Tag: WordPress Staff Plugin

You have no doubt heard that people generally will buy from those they know, like and trust.

Are you looking for simple ideas to sell more products online or get people to stay longer on your site? Then make it easier for prospects to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your business better.

Adding a faculty member directory to your website will help to personalize your business.

This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to add a simple and easy-to-update directory of staff to your website.

How To Easily Add An Employee List Directory: Plugin Tutorial

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

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)

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

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

Log into the WordPress administration and go to Plugins > Add New …

(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 Install Now …

(WordPress Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members menu)

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

How To Configure The Plugin

Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your directory, you can begin adding new entries at this at this stage, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your members.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups screen …

(Groups area)

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

(Groups work just like WordPress categories)

Create a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your category name
2. Slug – Enter the slug 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 drop-down menu if you plan to set up nested groups
4. Description – Enter the group description (optional)
5. Click the Add New Group button when done to set up your new category …

(Groups area)

If you are a larger organization, having the ability to assign people to different 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 want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a directory hierarchy …

(Nested categories)

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

To edit or reassign Groups for individual entries, hover your mouse button over a category title and click on the Edit link …

The group will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new category from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update to save your changes …

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

Click the Update Group button when done to save your changes …

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

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested groups)

Once you have finished setting up your groups, you can begin adding staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This opens up the Add New Staff Member section …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your employee’s name
• Slug: Edit the slug for each employee if required (you will see this section 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 position
• Email: Enter the person’s email address
• Phone Number: Add the staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Add your company’s Facebook address into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Enter your staff member’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 staff member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML in 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 groups).

If you 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 tab)

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

(Add Staff Member settings)

Once you have finished inputting your staff member’s details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups section in the sidebar …

(Groups section)

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

(Groups > + Add New Group link)

A field will appear allowing you to create 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 category and click on the Add New Group button …

The new directory category will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign your listing to the group …

(New group added in 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 of the tutorial above for details).

***

After typing in the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the staff directory …

Click View Post …

You can make changes to your employee’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

If you need help using the WP admin toolbar , go here:

• Your WP Dashboard Explained

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

(Check your permalinks if you get errors)

If you need help setting up permalinks in WordPress, see this step-by-step tutorial:

• Improve Your WordPress SEO With Permalinks

Keep adding more details to your directory directory until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

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

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table listing all the employees and details you have added related to each entry …

(Staff Members details table)

If you need to edit individual entries, simply hover your mouse over their listing, and a menu will appear.

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

(Edit Staff Members profile)

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

You can use the Search Staff Members search field to locate items …

(Search members)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options)

Selecting a check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order in which listings appear on your directory page.

Click Staff Members > Order in the WP admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you have added all of your members’ listing 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 that lets you specify the order in which listings appear on your directory page.

Select Staff Members > Order in your main admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list items)

After adding your staff listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your site users.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin lets you create the layout and style of your directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Templates page)

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

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

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Your employee details will now display as as shown below …

(Directory listings with social media URLs)

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

Usage Menu

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

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

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage page …

(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)

This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations that the plugin lets you use.

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

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

Options Menu

Choose Staff Members >Options in the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

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

You can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export page …

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

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

Other Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to display a directory of your faculty members in WordPress. Here are some other free plugins you can use:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory 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)

More info:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

This plugin lets you easily display a list of staff/faculty/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.

The plugin lets you use custom fields …

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

For more details go here:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

This 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 a profile in a widget area.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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 job title, email address, phone number, image and staff bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.

Visitors will be able to 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 sourced from plugin website)

This plugin uses shortcodes.

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, 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 upon plugin activation.

With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.

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 here:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)

This 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, visit the plugin site 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
• Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple staff directory to your WordPress site without messing with code, so your web visitors can get to know your team better.

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

***