Tag: WordPress Staff Plugin

Consumer buying habits show that people will buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.

If you are searching for quicker, easier and cheaper ideas to grow your business online or get people to engage more on your site, then help your visitors get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.

Adding a directory of employees to your site can lead to increased trust, boost your credibility online and get more prospects considering using your services.

In this step-by-step tutorial, we are going to show you how to add a simple and easily updatable simple staff directory in your site using a free WP plugin.

Adding An Employee Directory: Tutorial

In this tutorial, you will learn how to 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 is a free plugin that lets you staff members (you could also use it to display partners, etc.).

First, let’s install and activate the plugin.

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

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating the plugin, you will notice that new entry will be added to the WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

The Staff Members menu is where you will manage and configure all of the settings and options for your plugin are configured and managed from this menu.

How To Configure The Plugin

Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can just start adding new staff member details at this at this stage, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place yourstaff members into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

The Groups screen …

(Groups settings screen)

Note: Setting up directory groups is just like adding 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 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 groups
4. Description – Type in a group description (optional)
5. Click the Add New Group button when done to create your new category …

(Groups settings area)

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

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

(Nested categories)

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

To edit or reassign Groups for an individual item, hover your mouse over a category title and select the Edit link …

The selected category details open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent category from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update when done …

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

Click Update Group when done to save your changes …

Add as many categories as you need to until you have created your directory structure …

Add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested groups)

After you have finished setting up your groups, the next step is to start to add names 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 settings area …

(Add New Staff Member section)

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

Name Section (1)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Type in 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: This section lets you assign the individual to a group (see above to learn how to set up groups).

If you click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options tab)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add Staff Member fields)

Once you are done inputting each staff member’s details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups box located in the sidebar …

(Groups box)

Note: If you did 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)

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

A new group will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign an individual to the group …

(Groups box)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or modified. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).

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After filling in the person’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:

• Your WP Administration Panel Explained

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

(Check your permalinks if you get ’not found’ page errors)

If you need help setting up WordPress permalinks, go here:

• Improve Your WordPress SEO Using SEO-Friendly URLs

Repeat the above process to continue adding new members to your employee directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you are done adding employees to your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all the staff members and their details …

(Staff Members list)

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

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

(Edit Staff Members profile details)

If you have many employees, your list can grow quite large.

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

(Search members)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

Placing a tick in the item’s check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when finished to update your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order on your main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the entry to its new position …

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list items)

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

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order that entries display on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order on the WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered listings)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The Simple Staff List plugin allows you to create the style and layout of your staff directory listings 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 brings up the Templates screen …

(Templates page)

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

For example, here is the default template used for displaying directory listings …

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)

The The code shown above will display your directory listing as shown below …

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your listings page)

Your directory listings will now appear with Facebook and Twitter addresses as as the example below shows …

(Directory listings with social media links added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with editing code or are not sure 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 allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your main menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)

This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations that the plugin allows you to use.

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

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

Options Menu

In the main admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

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

You can also export your staff members data by going to the WordPress admin menu and choosing Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need plugin help or support, go to the plugin plugin website and contact the plugin developer.

Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Employee Directories

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to build a listing of your employees in WordPress. For example, here are other plugins you can look at to add an employee directory on your site:

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)

Learn more here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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

The plugin also lets you set up custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin was developed to provide 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 the plugin:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

With the Company Directory plugin, you can add your employees to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and table views, plus as fields like title, email address, phone number, pic 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 staff member in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory website)

This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.

Learn more here:

• Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

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

This plugin comes with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.

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

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

More info:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

Staffer

(Staffer)

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 onsite staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer website)

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

For more details go here:

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

Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-manage list of staff or faculty members to your website.

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

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