Tag: WP Staff Directory Plugin

Something often said in business and marketing, is that people generally tend to buy from people they already know, like and trust.

Are you looking for ways to sell more products or services online? Then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for your prospects to get to know your organization better.

Adding a directory of staff or team members to your site can help boost your credibility online and get more prospects buying from your site.

This tutorial will show you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-manage directory of staff in WordPress.

Plugin Tutorial: Adding A Staff List Directory

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 display information about your employee on your site.

The first step is to install and activate this plugin.

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

(WordPress 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  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

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

(Staff Members menu)

All of the settings for your plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.

Plugin Configuration

Depending on how many people are in your team and how you want to structure your directory, you can begin to add new staff entries after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your staff members.

Staff Members – Groups

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

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This brings up the Groups section in your browser …

(Groups settings area)

Note: Setting up groups is very similar to creating WordPress categories …

(Groups are like categories)

Add a new group by typing in the following information:

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

(Groups section)

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

Create as many groups 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 on the Add New Group button after entering each new item …

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

The selected group will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group category from the Parent dropdown 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 the Update Group button when done to save your changes …

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

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested groups)

Once you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, the next step is to begin adding staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This brings up the Add New Staff Member settings screen …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Add your employee’s name
• Permalink: Modify the permalink URL associated with each staff member if you want (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: Your staff member’s position
• Email: Type in the employee’s email address
• Phone Number: The employee’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: Type in 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 staff member here. Since this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.

Groups Section (5)

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

Click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options tab)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

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

(Staff directory fields)

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

(Groups section)

Note: If you have not set up groups before starting to add staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field will display allowing you to enter a new group name, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new category and click on Add New Group …

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

(New group)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to new employee details. 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 filling in the person’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

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

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

We have created a detailed tutorial about using the admin toolbar here:

• The WP Admin Screen Explained

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

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

If you need help setting up WordPress permalinks, refer to this tutorial:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

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

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After you are done entering staff details to your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a list of all the directory entries and their details …

(Staff Members details table)

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

Click on Edit to modify the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a member from your employee directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …

(Editing Staff Members profile)

If you have many employees, your table can become unwieldy.

Use the Search Staff Members search feature to find member details if required …

(Search Staff Members search feature)

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

(Screen Options)

Placing a tick in the item’s check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when finished to update your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

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

Choose Staff Members > Order in your main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered listings)

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

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order that your staff entries appear on your directory pages.

Choose Staff Members > Order in the main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to a desired position …

(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin allows you to customize the style and layout of your employee directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Simple Staff List Templates screen)

To customize your directory, reorganize 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 Template)

The This code will display your directory listing as shown below …

(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)

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

(Use template tags to customize your listings page)

Your employee details will now appear with Facebook and Twitter addresses as shown in the screenshot below …

(Employee profiles with social media URLs)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess 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 allowing you 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, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This brings up the Usage page …

(Usage shortcodes)

This screen lists all different shortcode variations that the plugin lets you use.

A useful shortcode variation you can decide to use, 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=”sales reps”])

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

Options Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This opens the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

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

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

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need help with the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the plugin plugin site.

Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Employee Directories

Simple Staff List isn’t the only for displaying a directory of your employees. Here are other free plugins you can use:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

This 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)

To learn more about the plugin go here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

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

You can also use custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

Learn more here:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

Faculty And Staff Directory 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 profiles in a widget area.

Go here to learn more about this plugin:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and table views, plus as fields like position title, email, phone number, photo and bio, allowing you to present 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 sourced from Company Directory plugin website)

This plugin uses shortcodes.

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just a single person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.

With Employee Spotlight, 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 team member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …

(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight website)

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory 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 sourced from Staffer website)

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

For more details go here:

• Staffer – WP 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
• WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
• Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
• etc.

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

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

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