at for adding a staff directory on your website:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory)

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)

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

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

The plugin lets you add custom fields …

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

This 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 profiles in a widget area.

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

This plugin lets you easily add your staff, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and customizable single views, as well as fields like title, email address, phone number, image and staff 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 read more about each employee in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory 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 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 upon plugin activation.

With this plugin, you also get two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.

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

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

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Plugin)

This plugin 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 staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

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

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Staffer – WordPress 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 List
• WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
• Staff Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-manage simple faculty members directory in your web site using free plugins.

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

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