Tag: WordPress Staff List

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

Are you searching for ideas to sell more products online and get people to stay longer on your site? Then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for visitors to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your organization better.

If your site is driven by the WordPress CMS, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to display information about your key partners, your business team, or your staff using a WordPress directory plugin.

In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to easily create and add an updatable simple faculty directory to your web site using free plugins.

Adding A Staff Directory

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

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List)

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

First, let’s install and activate this plugin.

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

(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – plugin search results)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu entry will have been added to your WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

Configuring The Plugin

Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could begin adding new staff entries at this at this stage, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place yourgroup members into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

The Groups settings …

(Groups settings area)

Note: Adding groups is similar to creating WordPress categories …

(Groups work like categories)

Add new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group name
2. Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your category. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
3. Parent – Use this section if you plan to set up a directory hierarchy
4. Description – Type in a category description here (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when finished to set up the new directory group …

(Groups area)

If you manage a larger organization, the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for founders, 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 build a hierarchical structure …

(Nested categories)

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

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

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

(Edit Group screen)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

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

Click the Update Group button when done …

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

You can add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested categories)

Once you are done setting up your directory structure, the next step is to begin adding staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This takes you to the Add New Staff Member area …

(Add New Staff Member settings screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your staff member’s name
• Slug: Modify the permalink URL associated with each staff member if you want (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: The staff member’s role
• Email: The staff member’s email
• Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type in the person’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type in the person’s Twitter username (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 members here. As this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content in this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

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

(Screen options tab)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Staff directory settings)

After you have finished inputting details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups feature in the sidebar …

(Groups box)

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

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field will appear allowing you to enter a new group name, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new directory category and click on Add New Group …

A new directory category will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign the person’s entry to the group …

(New group added in Groups box)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or modified. 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 your staff directory …

Click View Post …

To modify your staff member’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

If you need help using the admin toolbar, refer to this tutorial:

• Using The WP Administration Page

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

(Check your permalinks if you get errors)

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

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Repeat the above process to add new members to your staff directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

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

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members details list)

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

Click on Edit if you need to update the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like 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 clicking on View …

(Editing Staff Members profile details)

If you have many names to add, your table can get quite long.

You can use the Search Staff Members search field to locate member details if necessary …

(Search members)

The plugin also allows you to specify which fields can display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …

(Staff Members Screen Options)

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

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order that entries appear on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you are done adding all of your member listing details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order that entries display on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order on your 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 rearranged …

(Reordered list items)

After adding your employees’ details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your site users.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

To customize the style and layout 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, reorganize any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.

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

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Use template tags to customize your directory page)

Here is what your directory should now look like …

(Directory with social media URLs)

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

Usage Menu

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

In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List shortcodes)

This screen lists all different shortcode variations that you can use with this plugin.

A useful variation you can select, for example, 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=”senior staff”])

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

Options Menu

In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Options settings)

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

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

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need plugin support, visit the plugin plugin website.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List is not the only for creating a directory of your employees. Here are other free plugins you can check out:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP 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)

Go here to learn more:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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

This plugin also lets you create custom fields …

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

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, school 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 – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

With Company Directory, you can easily add your employees to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and single views, as well as fields like job title, email, phone, pic and member bio, allowing you to present 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 members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

This plugin uses shortcodes.

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just one single person 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 that let you display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen in 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 Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)

Staffer 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 onsite staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin website)

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

Learn more about the plugin here:

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

Hopefully, now you know how to add a directory of employees to a WordPress site.

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

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