Tag: WordPress Staff List

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

If you are searching for quicker and simpler ideas to grow your business online and increase user interaction with your site, then something you can do, is make it easier for visitors to get to know you, your team and your business better.

If you are a WordPress user, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to add a staff list plugin that will let you add a directory listing with information about your partners, your team, or your staff members.

In this step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to easily create and add a simple and easy-to-manage simple faculty members directory to your web site using free WordPress plugins.

Step-By-Step Tutorial: How To Easily Add An Employee List Directory

In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List)

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

The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.

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

(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 …

(WordPress Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new entry will be added to the WordPress menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

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

Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration

Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could start adding new employee details at this point, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualgroup members into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups settings panel …

(Groups area)

Note: Configuring directory groups is just like configuring categories …

(Groups are like categories)

Create 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. 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 your category description in this field
5. Click Add New Group when finished to set up your new group …

(Groups settings)

If you work with a larger organization, having the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for partners, developers, faculties, etc.

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

(Nested groups)

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

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

The category will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

To change the Group name or slug, hover your mouse 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 are done creating your directory structure …

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested categories)

Once you are done setting up your groups, you can start adding your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member area …

(Add New Staff Member section)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your staff member’s name
• Permalink: Edit each employees’ slug (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Type in the staff member’s role
• Email: Enter the person’s email address
• Phone Number: The employee’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Add your employee’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: Type a profile description for your staff member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign the individual to a specific group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).

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

(Screen options)

You can enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

(Groups box)

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

(Groups - + Add New Group)

A field for creating your new group name will appear, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on Add New Group …

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

(New group added in Groups section)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or edited. To edit an item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).

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After entering the person’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the WordPress admin toolbar , go here:

• Your WP Control Area – A Tutorial

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

(Not found error? Check your permalinks)

We have written a detailed tutorial about using permalinks here:

• Setting Up Your WordPress Permalinks

Repeat the above process to continue adding new members to your staff or member directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you have finished entering employees into your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in your WP admin menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members table)

If you need to change an individual’s entry, hover over their listing, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit to modify the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their 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 info)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can get quite long.

Use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate member details …

(Search Staff Members search feature)

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

(Screen Options)

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

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order in which entries appear on your directory pages.

Select Staff Members > Order in the main admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered list entries)

After adding your employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to display the directory to your site visitors.

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order in which listings appear on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order in the WP admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the entry to its desired position …

(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list items)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The Simple Staff List plugin allows you to create 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 staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Customize your directory template)

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

For example, below is the Default Template …

(Default Plugin Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Template Listing)

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

(Use template tags to customize your listings page)

Here is what your listings page should now look like …

(Employee profiles with social media links)

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

Usage Menu

As well as allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Usage shortcodes)

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

A useful variation you can insert in your page, for example, to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”partners”])

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

Options Menu

In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens 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 info by going to your dashboard menu and clicking Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need help with the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the plugin plugin site and contact the plugin developer.

Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Staff Directories

Simple Staff List is not the only for creating a directory of your employees in WordPress. For example, here are some other free plugins you can use:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

The Modern Team Staff Directory 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)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

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

The plugin lets you use custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

Go here to learn more:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin provides 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 – WP Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)

Company Directory lets you easily add your staff, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are available, including grid and single views, as well as fields like position title, email address, phone number, photo and bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.

Visitors can click through from your list, grid, and table views to learn 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 website)

This plugin also uses shortcodes.

Learn more here:

• Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders 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 selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.

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

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

Learn more here:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

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 online staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin website)

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

For more details go here:

• Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

If the directory plugins listed above 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
• WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
• Simple Staff List Template WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to easily add an easy-to-manage list directory of employees in your website using free WP plugins.

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

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