Tag: WP Staff Directory Plugin

You have no doubt heard that people often tend to buy from people they already know, like and trust.

If you are searching for quicker and easier ways to sell more products or services online, then something you can do, is help prospects get to know your business better.

If your web presence is driven by the WordPress CMS platform, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to use a staff list plugin that lets you add information about your key people, your team, or your employees.

This step-by-step tutorial explains how to add a simple and easy-to-update employee directory to your web site.

Plugin Tutorial: How To Add An Employee Directory

In this tutorial, you will learn how to 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 a free plugin that lets you easily create a simple staff directory for.

The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.

Log into your WordPress admin 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 search results area.

Click on Install Now …

(WordPress Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating the plugin, you will see that a new menu entry will be added to the main WP menu bar called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

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

Configuring Simple Staff List

Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can just start to add new staff details after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your staff.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s start by configuring your groups. In your WordPress dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

The Groups panel …

(Groups section)

Note: Configuring groups is just like setting up WordPress categories …

(Groups work like WordPress categories)

Add a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group name here
2. Slug – Enter the slug of your group. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
3. Parent – Use this section if you plan to set up nested groups
4. Description – Type in a group description here (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when done to create your new directory category …

(Groups screen)

If you are a larger organization, being able to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for founders, developers, departments, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

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

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

The category details open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new category from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

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

Click the Update Group button when done to save your changes …

Continue adding group names to this section until you have created your directory structure …

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested categories)

After you have finished setting up your hierarchical structure, the next step is to begin adding your people 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 screen in your web browser …

(Add New Staff Member section)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The employee’s name
• Slug: Edit the permalink URL associated with each staff member if you want (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Add your employee’s role into this field
• Email: The employee’s email address
• Phone Number: Enter the person’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Enter your company’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type in your company’s Twitter username (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your employees here. As this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content into this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

Click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options)

You will see options to enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Add New Staff Member settings)

After you have entered each staff member’s details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups feature in the sidebar …

(Groups feature)

Note: If you have not set up groups before adding staff member details, you can create a group now by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field will display allowing you to create a new group name, 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 Add New Group …

A new category will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …

(Groups box)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to a staff member’s details. To edit an item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).

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

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• The WP Control Area – An Overview

Note: If a ‘page not found’ error shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that your permalinks have been set up correctly …

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

If you need help setting up permalinks, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Repeat the above process to add more details to your staff or member directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

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

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all the listing entries and their details …

(Staff Members details table)

If you need to make changes to individual entries, hover your mouse over their listing, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit if you need to edit their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove an entry from your directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …

(Editing Staff Members profile)

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 entries …

(Search Staff Members search box)

You can specify which fields to display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …

(Screen Options)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your directory will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered listings)

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

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order that entries show on your directory page.

Select Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to the new position …

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered list items)

After adding all employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory to your site users.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The Simple Staff List plugin allows you to create the layout and style of your directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

To customize the style and layout of your employee directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates page …

(Simple Staff List Templates screen)

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

For example, here is the Default Template …

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop 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 listing. To make these fields display in the directory, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown in the screenshot below …

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

Your directory entries will now appear with Facebook and Twitter links as as the example below shows …

(Employee profiles with social media links)

Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with editing code or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for assistance.

Usage Menu

As well as allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your WordPress admin menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Usage shortcodes)

This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations you can use.

For example, a useful shortcode variation you can select to display a list of persons belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales reps”])

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

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options in your main menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – Options screen)

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

You can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export screen …

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

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

Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Staff Directories

Simple Staff List isn’t the only for creating a directory of your employees in WordPress. For example, here are some other free plugins you can use:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

This 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)

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

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 churches, teams, etc.

You can also create custom fields …

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

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

Faculty And Staff Directory 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.

More info:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

This plugin lets you add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable single views, as well as fields like title, email, phone, pic and staff bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.

Visitors can click through from your list, grid, and table views to read more about each employee in a customizable single view …

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

This plugin also uses shortcodes.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders or just one 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.

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

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

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

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

The Staffer 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 online employee directory …

(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 the plugin:

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

Hopefully, now you know how to add a simple and easily updatable simple team members directory to your web site using a free plugin.

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

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