Tag: WP Staff Directory Plugin

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

If you are searching for quicker and simpler ways to sell more products online or get people to interact more with your site, then something you can do, is make it easier for your prospects to get to know you, your team and your organization better.

Adding a staff directory to your site can generate more trust, increase your online credibility and get interested prospects to consider using your services.

In this tutorial, you will learn how to easily add a simple faculty directory in a WordPress site using free WP plugins.

Tutorial: How To Easily Add A Staff List Directory To WordPress

In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)

The Simple Staff List plugin is a no cost WordPress plugin that lets you create a simple staff directory for.

The first step is to install and activate the plugin.

Log into your administration and go to Plugins > Add New …

(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After your plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu entry will show up in the main WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

Here is where you will configure and manage all of the settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.

How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on how many people are employed in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you could begin to add new staff member details at this point, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to place yourgroup members into.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members – Groups)

This takes you to the Groups settings screen …

(Groups settings)

Note: Setting up groups is just like adding categories …

(Groups work like categories)

Add a new group by entering 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 drop-down menu if you plan to set up a directory hierarchy
4. Description – Enter a category description here (optional)
5. Click the Add New Group button when done to set up your new group …

(Groups screen)

If you work with a larger organization, having the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for partners, project teams, faculties, etc.

Create as many groups and nested groups as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a directory hierarchy …

(Nested groups)

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

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

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

(Edit Group screen)

Click the Update button when done …

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

Click the Update Group button to save your changes …

Continue adding group names to this section until you are done creating your directory structure …

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested groups)

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

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This takes you to the Add New Staff Member section …

(Add New Staff Member settings screen)

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: Enter the staff member’s name
• Permalink: Change your employees’ slug (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Groups Section (5)

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

Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …

(Screen options tab)

You can enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add New Staff Member fields)

Once you have finished entering each staff member’s details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups box located in the sidebar …

(Groups feature)

Note: If you did not set up directory groups before starting to add staff member details, you can add a new group 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 drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on Add New Group …

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

(New group)

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

***

After typing in your staff 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 your WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)

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

• Your WP Dashboard – A Tutorial

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

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

We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks in WordPress here:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Repeat the above process to add new details to your staff directory directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you are done entering staff details to your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on your main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all your staff profiles and their details …

(Staff Members table)

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

Click on Edit to update the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a listing from your directory by clicking on the Trash link, 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 become unwieldy.

You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to find member details …

(Search Staff Members search field)

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

(Staff Members Screen Options)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide specific fields. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when done to update your preferences …

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order that listings display 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 desired position …

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically rearranged …

(Reordered list)

Once you are done adding all of your employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list items)

Once you have added member details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory to your site users.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List allows you to edit 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 menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Templates page)

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

For example, here is a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Staff Loop Template)

The This code displays your listing as shown below …

(Default Template Listing)

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

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

Your staff details will now display Facebook and Twitter addresses as as the example below shows …

(Employee profiles with social media URLs added)

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

Usage Menu

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

In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Usage shortcodes)

This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations that you can use with the plugin.

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

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

Options Menu

In your main menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

Here you can change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title

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

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need specific help with the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the plugin plugin site and contact the plugin developer.

Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Employee Directories

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

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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

This plugin also lets you add custom fields …

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

More info:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)

The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin was developed to provide a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.

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

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and table views, as well as fields like position title, email address, phone, photo and staff 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 members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory website)

This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.

For more details go here:

• Company Directory – WP Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders or just an individual member of your team in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.

With this plugin, you also get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, 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 source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)

For more details go here:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)

The Staffer 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 employee directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer plugin website)

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

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Staffer

If the directory plugins listed above 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 Plugin
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Staff Plugin WordPress
• etc.

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

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

***