Tag: WordPress Staff Plugin

It’s often said in marketing circles that people generally will buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.

If you are looking for simple ideas to grow your business online and increase user interaction on your site, then help visitors get to know you, your team and your organization better.

If your site uses the WordPress CMS platform, a simple way to help visitors get to know you better is to display information about your key people, your business team, or your staff members using a staff list plugin.

This tutorial explains how to add an easy-to-manage staff directory to your web site.

Plugin Tutorial: How To Easily Add A Staff Directory

In this tutorial, you will learn how to 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 staff members.

First, let’s install and activate the plugin.

Log into your WordPress administration and navigate to Plugins > Add New …

(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After the plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu entry will show up in the WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

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

Plugin Configuration

Depending on how many people are 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) that you will assign to individual group members.

Staff Members – Groups

To set up your groups go to your dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

This takes you to the Groups section …

(Groups area)

Note: Adding groups is just like adding categories in WordPress …

(Groups work like WordPress categories)

Create new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group category name
2. Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your category. 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 – Enter your category description in this field
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up a new directory category …

(Groups screen)

If you run a medium to large organization, being able to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for partners, developers, faculties, 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 directory hierarchy …

(Nested categories)

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

To edit or reassign Groups for an entry, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button when done …

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

Click on Update Group  to save your changes …

Continue adding groups in this section until you have created your directory structure …

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested categories)

Once you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, you can start to add staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This opens up the Add New Staff Member screen …

(Add New Staff Member screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your employee’s name
• Permalink: Here you can edit the slug associated with each staff member if you want (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your employees here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatted content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign the individual to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up your groups).

If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …

(Screen options)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Add Staff Member settings)

After you have finished entering each of you staff member’s details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups feature in the sidebar …

(Groups box)

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

(Groups > + Add New Group feature)

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

Your new directory category will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign the entry to the group …

(New group)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to a staff member’s details. To edit a group 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 typing in your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your directory …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

We have written a detailed tutorial about using the WordPress admin toolbar here:

• Your WP Dashboard – A Step-By-Step Tutorial

Note: If you see an error like the one shown below, check that your permalinks have been configured correctly …

(Page error – Check your permalinks)

To learn more about setting up WordPress permalinks, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:

• Configuring WordPress Permalinks

Keep adding more entries to your directory directory as shown above until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you have finished entering employee details to your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on the menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a list of all the directory entries and any details you have added for each entry …

(Staff Members details list)

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

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

(Edit Staff Members info)

If you have many individual listings added to this section, your list can become unwieldy.

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

(Search members)

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

(Screen Options)

Placing a tick in the item’s checkbox displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when done to save your settings …

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order that entries display on your directory page.

Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list items)

Once you have added member listing details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory display on your site.

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order that listings appear on your directory page.

Select Staff Members > Order on the main admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list items)

After adding all employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory on your site.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List allows you to create the style and layout of your directory 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 your WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Customize your directory template)

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

For example, here is a screenshot of 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 listing. To display these fields, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template, as shown in the screenshot below …

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your staff list should now look like …

(Directory listings with social media URLs)

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

Usage Menu

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

In your main menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Usage shortcodes)

This screen displays all the shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to use.

For example, a useful variation you can insert in your page 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=”property managers”])

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

Options Menu

In your menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – Options settings)

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

You can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export section …

(Export Staff Members info)

If you need help with this plugin, go to the Simple Staff List support page and contact the plugin author.

Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Employee Directories

Simple Staff List is not the only for creating a directory of your staff. Here are a few other 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)

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

This plugin lets you easily display a list of team/staff/faculty 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 sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)

For more details go here:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

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 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 – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

This plugin lets you easily add your employees to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, plus as fields like title, email, phone number, photo and member bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.

Visitors can 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 sourced from Company Directory website)

This plugin uses shortcodes.

Learn more here:

• Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just one single 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 includes two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus 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 employee circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

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 online staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)

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

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

If the above plugins 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 Plugin
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Staff Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, this tutorial has explained how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of staff to your website.

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

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