Tag: WordPress Staff Plugin

Many business and marketing experts often raise the point that people generally tend to buy from businesses they know, like and trust.

If you are looking for quicker and easier ways to sell more products online and get people to stay longer on your site, then make it easier for visitors to get to know your business better.

Adding a ‘Meet Our Team’ directory to your site can lead to more trust, increase your credibility online and get more prospects buying from you.

This tutorial shows you how to add an easy-to-manage employee directory to WordPress.

Plugin Tutorial: Adding A Staff Directory

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List

(Simple Staff List)

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

The first step is to install and activate this plugin.

Log into your dashboard and in your admin menu section, select 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 Install Now …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members)

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

Configuring The Plugin

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

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

The Groups settings …

(Groups settings screen)

Note: Configuring directory groups works in the same way as configuring WordPress categories …

(Groups work just like 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 section to set up a directory hierarchy
4. Description – Type in the category description in this field (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when finished to set up a new group name …

(Groups area)

If you are a larger organization, being able to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for partners, project teams, departments, etc.

Create as many groups and nested groups as you need 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 entering each item …

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

Your selected group will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group category from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

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

Click Update Group when done …

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

You can add as many nested categories as you like …

(Add nested categories your directory)

Once you have finished setting up your groups, the next step is to begin adding staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

In your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This takes you to the Add New Staff Member settings screen …

(Add New Staff Member settings screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your staff member’s name
• Slug: Change the permalink URL associated with your employee if required (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Type your staff member’s position
• Email: Your staff member’s email
• Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Enter the person’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type in 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 a profile description for your employees here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign the individual to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).

If you click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options tab)

You will see options to enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add Staff Member fields)

After you have entered each of you staff member’s details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups box located in your sidebar …

(Groups section)

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

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field will appear allowing you to enter 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 directory category and click on Add New Group …

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

(New group)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing a staff member’s details. To edit a group item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).

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After filling in your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your staff directory …

Click View Post …

To update the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

If you need help using the WordPress admin toolbar, refer to this tutorial:

• An Overview Of Your WP Control Screen

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

(Not found error – Check your permalinks)

We have written a detailed tutorial about using WordPress permalinks here:

• How To Improve Your WordPress SEO With Permalinks

Continue adding more members to your directory directory until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff members into your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on your menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members details list)

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

Click on Edit if you need to update the 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 the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …

(Editing Staff Members info)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can get quite long.

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

(Search Staff Members search feature)

The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …

(Staff Members Screen Options)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide fields. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when finished to save your settings …

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list)

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

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order in which listings show on your directory page.

Click Staff Members > Order on the WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list entries)

After adding all member listing details to the directory, the next step is to add the directory to your site visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin lets you customize 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 staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Customize your directory template)

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

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

(Default Staff Loop Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your listings page will now look like …

(Directory with social media URLs)

Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with code or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, 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 dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)

This screen displays all the shortcode variations that the plugin lets you use.

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

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

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options on your WP admin menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Options settings)

This section lets you edit some of the labels used in the plugin

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

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need plugin support, go to the plugin faq page and contact the plugin author.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a directory of your faculty. For example, here are some other 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)

More info:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

You can also add custom fields …

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

Go here to learn more:

• Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

This plugin 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 a profile in a widget area.

Go here to learn more:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your employees to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and customizable single views, as well as fields like title, email, phone, image 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 staff member in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory website)

This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.

More info:

• Company Directory – WordPress Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

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

Employee Spotlight comes with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.

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 plugin website)

For more details go here:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

Staffer

(Staffer)

Staffer uses custom post types for employee management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage a staff directory on your website …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin website)

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

More info:

• Staffer – WP Plugin

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

Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple employee or team member directory to your WordPress site without messing around with code, so you can better showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.

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

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