Tag: WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Business experts have successfully shown that people will buy from businesses they know, like and trust.

If you are searching for quicker, easier and cheaper ideas to grow your business online or increase user interaction on your site, then something you can do, is make it easier for visitors to get to know you and your organization better.

If you have a WordPress-driven website, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to add a staff list plugin that will let you add a directory containing information about your key partners, your team, or your staff members.

This tutorial explains how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of staff members in your web site.

Step-By-Step Tutorial: Adding A Staff Directory

In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List

(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)

The Simple Staff List plugin is a free plugin that lets you easily employee (you could also use it to display partners, etc.).

First, let’s install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.

Log into the administration and navigate to Plugins > Add New …

(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)

In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.

Click on Install Now …

(Plugins  – plugin search results)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members)

All of the options and settings for this plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.

Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on how many people are employed in your organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could start adding new staff member details at this point, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your staff.

Staff Members – Groups

To configure your groups go to your dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

This loads the Groups settings area …

(Groups settings area)

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

(Groups work just like categories)

Add a new group by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your category name
2. Slug – Enter the slug of your group 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 a directory hierarchy
4. Description – Type in your category description in this field (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when done to create the new directory group …

(Groups settings)

If you run a business that employs many people, having the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for investors, developers, 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 categories)

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

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

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update to save your changes …

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

Click the Update Group button after making changes …

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

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested categories)

Once you are done setting up your groups, you can begin to add names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This brings up the Add New Staff Member screen …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

This section 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: Add your staff member’s name
• Slug: You can modify each employees’ permalink URL (this section appears after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign the individual to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial 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 tab)

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

(Add New Staff Member settings)

Once you are done entering your staff member’s details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in the sidebar …

(Groups feature)

Note: If you did not set up groups before starting to add staff member details, you can create a group now by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field for entering a 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 Add New Group …

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

(Groups feature)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to an individual’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 entering the person’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

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

• The WP Dashboard Explained

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

(Check your permalinks if you get a page error)

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

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Repeat the above process to add more entries to your employee directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you are done adding staff or team members to your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members details)

If you need to change individual details, simply hover your mouse over their list name, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit to update the 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 employee directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …

(Edit Staff Members profile info)

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

You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate entries …

(Search Staff Members search box)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options)

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

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 show on your directory page.

Select Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list)

After adding all employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory to your site users.

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order in the main menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to a desired position …

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list items)

After adding your staff details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The Simple Staff List plugin allows you to customize the style and layout of your employee directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Customize your directory template)

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

For example, here is the Default Template …

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Template Listing)

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

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your listings page should now look like …

(Directory listings with social media links added)

Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks but don’t want to mess with code or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for help.

Usage Menu

As well as 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 menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Usage Shortcode screen)

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

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

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

Options Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – Options settings)

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 selecting Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members information)

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

Additional Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List isn’t the only for creating a directory of your faculty members. Here are some other plugins you can look at:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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)

More info:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

You can also add custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)

Go here to learn more:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP 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.

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WP Plugin)

Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and single views, plus as fields like job title, email address, phone number, image and 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 employee in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory plugin website)

This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Company Directory – WordPress Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just a single member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.

Employee Spotlight comes with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.

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

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

For more details go here:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

Staffer

(Staffer – WP 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 onsite staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin website)

Staffer works immediately with many popular 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, just go online or visit the WordPress plugin directory and search for:

• Add Staff Directory To WordPress
• WordPress Staff List
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Employee Directory WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, this tutorial has helped you learn how to add an easy-to-maintain directory of staff to WordPress.

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

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