Tag: WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Consumer behavior studies show that people will mostly buy from businesses they know, like and trust.

If you are looking for cost-effective ways to sell more products or services online and get people to stay longer on your site, then one of the things you can do, is help visitors get to know you and your organization better.

Adding a faculty member directory to your site will help let visitors learn more about the team working behind the scenes in your organization.

This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to add an easy-to-manage staff directory to WordPress.

How To Easily Add An Employee List Directory To Your WordPress Site: Plugin Tutorial

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

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List lets you easily staff.

First, let’s install and activate the plugin.

Log into your WordPress dashboard and navigate to Plugins > Add New …

(WordPress 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  – plugin search results)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members)

This menu is where you will configure and manage all of the settings for your plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.

Configuring The Plugin

Depending on how many people are employed in your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you can just begin to add new employee entries after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualstaff members into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

The Groups screen …

(Groups section)

Note: Adding directory groups is just like setting up categories …

(Groups work like categories)

Add new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group category name
2. Slug – Type in the slug of your group 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 – Enter the category description (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when finished to create your new group name …

(Groups section)

If you manage a business that employs many people, having the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for partners, developers, departments, etc.

Create as many groups and nested groups as you need 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 entering each item …

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

The selected group will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new group from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button when done …

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

Click Update Group when done …

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

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Add nested categories your staff directory)

After you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, you can start adding names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member screen …

(Add New Staff Member section)

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: Enter the employee’s name
• Permalink: Here you can modify each staff members’ slug (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your employees here. Since this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign your employee to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up groups).

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

(Screen options)

You will see options to enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Add Staff Member settings)

Once you are done inputting each staff member’s details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups section located in the sidebar …

(Groups section)

Note: If you have not set up your directory groups before starting to add staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field for entering your new group name will appear, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on Add New Group …

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

(Groups feature)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to a staff 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 entering the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …

Click View Post …

You can edit the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the WordPress admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:

• Your WordPress Control Section Explained

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

(Page error – Check your permalinks)

To learn more about setting up permalinks, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Keep adding more details to your employee or member directory as shown above until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you are done adding employee details to your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on your dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members details list)

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

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

(Edit Staff Members info)

If you have many entries, your list can become unwieldy.

Use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate entries …

(Search Staff Members search field)

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

(Screen Options tab)

Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when finished 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 entries appear on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered listings)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list items)

Once you are done adding all of your member details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory to your site visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin also lets you edit the style and layout of your staff directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Templates page)

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

For example, below is a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)

The This code displays your directory 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 example. To make these fields display in the directory, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown below …

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Your employee profiles will now display as as shown below …

(Directory listings with social media links)

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

Usage Menu

As well as allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

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

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage page …

(Usage shortcodes)

This screen lists all different shortcode variations that the plugin lets you use.

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

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

Options Menu

Choose Staff Members >Options on the main admin menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(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 from the Tools > Export page …

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need help with this plugin, go to the plugin website.

Other Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List is not the only for displaying a directory of your employees. For example, here are other free WordPress plugins you can look at for creating a staff directory on your website:

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)

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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

You can also create custom fields …

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

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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 a profile in a widget area.

More info:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your employees, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and table views, plus as fields like position title, email, 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 staff member in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: plugin website)

This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

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

Employee Spotlight includes two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and 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 employee circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)

The Staffer 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 a staff directory on your site …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin website)

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

For more details, visit the plugin site 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
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has shown you how to create a simple and easy-to-maintain directory of staff in your site.

Images of models used to portray staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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