Tag: WP Staff Directory Plugin

Something that’s been proven to work in business, is that people generally buy from those they know, like and trust.

Are you searching for ideas to grow your business online and get people to engage more on your site? Then something you can do, is help your prospects get to know, like and trust you, your team and your business better.

If your web presence is built using WordPress, a simple way to help visitors get to know you better is to use a staff list plugin that will let you add a directory containing information about your key partners, your team, or your staff members.

In this step-by-step tutorial, we are going to show you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-update simple staff directory to your website using a free WP plugin.

How To Add A Staff List Directory To Your Site

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 easily build a simple staff directory list for.

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

Log into your admin and from the admin menu, choose Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

In the Plugins screen, 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 the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating your plugin, you will see that a new entry will show up in the WordPress menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

All of the settings for your plugin are configured and managed in this menu.

Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin

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

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s set up your categories. In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

The Groups panel opens up …

(Groups settings screen)

Note: Setting up directory groups is just like setting up WordPress categories …

(Groups are like categories)

Create a new group by typing in the following information:

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

(Groups settings)

If you are a larger organization, being able to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for partners, project teams, departments, 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 groups)

Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering new items …

To edit or reassign Groups for a particular item, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …

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

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button when done …

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

Click on Update Group  to save your changes …

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

You can add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested categories)

Once you have finished setting up your hierarchical structure, the next step is to begin adding names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

In your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member section …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Type the employee’s name
• Slug: You can edit each employees’ slug (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your employees here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign a staff or faculty member to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).

If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …

(Screen options tab)

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 …

(Staff directory settings)

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

(Groups box)

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

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field for creating a new group name will appear, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on Add New Group …

The new directory category will be added. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

(Groups box)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing new employee details. To edit a group 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 entering your employee or faculty member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the employee directory …

Click View Post …

To modify the staff member’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

We have written a detailed tutorial on using the admin toolbar here:

• Your WP Admin Screen – A Tutorial

Note: If you have set up groups and get an error like the one shown below, check that you have correctly configured your permalinks …

(Check your permalinks if you get errors)

To learn more about setting up permalinks, see this step-by-step tutorial:

• How To Configure WordPress Permalinks

Repeat the above process to continue adding more members to your staff directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff details to your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in the WP admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

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

(Staff Members details table)

If you need to make changes to individual details, simply hover over their list name, and a menu will appear.

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

(Edit Staff Members info)

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

Use the Search Staff Members search field to locate listing items if necessary …

(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)

Selecting a check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when finished to save your settings …

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which entries display on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order on the main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the entry to the desired position …

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

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

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order that entries display on your directory pages.

Select Staff Members > Order on your main menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list)

After adding all staff details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your site visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List lets you create the layout and style of your staff list entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Customize your directory template)

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

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

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

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

Your staff entries will now display as as the example below shows …

(Directory listings with social media links added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with editing code or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.

Usage Menu

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

In your main menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)

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

A useful shortcode variation you can choose, 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=”Gold Level associates”])

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

Options Menu

Select Staff Members >Options on your WP admin menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Options settings screen)

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

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

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need plugin support, go to the plugin faq page and request help from the plugin author.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List is not the only adding a directory of your staff in WordPress. For example, here are some other plugins you can look at:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP 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)

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory)

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

You can also add custom fields …

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

Learn more here:

• Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

This plugin was developed to provide 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 a profile in a widget area.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, as well as fields like job title, email address, phone number, pic 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 uses simple shortcodes.

More info:

• Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just one individual person 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 selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.

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)

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

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 onsite staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)

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

More info:

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

Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-update simple staff directory to your site using a free WP plugin.

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

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