Tag: WordPress Staff List

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

If you are searching for ways to sell more products or services online, then make it easier for visitors to get to know you and your organization better.

If you are a WordPress user, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to display information about your key partners, your team, or your employees using a WordPress staff list plugin.

In this step-by-step tutorial, we show you how to easily add an easy-to-maintain simple employee directory to a WordPress site using free WordPress plugins.

Plugin Tutorial: Adding An Employee Directory To Your WordPress Site

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

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List lets you easily create a simple staff directory for.

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

Log into your WP dashboard and in your admin menu section, click on Plugins > Add New …

(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating your plugin, you will see that a new entry will be added to your main WP admin menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

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

Configuring Simple Staff List

Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you can just start to add new employee details after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign yourgroup members into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

This takes you to the Groups settings screen …

(Groups settings area)

Note: Setting up groups is just like adding categories in WordPress …

(Groups work just like WordPress categories)

Create new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your category name
2. Slug – Enter 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 nested categories
4. Description – Type in a group description in this field (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when finished to set up your new group …

(Groups section)

If you are a business that employs many people, being able to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for investors, project teams, faculties, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

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

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

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

(Edit Group screen)

Click the Update button when done …

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

Click Update Group to save your changes …

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

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Add nested categories your staff directory)

After you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, you can begin adding staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member settings screen loads in your web browser …

(Add New Staff Member section)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The employee’s name
• Permalink: Here you can change each staff members’ slug (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

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

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign the person to a specific group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).

If you click on the Screen Options tab …

(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 …

(Staff directory fields)

After you have finished entering details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups box in your sidebar …

(Groups section)

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

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field for creating a new group name will appear, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new category and click on the Add New Group button …

A new category will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

(Groups section)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or edited. 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 …

Click View Post …

To make changes to your employee’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

We have created a detailed tutorial about using the dashboard admin toolbar here:

• The WP Admin Screen Explained

Note: If you get errors like the one shown below, check that you have set up your permalinks correctly …

(Page error – Check your permalinks)

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

• Setting Up Your WordPress Permalinks

Repeat the above process to continue adding more details to your staff 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 on the WP admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all the staff profiles and details you have added for each entry …

(Staff Members details)

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

Click on Edit to edit the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a list item from the staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …

(Edit Staff Members details)

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

You can use the Search Staff Members search box to find a member if necessary …

(Search members)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

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

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order in which your employees show on your directory pages.

Click Staff Members > Order in your dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered listings)

Once you are done adding all of your staff details to your directory, the next step is to display your directory to your site users.

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order on the WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered listings)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin allows you to customize the layout and style of your staff list entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This brings up the Templates screen …

(Templates screen)

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

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

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)

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

(Use template tags to customize your directory page)

Here is what your directory will now look like …

(Directory with social media links)

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

Usage Menu

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

In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage page …

(Usage Shortcode screen)

This screen displays all the shortcode variations that you can use with the plugin.

A useful shortcode variation you can select, for example, to display a list of employees belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales reps”])

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

Options Menu

In your main menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

This section lets you edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title

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

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need plugin help or support, visit the Simple Staff List support page.

Additional Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List isn’t the only for creating a directory of your faculty members. Here are other plugins you can check out:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory)

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)

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

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

You can also use custom fields …

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

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin 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.

Go here to learn more:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

The Company Directory plugin lets you add your staff, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and table views, as well as fields like position title, email address, phone number, image and staff 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 in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

This plugin also uses a simple shortcode system.

More info:

• Company Directory – WP Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just an individual member of your team in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on 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 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)

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer)

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

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer plugin website)

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

For more details go 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 Directory Plugin
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Employee Directory WordPress
• etc.

Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple directory of staff members to your WordPress site without using code, so you can better showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.

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

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