Tag: WordPress Staff Plugin

Many business and marketing experts have successfully proven that people generally tend to buy from businesses they know, like and trust.

If you are searching for cost-effective ideas to sell more products or services online or get people to engage more on your site, then help prospects get to know, like and trust you, your team and your business 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 people, your team, or your employees using a WordPress directory plugin.

In this tutorial, we explain how to easily create and add an easy-to-maintain simple staff directory in your web site using a free WP plugin.

Adding A Staff Directory: 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 WordPress Plugin)

The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you employee.

First, let’s install and activate the plugin.

Log into the WP administration and from the admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …

(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)

In the Plugins screen, 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 the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After your plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu entry will appear in the WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration

Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you can begin adding new employee details after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to place yourmembers into.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s configure your directory groups. In your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

The Groups section …

(Groups area)

Note: Configuring groups works just like WordPress categories …

(Groups are like 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 name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
3. Parent – This section lets you set up nested categories
4. Description – Type in your category description in this field (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when finished to set up your new directory category …

(Groups settings)

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 categories for investors, developers, departments, etc.

Create as many categories and nested categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a directory hierarchy …

(Nested categories)

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

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

The selected group 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 your mouse over the group name and click on Quick Edit …

Click the Update Group button to save your changes …

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

You can add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested groups)

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

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member settings …

(Add New Staff Member area)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The employee’s name
• Slug: You can change each employees’ slug (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Your employee’s role
• Email: The staff member’s email
• Phone Number: Add your employee’s phone number into this field
• Facebook URL: Enter the employee’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type your staff member’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 employee or team member here. Since this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign the person 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 page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

(Groups feature)

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

(Groups > + Add New Group feature)

A field will display allowing you to enter a new group name, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new group and click on the Add New Group button …

A new directory category will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign an employee’s details to the group …

(New group)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or modified. 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 typing in the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the staff directory …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

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

• How To Use The WordPress Control Panel

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

(Not found error? Check your permalinks)

To learn more about setting up WP permalinks, go here:

• Setting Up WordPress Permalinks

Repeat the above process to add new entries to your employee directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff details into your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all your listing entries and the details you have added with each entry …

(Staff Members table)

If you need to make changes to individual entries, hover over their listing, and a submenu will appear.

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

(Edit Staff Members info)

If you have many employees, your list can get quite long.

Use the Search Staff Members search field to locate items if necessary …

(Search members)

You can specify which fields can display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …

(Screen Options)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Click Staff Members > Order in the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered list)

Once you have added all of your members’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list items)

Once you have added member listing details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List lets you create the layout and style of your employee directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Customize your directory template)

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

For example, here is the Default Template …

(Default Simple Staff List Template)

The The code shown above will display 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 example. To display these fields, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template loop, as shown in the example below …

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Your staff entries will now display as as the example below shows …

(Directory with social media URLs added)

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

Usage Menu

In addition to being able to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)

This screen lists all different shortcode variations you can use.

A useful shortcode variation you can choose, 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=”customer representatives”])

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

Options Menu

In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Options settings)

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

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

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need specific help with the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the Simple Staff List website.

Additional Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List is not the only adding a listing of your staff. For example, here are some other free plugins you can use:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress 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 Staff Directory Plugin)

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

This plugin lets you set up custom fields …

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

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

This plugin provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college or university.

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

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)

With Company Directory, you can easily add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and customizable single views, plus as fields like position 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 also uses simple shortcodes.

More info:

• Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just one individual member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.

Employee Spotlight installs with two sidebar widgets that let you 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 team 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 Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WP 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 website …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

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

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Staffer – WP 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 List
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Employee Directory WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-manage list directory of staff members in your web site using a free plugin.

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

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