Tag: WordPress Staff List

You have no doubt heard that people often tend to buy from those they know, like and trust.

If you are searching for ideas to sell more products or services online, then one of the things you can do, is help your prospects get to know, like and trust you and your business better.

Adding a directory of staff to your site is a great way to let visitors learn more about the team working behind the scenes in your business.

This step-by-step tutorial explains how to add a simple and easy-to-update employee directory to WordPress.

How To Add An Employee Directory: 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 is a free plugin that lets you easily display basic information about your employee on your site.

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

Log into your dashboard and go to Plugins > Add New …

(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on Install Now …

(Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members menu)

Here is where you will configure and manage all of the settings and options for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from this menu.

Plugin Configuration

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

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s set up your groups. From your WP dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

This opens up the Groups settings area …

(Groups section)

Note: Configuring directory groups is just like setting up categories in WordPress …

(Groups work like categories)

Add new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group name
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 – Use this section if you plan to set up nested groups
4. Description – Enter a group description here
5. Click Add New Group when finished to create the new group …

(Groups settings area)

If you are a larger organization, having the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for investors, project teams, departments, etc.

Create as many groups 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 on the Add New Group button after creating new items …

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

The item’s details open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group category from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

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

Click on Update Group  when done to save your changes …

Continue adding categories to this section until you are done creating your directory structure …

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Add nested groups to your directory)

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

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This opens up the Add New Staff Member screen …

(Add New Staff Member settings screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The staff member’s name
• Permalink: Modify your employees’ permalink URL (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your staff members here. As this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign an employee or faculty member 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 tab)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add New Staff Member settings)

Once you have entered each staff member’s details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups box in your sidebar …

(Groups box)

Note: If you have not set up groups before starting to add staff member details, you can add a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …

(Groups > + Add New Group link)

A field will display 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 group and click on Add New Group …

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

(New group added in Groups box)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing 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 typing in your employee’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

You can edit your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the admin toolbar, see this tutorial:

• Your WordPress Admin Area Explained

Note: If you see ’page not found’ errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly set up your permalinks …

(Not found error? Check your permalinks)

For a detailed tutorial on setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:

• How To Change WordPress Permalinks

Repeat the above process to continue adding new details to your directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering employee details to your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table listing all your staff members and details you have added for each entry …

(Staff Members table)

If you need to change an individual’s 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 change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a list item from the staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …

(Edit Staff Members profile)

If you have many employees added to this section, your table can get quite long.

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

(Search members)

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

(Screen Options tab)

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

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order that your employees show on your directory pages.

Click Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To reorder your items, click and drag the item to the new position …

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list entries)

After adding all member details to your directory, the next step is to display your directory to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order in which your employees display on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order on the WP admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list)

Once you have added all of your employees’ details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List also lets you customize the style and layout of your directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

To customize the layout and style of your staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from your main admin menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Customize your directory template)

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

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

(Default Plugin Template)

The above code displays the listing 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 display these fields, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown below …

(Use template tags to customize your directory page)

Here is what your listings page should now look like …

(Directory with social media URLs added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with CSS styles and template tags or are not sure what to do, please contact us for help.

Usage Menu

In addition to allowing you to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

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

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode screen)

This screen lists all different shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.

A useful shortcode variation you can select, for example, 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=”sales managers”])

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

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options in your main menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Options screen)

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

Finally, you can also export your staff members info by going to the main admin menu and selecting Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need plugin support, visit the plugin site.

Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Employee Directories

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

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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 about this plugin:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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

This plugin lets you use custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

More info:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

This plugin was developed to provide a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college or university.

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

The Company Directory plugin lets you add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and table views, plus as fields like job title, email address, phone, pic and member bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.

Visitors will be able to click through from your list, grid, and table views to learn more about each staff member in a customizable single view …

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

This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays staff 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 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 team member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …

(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight website)

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

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 onsite staff 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 Plugin
• WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
• Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to easily add an easy-to-update list of staff members in your site using a free plugin.

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

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