Tag: WordPress Staff Plugin

It’s often said in marketing circles that people often tend to buy from those they already know, like and trust.

If you are searching for inexpensive ideas to grow your business online and get people to stay longer on your site, then something you can do, is help your prospects get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.

If your web presence is powered by the WordPress CMS platform, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to add a WordPress staff list plugin that will let you display a directory listing with information about your partners, your team, or your employees.

In this tutorial, you are going to learn how to easily create and add a simple team members directory to your web site using a free WP plugin.

How To Add A Staff List Directory

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List)

Simple Staff List lets you staff members (you could also use it to display faculty, etc.).

The first step is to install and activate this plugin.

Log into your WP dashboard and from the admin menu section, choose 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 search results area.

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new entry will appear on your main WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

Here is where you will manage and configure all of the settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.

Configuring Simple Staff List

Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could just begin to add new employee entries at this at this stage, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your group members.

Staff Members – Groups

To set up your categories go to your dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This loads the Groups section …

(Groups settings)

Note: Configuring directory groups works just like WordPress categories …

(Groups work just like categories)

Create a new group 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 section to set up nested categories
4. Description – Type in your category description here
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to create the new category …

(Groups settings area)

If you run a business that employs many people, the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a group 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 assign these to a hierarchical structure …

(Nested groups)

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

To change Groups for individual items, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update to save your changes …

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

Click Update Group to save your changes …

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

You can add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested groups)

After you are done setting up your directory structure, 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 Menu – Add New)

This brings you to the Add New Staff Member area …

(Add New Staff Member area)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your staff member’s name
• Slug: Edit 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: Your employee’s position
• Email: Enter your staff member’s email address
• Phone Number: Enter the person’s phone number into this field
• 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 the person’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 employee or team member here. As this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign your employee to a specific group (see above 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 features …

(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 your staff member’s details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in the sidebar …

(Groups feature)

Note: If you have not set up directory groups before starting to add staff member details, you can add a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Groups > + Add New Group)

A field for creating a new 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 group and click on the Add New Group button …

The new category will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign the person’s details to the group …

(New group)

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

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After filling in your staff or team member’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

If you need help using the dashboard admin toolbar, see this step-by-step tutorial:

• Using Your WP Control Page

Note: If an error like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that your site’s permalinks have been configured correctly …

(Check your permalinks if you get errors)

We have written a detailed tutorial about using permalinks in WordPress 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 members to your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all your directory items and any details you have added related to each entry …

(Staff Members details)

If you need to make changes to an individual’s entry, hover over their name, and a submenu will appear.

Click on Edit to make changes to their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a member from the directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …

(Editing Staff Members profile info)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can become unwieldy.

Use the Search Staff Members search feature to find entries …

(Search members)

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

(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 specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when finished to save your preferences …

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you have added members’ details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your site visitors.

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order in which your employee listings display on your directory page.

Click Staff Members > Order on your WP admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to a new position …

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list items)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin allows you to create the style and layout of your directory entries 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 menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Customize your directory template)

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

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

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)

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

(Default Template Listing)

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

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Your employee listings will now display as as the screenshot below shows …

(Directory with social media URLs)

Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess with CSS styles and template tags or are not sure 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 menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage page …

(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)

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

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=”partners”])

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

Options Menu

Click Staff Members >Options on your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

Here you can change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles

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

(Export Staff Members info)

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

Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Staff Directories

Simple Staff List is not the only for displaying a directory of your team members in WordPress. For example, here are some other free plugins you can check out:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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)

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

This plugin also lets you add custom fields …

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

For more details go here:

• Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

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

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

This plugin lets you easily add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and single views, as well as fields like job title, email, phone, pic and member 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 source: Company Directory plugin website)

This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.

More info:

• Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

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

This plugin includes two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and 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)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

The Staffer plugin uses custom post types for staff/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: Staffer plugin website)

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

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Staffer – Plugin For WordPress

If the above plugins aren’t what you’re looking for, just go online or visit the WordPress plugin directory and search for:

• Add Staff Directory To WordPress
• WordPress Staff List
• WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
• Staff Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to easily add a list of employees in a WordPress site using a free plugin.

Models used to display staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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