Tag: WordPress Staff Plugin

Consumer behavior studies show that people will mostly buy from people they already know, like and trust.

Are you searching for inexpensive ideas to grow your business online and get people to interact more with your site? Then something you can do, is make it easier for prospects to get to know you, your team and your business better.

Adding a directory to your site can lead to more trust, boost your online credibility and get more prospects making enquiries.

In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to create and add a list directory of employees to a WordPress site using a free plugin.

How To Easily Add An Employee Directory

In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a free WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you staff (you could also use it to display board of directors, etc.).

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

Log into your WP administration and in your admin menu section, select Plugins > Add New …

(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(WordPress Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members)

All of the settings and options for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in this menu.

How To Configure The Plugin

Depending on the size of your team and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could begin adding new staff details at this at this stage, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to place youremployees into.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s set up your directory categories. From your WP dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

The Groups section …

(Groups settings screen)

Note: Configuring groups is just like setting up categories …

(Groups work just like WordPress categories)

Add a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group category name here
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 – Use this section to set up a directory hierarchy
4. Description – Enter a group description in this field (optional)
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to create the new category …

(Groups settings)

If you run a business that employs many people, having the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for partners, project teams, faculties, 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 groups)

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

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

The item open in the Edit Group page. Select a new group category from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update when done …

To change the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose 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 groups as you like …

(Nested categories)

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

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This brings you to the Add New Staff Member settings …

(Add New Staff Member area)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Enter the employee’s name
• Permalink: Edit each employees’ permalink URL (this section appears after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Your employee’s position
• Email: Your staff member’s email
• Phone Number: Type in your employee’s phone number into this field
• Facebook URL: Add the person’s Facebook address into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type in your company’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 employees here. Since this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign the person 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 …

(Screen options tab)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Staff directory fields)

Once you have finished entering each of you staff member’s details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups section located in the sidebar …

(Groups box)

Note: If you did not set up categories before starting to add new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

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. Enter your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …

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

(New group added in Groups section)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to someone’s details. 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 entering your employee’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

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

• Using The WordPress Administration Panel

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

(Check your permalinks if you get errors)

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

• Setting Up Your WordPress Permalinks

Repeat the above process to continue adding more entries to your staff or faculty directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff or faculty members into your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table with all your employees and details you have added with each entry …

(Staff Members details)

If you need to edit an individual’s details, hover your mouse over their name, and a menu will appear.

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

(Edit Staff Members details)

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

Use the Search Staff Members search box to find a member if required …

(Search members)

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

(Screen Options tab)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide specific fields. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when finished to update your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered listings)

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

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order in which entries show on your directory page.

Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to the new position …

(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list items)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin also lets you edit the layout and style of your employee 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 your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Simple Staff List Templates page)

To customize your directory listings, reorganize 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 Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Plugin Template Listing)

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

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Your staff listings will now display Facebook and Twitter addresses as as shown below …

(Employee profiles with social media links)

Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with code 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 listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Usage Shortcode section)

This screen displays all the shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.

For example, a useful 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=”partners”])

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

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options on the WP admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – Options settings)

Here you can edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title

Finally, you can also export your staff members data by going to the main admin menu and selecting Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need help with this plugin, go to the Simple Staff List faq page.

Additional Staff Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List isn’t the only for creating a directory of your staff in WordPress. Here are other free plugins you can use:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP 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)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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

The plugin lets you set up custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staff Directory

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 includes a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.

More info:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your staff to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and single views, as well as fields like position 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 learn more about each employee 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 shortcodes.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Company Directory

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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

With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, 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 circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight website)

Go here to learn more:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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 site …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin website)

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

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Staffer – Plugin For WordPress

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
• Staff Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has helped you learn how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of employees to your website.

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

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