Tag: WordPress Staff Plugin

No doubt you’ve heard that people will buy from those they already know, like and trust.

Are you searching for quicker, simpler and cost-effective ways to grow your business online? Then help visitors get to know, like and trust your organization better.

Adding a directory of staff to your website can help boost your online credibility and get interested prospects contacting you.

This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of staff members to your website.

Adding A Staff Directory To Your WordPress Site: Step-By-Step Tutorial

In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

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

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

Log into your administration and go to Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click on the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating the plugin, you will notice that new menu entry will appear in your main WP menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

Plugin Configuration

Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can just begin to add new employee details at this point, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff members.

Staff Members – Groups

To configure your directory categories go to your dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This loads the Groups settings screen in your browser …

(Groups settings area)

Note: Configuring groups is very similar to working with WordPress categories …

(Groups work just like categories)

Create new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group name here
2. Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your category. 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 – Enter your category description
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to create your new directory group …

(Groups settings)

If you work with a medium to large organization, being able to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for partners, developers, faculties, etc.

Create as many groups and nested categories as you want 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 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 open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new category from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update to save your changes …

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

Click Update Group to save your changes …

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

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested categories)

After you have finished setting up your hierarchical structure, you can begin to add staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This loads the Add New Staff Member section …

(Add New Staff Member area)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Type your employee’s name
• Permalink: Here you can change the permalink URL for your employee if you want (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Type in your staff member’s position here
• Email: The staff member’s email
• Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Enter the staff member’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Add 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 employees here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: You can assign your employee to a group (see above to learn how to set up groups).

Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …

(Screen options)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Staff directory fields)

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

(Groups feature)

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

(Groups - + Add New Group link)

A field will appear 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 category and click on Add New Group …

A new group will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

(Groups box)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing an individual’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 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 admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

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

• Your WP Control Panel – A Tutorial

Note: If you have set up groups and get ’not found’ page errors like the one shown below, check that you have configured your permalinks correctly …

(Page error – Check your permalinks)

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

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

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

Staff Members – All Staff Members

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

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all your staff profiles and any details you have added for each entry …

(Staff Members details list)

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

Click on Edit to modify the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a listing from your directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …

(Editing Staff Members profile info)

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

You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate a member …

(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 …

(Screen Options tab)

Selecting a check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order in which your employees appear on your directory page.

Click Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the entry to the new location …

(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list)

Once you are done adding staff listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order in which entries display on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order in your main admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered listings)

Once you are done adding members’ details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The Simple Staff List plugin lets you edit the style and layout of your staff directory items 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 – Templates)

This brings up the Templates screen …

(Customize your directory template)

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

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

(Default Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Plugin 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, as shown in the screenshot below …

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

Here is what your listings page should now look like …

(Directory listings with social media links)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with CSS code and template tags or are not sure what to do, please contact us for assistance.

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 main menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage page …

(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)

This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.

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

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

Options Menu

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

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Options settings)

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

Finally, you can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export menu …

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need specific help with this plugin, go to the plugin faq page.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List isn’t the only for creating a directory of your staff in WordPress. Here are some other plugins you can look at for adding a staff directory on your site:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP 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 – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

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

The plugin also lets you set up custom fields …

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

For more details go here:

• Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

The Faculty And Staff Directory 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.

More info:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

This plugin lets you add your staff to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and customizable single views, plus as fields like title, email, phone, pic and bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.

Visitors will be able to 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 about this plugin here:

• Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just one individual person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.

With Employee Spotlight, you also get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.

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

(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot source: plugin website)

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)

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

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer plugin website)

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

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Staffer

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 Plugin
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple staff directory to your WordPress site with no coding skills required, so you can showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.

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

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