Tag: WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Something that is generally well known in business circles, is that people will buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.

If you are looking for simple ideas to sell more products or services online and get people to stay longer on your site, then help your visitors get to know, like and trust you, your team and your organization better.

Adding a directory of staff to your website can generate greater trust, boost your credibility online and get interested prospects buying from you.

In this tutorial, we show you how to add an updatable simple faculty directory to your site without editing code.

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

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

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List lets you display basic information about your employee on your website.

First, let’s install and activate this plugin.

Log into your administration and from the admin menu section, choose 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 …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating your plugin, a new menu entry will be added to your main WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

The Staff Members menu is where you will configure and manage 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 how many people are employed in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you can begin adding new staff details after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff members.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s start by configuring your directory groups. From your WP dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

The Groups settings screen …

(Groups screen)

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

(Groups work like WordPress categories)

Create a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group category name here
2. Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your 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 a directory hierarchy
4. Description – Type in your group description in this field
5. Click the Add New Group button when done to set up a new category …

(Groups settings)

If you run a larger organization, the ability to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for partners, project teams, departments, etc.

Create as many categories and nested groups 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 on the Add New Group button after creating each new item …

To change or reassign Groups for individual entries, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …

The category open in the Edit Group page. Select a new group category 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 click on Quick Edit …

Click the Update Group button when done …

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

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested categories)

After you are done setting up your groups, you can start to add staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This brings you to the Add New Staff Member screen …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your employee’s name
• Slug: You can change the permalink URL for each staff member if you want (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

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

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign the individual to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).

If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …

(Screen options)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Staff directory fields)

After you are done inputting each of you staff member’s details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups box in the sidebar …

(Groups box)

Note: If you have not set up categories before adding staff member details, you can add a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Groups > + Add New Group link)

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 …

Your new directory category will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign your staff member to the group …

(New group added in Groups section)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to a staff or faculty member’s 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 typing in your employee’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

If you need help using the WP admin toolbar , go here:

• Your WordPress Control Panel Explained

Note: If you see errors like the one shown below, check that your permalinks have been configured correctly …

(Check your permalinks if you get errors)

To learn more about setting up permalinks in WordPress, refer to this tutorial:

• Configuring Your WordPress Permalinks

Continue adding new details to your employee or team directory as shown above until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff members into your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members details list)

If you need to change an individual’s details, hover over their name, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit if you want to make changes to the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from your directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …

(Editing Staff Members details)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can grow quite large.

Use the Search Staff Members search box to find items if required …

(Search members)

The plugin also allows you to specify which fields to display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide specific fields. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your preferences …

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order in which entries show on your directory pages.

Click Staff Members > Order in your main admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the entry to the new position …

(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list)

Once you are done adding staff details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order on your main admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the entry to a new position …

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list items)

Once you have added all of your employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show on your site.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List lets you create the layout and style of your employee directory listings 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 menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Simple Staff List Templates page)

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

For example, here is the Default Template …

(Default Plugin Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Use template tags to customize your listings page)

Here is what your staff list should now look like …

(Employee profiles with social media URLs added)

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

Usage Menu

In addition to being able to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

In your dashboard menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage page …

(Usage shortcodes)

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

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

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

Options Menu

In the dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – Options settings screen)

Here you can edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles

You can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export page …

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need plugin help or support, visit the Simple Staff List support page.

Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Employee Directories

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 to add a directory on your site:

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)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

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

This plugin also lets you use custom fields …

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

More info:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

Faculty And Staff Directory provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.

The plugin also includes a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.

Learn more here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

Company Directory lets you easily add your employees, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and single views, as well as fields like title, email, phone number, pic and staff 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 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.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, 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 on plugin activation.

Employee Spotlight comes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of 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 Employee Spotlight website)

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

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 employee directory on your website …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin 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

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

Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has explained how to create and add an easy-to-update employee directory to WordPress.

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

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