Tag: WP Staff Directory Plugin

Consumer buying habits show that people will buy from those they know, like and trust.

If you are searching for quicker, easier and cheaper ideas to grow your business online and get people to stay longer on your site, then one of the things you can do, is help prospects get to know, like and trust you, your team and your organization better.

Adding a faculty member directory to your website can help to humanize your organization.

This tutorial will show you how to add an easy-to-maintain directory of employees to your WordPress site.

Adding An Employee Directory To Your WordPress Site

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

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)

The Simple Staff List plugin is a free WordPress plugin that lets you easily employee (you could also use it to display board of directors, etc.).

The first step is to install and activate the plugin.

Log into your WordPress dashboard and from the admin menu section, click on Plugins > Add New …

(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on Install Now …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After your plugin has been installed and activated, a new entry will be added to your main WP menu bar called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

Configuring Simple Staff List

Depending on the size of your team and how you want to structure your directory, you can start to add new staff details at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to place yourmembers into.

Staff Members – Groups

To configure your groups go to your WP dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This loads the Groups screen in your web browser …

(Groups screen)

Note: Configuring directory groups works in the same way as adding WordPress categories …

(Groups work like WordPress categories)

Create a new group by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your category name
2. Slug – Enter 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 – Use this drop-down menu if you plan to set up nested categories
4. Description – Type in the group description here (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when finished to create the new category …

(Groups screen)

If you run a business that employs many people, being able to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for investors, developers, faculties, etc.

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

(Nested categories)

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

To change Groups for an individual entry, hover your mouse button over a category title and click on the Edit link …

The item open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button when done …

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

Click the Update Group button when done …

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

You can add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested categories)

Once you have finished setting up your directory structure, you can begin adding names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This loads the Add New Staff Member screen …

(Add New Staff Member area)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your employee’s name
• Permalink: You can change your employees’ permalink URL (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo in this section

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Groups Section (5)

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

Click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options)

You will see options to enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add Staff Member fields)

After you are done inputting details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups box in the sidebar …

(Groups section)

Note: If you have not set up directory 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 for creating your group name will appear, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new category and click on the Add New Group button …

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

(New group added)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing a staff member’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 typing in your employee or team member’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

To make changes to the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)

For a detailed step-by-step tutorial on using the WP admin toolbar , go here:

• Using The WP Administration Panel

Note: If ’not found’ page errors shows up like the one shown in the example below, check that you have correctly set up your site permalinks …

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

If you need help setting up WP permalinks, see this tutorial:

• Setting Up WordPress Permalinks

Repeat the above process to continue adding more details to your employee directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering staff or faculty members to your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a list displaying all your directory entries and their details …

(Staff Members list)

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

Click on Edit if you want to modify the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove an entry from your staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …

(Edit Staff Members profile information)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can grow quite large.

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

(Search members)

The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …

(Screen Options tab)

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

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list)

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

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order in which listings show on your directory pages.

Click Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to its desired location …

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered listings)

Once you have added all of your employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display on your site.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The Simple Staff List plugin also lets you edit the layout and style of your directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Customize your directory template)

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

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

(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)

The This code will display your listing as shown below …

(Default Plugin Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your staff list will now look like …

(Directory with social media URLs)

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

Usage Menu

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

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

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage page …

(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcode variations)

This screen displays all different shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin lets you use.

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

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

Options Menu

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

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

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

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

(Export Staff Members info)

If you need plugin support, visit the plugin website.

Additional Employee Directory Plugins

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to create a staff directory in WordPress. For example, here are other plugins you can check out:

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)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

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

You can also set up custom fields …

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

For more details go here:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

Faculty And Staff Directory provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college or university.

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and single views, as well as fields like job title, email, phone, photo and bio, allowing you to present 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 plugin website)

This plugin uses shortcodes.

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Company Directory – WP Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just a single person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.

Employee Spotlight installs 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)

More info:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Staff Directory 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 onsite staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin

If the above plugins aren’t what you’re looking for, just go online or visit the WordPress plugin directory and search for:

• Add Staff Directory To WordPress
• WordPress Staff List
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Employee Directory WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to easily add an easy-to-update simple staff directory to your website using free plugins.

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

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