Tag: WP Staff Directory Plugin

Consumer buying habits have successfully shown that people generally buy from businesses they know, like and trust.

Are you searching for quicker, easier and cheaper ways to grow your business online? Then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for prospects to get to know you, your team and your organization better.

Adding a directory of employees or team members to your website can help to generate increased trust, increase your online credibility and get more prospects making enquiries.

This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to create a simple and easy-to-maintain directory of employees in WordPress.

How To Easily Add An Employee Directory To WordPress

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

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List lets you staff members.

First, let’s install and activate this plugin.

Log into the WP administration and go to Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

In the Plugins area, 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 on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members)

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

Configuring Simple Staff List

Depending on how many people are employed in your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can start to add new entries after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s configure your groups. From your WordPress dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

The Groups panel …

(Groups settings screen)

Note: Adding groups works just like categories …

(Groups are like categories)

Create new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group name
2. Slug – Type in the slug of your group 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 your category description in this field (optional)
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up the new group …

(Groups settings screen)

If you manage a larger organization, having the ability to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for investors, 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 build a hierarchical structure …

(Nested categories)

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

To change or reassign Groups for specific items, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update to save your changes …

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

Click Update Group when done 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 groups)

After you have finished setting up your groups, the next step is to start adding your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

In your WordPress admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members – Add New)

This brings up the Add New Staff Member settings …

(Add New Staff Member area)

This area 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: Change your employees’ 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: Enter the employee’s role into this field
• Email: Your staff member’s email address
• Phone Number: The employee’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type your staff member’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type in the person’s Twitter username into this field (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 use HTML in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign an employee or faculty member to a specific 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 features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Add New Staff Member settings)

After you are done entering your staff member’s details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups section in your sidebar …

(Groups section)

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

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field for entering a new group name will appear, with a drop-down 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 group will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

(New group)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or edited. 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 typing in the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your directory …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the WP admin toolbar , go here:

• The WordPress Administration Area Explained

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

(Check your permalinks if you get a page error)

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

• How To Change Your WordPress Permalinks

Continue adding new members to your directory directory as shown above until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you have finished entering employees to your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in the WordPress admin menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members list)

If you need to change individual entries, simply hover over their name, and a menu will appear.

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

(Edit Staff Members profile information)

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

You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate entries if necessary …

(Search Staff Members search feature)

You can specify which fields can display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …

(Staff Members Screen Options tab)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide fields. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your settings …

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order in your WP admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list items)

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

Staff Members – Order

The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order that listings show on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order on the main admin menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered listings)

Once you are done adding all of your employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory to your site users.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin also lets you create the layout and style of your staff directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Templates screen)

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

For example, below is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying listings …

(Default Template)

The This code displays your listing as shown below …

(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

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

Your employee listings will now display as shown in the screenshot below …

(Directory with social media links added)

Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks 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

As well as being able to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

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

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Usage Shortcode section)

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

A useful shortcode variation you can add to your page, for example, 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”])

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

Options Menu

In your main menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

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

You can also export your staff members info by going to the main admin menu and selecting Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need plugin help or support, visit the plugin plugin website.

Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Employee Directories

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

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory)

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)

Go here to learn more:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

You can also use custom fields …

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

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

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.

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

This plugin lets you add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and table views, plus as fields like job title, email, phone, pic and 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 employee in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

This plugin also uses a simple shortcode system.

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

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

Employee Spotlight includes two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus 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 circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight website)

More info:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress 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 employee 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 here:

• Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin

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 Directory Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple staff or faculty directory to your WordPress site without touching code, so you can showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.

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

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