Tag: WP Staff Directory Plugin

Consumer buying habits have successfully shown that people will mostly buy from people they know, like and trust.

Are you looking for cost-effective ways to sell more products online and get people to stay longer on your site? Then something you can do, is help your visitors get to know your organization better.

If your site is driven by WordPress, a simple way to help visitors get to know you better is to add a WordPress staff list plugin that will let you display information about your key partners, your team, or your staff.

In this step-by-step tutorial, we show you how to easily create and add an easy-to-update simple employee directory in your web site using a free WP plugin.

Tutorial: How To Easily Add An Employee Directory To Your WordPress Site

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

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List is a free 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 admin and in your admin menu, click on Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on Install Now …

(WordPress Plugins  – plugin search results)

Click on the Activate Plugin link …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating the plugin, you will notice that new entry will be added to the main WordPress menu section called Staff Members …

(Staff Members menu)

Here is where you will configure and manage all of the options and settings for this plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.

Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration

Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can start to add new employee details at this at this stage, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your employees.

Staff Members – Groups

To set up your directory groups go to your dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

This brings you to the Groups panel …

(Groups section)

Note: Setting up directory groups is similar to working with categories …

(Groups work like WordPress categories)

Add new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your group name here
2. Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your category name. 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 – Enter your category description (optional)
5. Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up a new directory category …

(Groups settings)

If you manage a business that employs many people, having the ability to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for investors, developers, departments, 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 directory hierarchy …

(Nested categories)

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

To edit or reassign Groups for specific items, hover your mouse over a category title and select the Edit link …

The category details will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new category from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click the Update button to save your changes …

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

Click Update Group to save your changes …

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

Add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested categories)

After you are done setting up your groups, you can start adding your people to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members – Add New)

This brings you to the Add New Staff Member area …

(Add New Staff Member settings)

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

Name Section (1)

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

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo here

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

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

Groups Section (5)

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

If you click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options)

You can enable additional page settings …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

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

(Add New Staff Member settings)

Once you have entered details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in your sidebar …

(Groups box)

Note: If you did not set up groups before adding new staff members, you can add a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

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

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

(Groups section)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or edited. To edit an 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 edit the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

To learn more about using the dashboard admin toolbar , go here:

• Your WordPress Dashboard – A Step-By-Step Tutorial

Note: If an error shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that you have configured your permalinks correctly …

(Check your permalinks if you get a page error)

For a detailed tutorial about setting up permalinks, go here:

• Using Permalinks To Improve Your WordPress SEO

Repeat the above process to add new details to your employee or member directory.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

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

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all the staff members and details you have added for each entry …

(Staff Members details list)

If you need to make changes to an individual’s details, hover your mouse over their listing, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit to update the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a list item from your employee 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 become unwieldy.

You can use the Search Staff Members search box to find a member if necessary …

(Search Staff Members search box)

The plugin also allows you to specify which fields to display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …

(Screen Options)

Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide specific fields. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your settings …

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order in the main menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the entry to its new location …

(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered listings)

Once you are done adding all of your member listing details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show on your site.

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order that listings display on your directory page.

Click Staff Members > Order in your menu …

(Staff Members – Order)

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

(Reorder items using drag and drop)

Your list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list entries)

After adding all members’ details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show on your site.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

The plugin lets you edit the layout and style of your employee directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This opens the Templates screen …

(Customize your directory template)

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

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

(Default Staff Loop Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Template Listing)

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

(Use template tags to customize your directory page)

Here is what your staff list will now look like …

(Staff profiles with social media URLs)

Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess around with CSS code and template tags or are not sure what to do, 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 staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Usage Shortcode section)

This screen displays all different shortcode variations that the plugin allows you to use.

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

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

Options Menu

Click Staff Members >Options on the menu …

(Staff Members – Options)

This brings up the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)

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

You can also export your staff members data by going to your menu and choosing Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members information)

If you need specific help with this plugin, visit the plugin plugin website and request help from the plugin author.

Other Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List is not the only adding a listing of your team members. Here are a few other free plugins you can look at for creating an employee directory on your website:

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)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

The plugin also lets you add custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

More info:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

This plugin provides 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.

Go here to learn more:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your employees to your website. Different layouts are available, including grid and customizable single views, plus as fields like job title, email address, phone, pic and staff 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 sourced from Company Directory website)

This plugin also uses shortcodes.

More info:

• Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just a single member of your team in a 4-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, 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 employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight website)

To learn more about the plugin 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 online employee directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin website)

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

For more details go here:

• Staffer – Plugin For WordPress

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 Directory Plugin
• WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
• Simple Staff List Template WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, now you know how to easily add an easy-to-update list directory of employees to in WordPress using a free WP plugin.

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

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