Tag: WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

It’s often said in business and marketing that people generally buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.

Are you searching for quicker, simpler and cost-effective ideas to sell more products online? Then something you can do, is make it easier for your visitors to get to know you and your organization better.

Adding a faculty directory to your site can lead to increased trust, boost your credibility online and get interested prospects getting in touch with you.

In this tutorial, you are going to learn how to easily add an easy-to-update list directory of staff members to your site using a free WordPress plugin.

How To Easily Add A Staff Directory: Tutorial

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

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List)

Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you easily staff.

The first step is to install and activate this plugin.

Log into the admin and go to Plugins > Add New …

(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on Install Now …

(WordPress Plugins  – plugin search results)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating your plugin, you will notice that new entry will display on the WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

Configuring Simple Staff List

Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you can just begin to add new staff entries at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to place yourmembers into.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s start by configuring your directory categories. From your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups panel …

(Groups section)

Note: Configuring groups works just like categories …

(Groups work like categories)

Create new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group name here
2. Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your group 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 – Enter your category description (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when finished to create a new directory group …

(Groups section)

If you manage a business that employs many people, being able to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for partners, developers, faculties, etc.

Create as many groups and nested groups as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a hierarchical structure …

(Nested groups)

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

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

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button when done …

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

Click the Update Group button after making changes …

Continue adding categories in this section until you have created your directory structure …

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested groups)

After you have finished setting up your groups, the next step is to start adding staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This takes you to the Add New Staff Member screen …

(Add New Staff Member settings area)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The employee’s name
• Permalink: Edit each employees’ permalink URL (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: The staff member’s position
• Email: Type in the staff member’s email
• Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type the person’s Facebook URL here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Enter your company’s Twitter username (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your employee here. As this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can format content in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign an employee or faculty member to a specific group (see above 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 will see options to enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add New Staff Member fields)

Once you have entered details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups box in the sidebar …

(Groups feature)

Note: If you have not set up groups before starting to add staff member details, you can create a new group by selecting 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. Enter your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …

Your new group will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

(New group added)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or edited. 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 entering your employee’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

To make changes to the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

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

• The WordPress Administration Section – An Overview

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

(Check your permalinks if you get an error)

To learn more about setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

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

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you are done adding staff members to your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a list displaying all your directory items and details you have added for each entry …

(Staff Members list)

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

Click on Edit to update their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a member from the staff directory by clicking on Trash, 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 get quite long.

Use the Search Staff Members search field to find items …

(Search Staff Members search feature)

You can specify which fields to display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …

(Screen Options)

Selecting a check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order in which your employee profiles display on your directory page.

Select Staff Members > Order in the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to the desired position …

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list)

Once you are done adding member listing details to the 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 lets you specify the order that your employee listings appear on your directory pages.

Click Staff Members > Order on your main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to its desired location …

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list entries)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The Simple Staff List plugin also lets you edit the layout and style of your employee directory listings 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 your menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Templates screen)

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

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

(Default Simple Staff List Template)

The The code shown above will display your listing as shown below …

(Default Template Listing)

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

(Use template tags to customize your directory page)

Here is what your staff list will now look like …

(Employee profiles with social media links)

Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with editing code or are not sure what to do, 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 WP admin menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage page …

(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcode variations)

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

For example, a useful variation you can insert in your page to display a list of persons 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=”DESC”] (descending).

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options on your WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

Here you can change some of the labels used in the plugin

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

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

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

Other Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to create a directory of your staff in WordPress. Here are other free WordPress plugins you can use for creating an employee 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)

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

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

The plugin also lets you set up custom fields …

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

More info:

• Staff Directory

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

Faculty And Staff Directory 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 Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

With the Company Directory plugin, you can add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and table views, as well as fields like position 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 learn more about each employee 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 simple shortcodes.

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just an individual person in a 4-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 which display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.

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: plugin website)

More info:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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 online employee 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.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staffer

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

Hopefully, now you know how to easily add an updatable simple staff directory in in WordPress with no coding skills required.

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

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