Tag: WordPress Staff List

Something that’s been proven to work in business, is that people generally buy from people they already know, like and trust.

Are you looking for ideas to grow your business online? Then one of the things you can do, is help prospects get to know you and your organization better.

If you have a WordPress-powered website, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to add a WordPress staff list plugin that lets you add a directory containing information about your partners, your faculty, or your staff members.

In this tutorial, we show you how to easily create and add a simple and easy-to-update directory of staff members in your WordPress site with no coding skills required.

Adding An Employee List Directory

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)

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

First, let’s install and activate the plugin.

Log into the administration and from the admin menu section, click on Plugins > Add New …

(WP 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 Install Now …

(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 show up in the WordPress menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

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

Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on how many people are employed in your organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could just start to add new staff details at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign yourgroup members into.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s start by setting up your categories. From your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

This takes you to the Groups panel …

(Groups section)

Note: Configuring groups is very similar to creating categories …

(Groups work like categories)

Add new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your category name here
2. Slug – Enter 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 – Use this section if you plan to set up a directory hierarchy
4. Description – Type in a category description (optional)
5. Click the Add New Group button when done to set up a new directory group …

(Groups settings)

If you are a business that employs many people, having the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for founders, developers, 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 assign these to a directory hierarchy …

(Nested groups)

Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering each item …

To edit Groups for specific items, hover your mouse button over a category title and select the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

To change your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …

Click Update Group to save your changes …

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 have finished setting up your directory structure, the next step is to start to add staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This loads the Add New Staff Member settings …

(Add New Staff Member area)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The staff member’s name
• Permalink: Modify the slug associated with your staff member if you want (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your employee here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign a staff or team member to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).

If you click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options tab)

You will see options to enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add New Staff Member fields)

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

(Groups box)

Note: If you have not set up categories before adding staff member details, you can add a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

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

Your new directory category will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign the list item to the group …

(New group)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing a staff member’s details. To edit a group entry, 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 modify the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• Your WP Control Panel – A Tutorial

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

(Page error? Check your permalinks)

To learn more about setting up permalinks, see this tutorial:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

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

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff members into your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in the main 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 modify an individual’s details, just hover your mouse over their listing, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit 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 listing from your directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …

(Editing Staff Members profile info)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can grow quite large.

Use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate listing items if necessary …

(Search Staff Members search feature)

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

(Screen Options tab)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the entry to its new position …

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you are done adding staff details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order in which your employee listings show on your directory pages.

Click Staff Members > Order on the WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Customize your directory template)

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

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

(Default Template)

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

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your listings page)

Your directory listings will now appear with Facebook and Twitter addresses as as the screenshot below shows …

(Directory listings with social media links added)

Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess around 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 allowing you to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage page …

(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode screen)

This screen lists all different shortcode variations you can use with the Simple Staff List plugin.

For example, a useful shortcode variation you can select 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”])

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

Options Menu

Click Staff Members >Options in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

Here you can modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title

Finally, you can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export section …

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need additional information about the Simple Staff List plugin, visit the Simple Staff List faq page and contact the plugin author.

Additional Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to create a staff directory in WordPress. For example, here are some other free WordPress plugins you can check out to add an employee directory on your website:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory 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)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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

You can also add custom fields …

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

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

Faculty And Staff Directory 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 profiles in a widget area.

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your employees to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable single views, plus as fields like position title, email address, phone, image 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 read 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 plugin website)

This plugin uses simple shortcodes.

Go here to learn more:

• Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders or just a single member of your team in a 4-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, plus two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.

Detailed information about  each faculty member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …

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

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

This plugin uses custom post types for employee management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an onsite employee directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

Staffer works immediately 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 – Plugin For WordPress

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

Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple employee or team member directory to your WordPress site, so your site visitors can get to know you and your company better.

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

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