General
What is CP Staff?
CP Staff is a WordPress plugin for churches to create and manage staff directories. It provides staff profiles with contact details, department organization, a public contact form system, and flexible display options.
Does CP Staff work with my theme?
CP Staff works with any properly coded WordPress theme. It includes minimal default styling and provides template overrides for full customization. See Template Overrides for details.
Can I use CP Staff for non-staff directories?
Yes. You can change the labels in Staff > Settings > Staff to use terms like “Team,” “Leadership,” “Volunteers,” or any other name that fits your organization.
Setup and Configuration
How do I change the staff page URL?
Change the Plural Label in Staff > Settings > Staff. The URL automatically updates to match. After changing, visit Settings > Permalinks and click Save Changes to flush rewrite rules.
Can I hide the default staff archive page?
Yes. Check Disable Archive Page in Staff > Settings > Staff, then use the [cp_staff_archive] or [cp_staff_list] shortcode on a custom page.
How do I reorder staff members?
Staff display in Menu Order first, then alphabetically. Edit a staff member and set the Order value in the Page Attributes box. For drag-and-drop ordering, install the Simple Page Ordering plugin.
How do I reorder departments?
Install the WP Term Order plugin for drag-and-drop ordering. Developers can also use the cp_staff_departments_args filter. See Departments.
Contact Forms
How do I enable the contact form?
Navigate to Staff > Settings > Advanced and check Staff contact modal. Ensure each staff member has an email address set in their profile. See Contact Form Setup.
Staff are not receiving contact form emails. What should I do?
Install a mail delivery plugin like WP Mail SMTP to route emails through a reliable SMTP provider. Check the From Address in settings and verify your hosting supports email sending. See Troubleshooting.
Can visitors see the staff member’s email address?
Only if you enable Display staff’s email address in Staff > Settings > Advanced. By default, the email address is hidden and messages are delivered without revealing it.
How does spam protection work?
CP Staff supports Google reCAPTCHA v3 (invisible), rate limiting by IP and email address, and domain blocking to prevent internal emails. See Security.
Display
What happens when a visitor clicks a staff card?
This depends on the Staff click action setting in Staff > Settings > Advanced: nothing (disabled), open the staff member’s dedicated page, or show a popup modal with their details.
Can I show only staff from specific departments?
Yes, use the [cp_staff_list] shortcode with the cp_department parameter. See Shortcodes.
Does CP Staff support nested departments?
Yes. Departments are hierarchical — you can create parent and child departments. The archive page and shortcodes respect this hierarchy. See Departments.
Developer
Where can I find the available hooks and filters?
See the Developer Guide for a complete list of actions and filters with code examples.
Can I add custom fields to staff profiles?
Yes. Target the cp_staff post type with CMB2, ACF, or any custom metabox solution. See the Developer Guide for a CMB2 example.