Tag: WP Staff Directory Plugin

Something that is often quoted in marketing, is that people will mostly buy from those they know, like and trust.

If you are searching for quicker and easier ways to sell more products or services online or get people to stay longer on your site, then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for your visitors to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your organization better.

Adding a staff directory to your site can help boost your online credibility and get more prospects to request quotes or more information.

This step-by-step tutorial explains how to create a simple and easy-to-update employee directory in your WordPress site.

How To Easily Add A Staff List Directory: Tutorial

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)

The Simple Staff List plugin is a no cost WordPress plugin that lets you easily employee (you could also use it to display faculty members, etc.).

First, let’s install and activate the plugin.

Log into your dashboard and in your admin menu, click on 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 …

(Plugins  – plugin search results)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating your plugin, a new menu entry will have been added to the main WordPress menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on how many people are in your team and how you want to structure your directory, you can start adding new staff member details after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual members.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s start by setting up your directory categories. In your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This takes you to the Groups screen …

(Groups settings)

Note: Adding directory groups is similar to working with WordPress categories …

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Create a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group category name here
2. Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your group. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
3. Parent – This section lets you set up a directory hierarchy
4. Description – Type in a category description here
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up a new group name …

(Groups section)

If you are a business that employs many people, being able to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a group 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 build a directory hierarchy …

(Nested categories)

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

To change Groups for a specific item, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …

The selected group open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent category from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update to save your changes …

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

Click on Update Group  after making changes …

Continue adding categories in this section until you have created your directory structure …

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested groups)

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

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

This opens up the Add New Staff Member settings area …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: The staff member’s name
• Permalink: Modify your staff members’ permalink URL (this section appears after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: Type the person’s position
• Email: Type in the person’s email here
• Phone Number: Your staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Type in your company’s Facebook address (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: Add a profile description for your employee here. Since this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML into this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

Click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options tab)

You will see options to enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add New Staff Member fields)

Once you have entered details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups section in your sidebar …

(Groups feature)

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

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

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

The new category will be added. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …

(New group)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or edited. 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 typing in the person’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

If you need help using the dashboard admin toolbar , go here:

• The WP Dashboard – An Overview

Note: If you see an error like the one shown below, check that your site’s permalinks have been set up correctly …

(Not found error? Check your permalinks)

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

• Configuring WordPress Permalinks

Continue adding more details to your staff directory directory as shown above until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

Once you are done adding employee or faculty members into your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in the main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a list of all your employees and their details …

(Staff Members details list)

If you need to make changes to individual entries, hover your mouse over their list name, and a submenu will appear.

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

(Editing Staff Members profile 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 member details if necessary …

(Search members)

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

(Screen Options)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order in the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you have added all of your members’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory to your site users.

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order in which listings appear on your directory pages.

Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to its new location …

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered listings)

Once you are done adding member listing details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory to your site users.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List allows you to customize the layout and style of your employee 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 main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This brings up the Templates screen …

(Customize your directory template)

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

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

(Default Simple Staff List Template)

The The code shown above will display your listing as shown below …

(Default Template Listing)

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

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Your staff entries will now display as shown in the screenshot below …

(Employee profiles 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 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 menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)

This screen displays all different shortcode variations that you can use.

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

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

Options Menu

In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

This section lets you edit some of the labels used in the plugin

Finally, you can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export screen …

(Export Staff Members info)

If you need plugin help or support, go to the plugin plugin website and request help from the plugin author.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List isn’t the only for displaying a directory of your staff in WordPress. Here are a few other free plugins you can check out to create a staff directory on your site:

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)

More info:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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

You can also set up custom fields …

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

More info:

• Staff Directory – WordPress 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, school or university.

The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.

More info:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WP Plugin)

With Company Directory, you can add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and table views, plus as fields like job title, email address, phone number, image and member 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 read more about each staff member in a customizable single view …

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

This plugin also uses shortcodes.

More info:

• Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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

This plugin comes with two sidebar widgets that let you 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 faculty member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …

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

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Plugin)

Staffer uses custom post types for staff/employee management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an online staff directory …

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

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

Learn more here:

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

Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple staff directory to your WordPress site, so your web visitors can get to know you and your organization better.

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

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