Tag: WordPress Staff List

No doubt you already know that people tend to buy from people they already know, like and trust.

Are you searching for ideas to sell more products online? Then something you can do, is help prospects get to know, like and trust your business better.

Adding a directory to your website can generate greater trust, boost your credibility online and get interested prospects to buy from you.

This tutorial will show you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-update staff directory to your site.

Plugin Tutorial: Adding A Staff List Directory To Your Site

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List is free and lets you display basic information about your employee on your website.

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

Log into your administration and in your admin menu, click on Plugins > Add New …

(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 the Install Now button …

(WordPress Plugins  – plugin search results)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members)

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

How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can start to add new employee details at this point, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual employees.

Staff Members – Groups

To set up your directory categories go to your dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups settings screen …

(Groups settings screen)

Note: Adding directory groups works just like categories in WordPress …

(Groups work like categories)

Create a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group category name here
2. Slug – Enter the slug 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 to set up nested groups
4. Description – Enter the category description here (optional)
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up a new directory category …

(Groups settings)

If you work with a business that employs many people, having the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for partners, project teams, departments, etc.

Create as many categories and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a directory hierarchy …

(Nested categories)

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

To change Groups for an item, hover your mouse over a category title and select the Edit link …

Your selected item’s details open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent category from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button when done …

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

Click on Update Group  when done …

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

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested groups)

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, choose Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member area …

(Add New Staff Member screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Add your staff member’s name
• Permalink: Here you can modify the permalink URL associated with your staff member if you want (this section appears after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign the individual to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up 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 staff member’s details …

(Staff directory fields)

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

(Groups section)

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

(Groups > + Add New Group)

A field will appear allowing you to enter a new group name, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on the Add New Group button …

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

(Groups feature)

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

Click View Post …

To update the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

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

• How To Use The WP Dashboard

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

(Not found error – Check your permalinks)

For a detailed tutorial about setting up permalinks, go here:

• Setting Up WordPress Permalinks

Repeat the above process to continue adding more entries to your directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you are done entering employees into your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on your main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members details list)

If you need to modify an individual’s entry, hover over their name, and a submenu will appear.

Click on Edit if you want to modify their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a member from your staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …

(Editing Staff Members profile details)

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

You can use the Search Staff Members search field to locate listing items …

(Search members)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list)

After adding all staff details to your 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 specify the order in which your employee profiles display on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order on your main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to a desired location …

(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered list)

Once you have added member details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List lets you customize the layout and style of your employee directory items 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 the main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Simple Staff List Templates page)

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

For example, here is the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)

The This code will display your directory listing as shown below …

(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)

Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. To display these fields, we 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)

Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with template tags or are not sure 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 listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your main menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage page …

(Usage Shortcode screen)

This screen lists all the shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.

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

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

Options Menu

Choose Staff Members >Options in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

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

You can also export your staff members details by going to the main admin menu and choosing Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need plugin support, go to the plugin faq page.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List is not the only adding a directory of your team members. For example, here are some other free plugins you can check out for adding a staff directory on your website:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

This 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)

More info:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

This plugin also lets you add custom fields …

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin was developed to provide 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 a profile in a widget area.

Learn more here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

With Company Directory, you can easily add your employees, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and table views, as well as fields like position title, email, phone number, pic and 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 in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory website)

This plugin uses shortcodes.

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just a single person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.

This plugin comes with 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 faculty member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …

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

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

Staffer uses custom post types for staff 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 sourced from plugin website)

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

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Staffer – WP 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
• Simple Staff List Template WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to easily add an updatable simple faculty directory to your site using free WordPress plugins.

Models used to portray fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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