Tag: WordPress Staff Plugin

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

Are you searching for quicker, simpler and cost-effective ideas to sell more products or services online and get people to interact more with your site? Then help prospects get to know you and your organization better.

If you use WordPress, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to display information about your partners, your business team, or your employees using a WordPress staff list plugin.

In this step-by-step tutorial, we show you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-maintain simple team members directory to your web site with no coding skills required.

Adding An Employee List Directory: WordPress Plugin Tutorial

In this tutorial, we will 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 (you could also use it to display partners, etc.).

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

Log into the administration and in your admin menu, choose 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 plugin search results.

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating your plugin, you will notice that new entry will appear in the main WordPress menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

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

Plugin Configuration

Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you could start adding new employee entries after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place yourstaff into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups panel …

(Groups settings screen)

Note: Setting up groups is very similar to working with categories in WordPress …

(Groups are like categories)

Create new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group category name here
2. Slug – Type in 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 drop-down menu if you plan to set up nested categories
4. Description – Type in a category description in this field
5. Click Add New Group when finished to set up a new group …

(Groups settings area)

If you run a larger organization, the ability to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for founders, project teams, faculties, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

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

To change or reassign Groups for a particular entry, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group screen)

Click the Update button when done …

To change the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and select Quick Edit …

Click on Update Group  to save your changes …

Add as many group names as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Add nested categories your staff directory)

After you have finished setting up your groups, you can begin adding your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

From your WP admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This brings you to the Add New Staff Member section …

(Add New Staff Member area)

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: Your staff member’s name
• Slug: Here you can change each staff members’ permalink URL (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your staff or faculty member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign the person to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).

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

(Screen options tab)

You will see options to enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Add New Staff Member fields)

After you are done inputting each of you staff member’s details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature in your sidebar …

(Groups section)

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 entering a group name will display, 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 …

The new group will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign your staff member to the group …

(New group added in Groups section)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing an employee or faculty 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 entering your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the employee directory …

Click View Post …

To modify your staff member’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

For a detailed step-by-step tutorial about using the dashboard admin toolbar , go here:

• Understanding Your WP Dashboard

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

(Page error – Check your permalinks)

If you need help setting up permalinks, see this tutorial:

• Improve Your WordPress SEO Using SEO-Friendly URLs

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

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you have added staff or faculty members to your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on your menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a list with all the directory entries and their details …

(Staff Members details)

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

Click on Edit if you need to update their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove someone from the employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …

(Edit Staff Members profile info)

If you have many names to add, your list can become unwieldy.

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

(Search members)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

Selecting a check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when done to update your settings …

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to its new position …

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list entries)

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

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 in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you are done adding employees’ details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show on your site.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List allows you to edit the layout and style of your staff directory items 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 main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Templates page)

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

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

(Default Plugin Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Use template tags to customize your listings page)

Your directory profiles will now display Facebook and Twitter addresses as as shown below …

(Employee profiles with social media links added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with template tags or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for help.

Usage Menu

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

In your main admin menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode section)

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

For example, a useful shortcode variation you can choose to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”property managers”])

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

Options Menu

In your main menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – Options settings)

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

Finally, you can also export your staff members details by going to the menu and clicking Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need plugin support, visit the plugin support page.

Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Staff Directories

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to create a directory of your faculty members in WordPress. For example, here are some other free WordPress 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)

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 – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

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

The plugin lets you set up custom fields …

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

More info:

• Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

Faculty And Staff Directory provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.

The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

This plugin lets you add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and single views, plus as fields like position title, email address, phone number, pic and staff bio, allowing visitors to get to know 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 in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory plugin website)

This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.

For more details go here:

• Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

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

This plugin includes two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.

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

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

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

The Staffer 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 source: Staffer website)

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

More info:

• Staffer

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
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Simple Staff List Template WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-manage simple faculty directory in your web site using a free WP plugin.

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

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