=== Employee Spotlight – Team Member Showcase & Meet the Team Plugin ===
Contributors: emarket-design,safiye
Plugin URI: https://emdplugins.com
Author URI: https://emarketdesign.com
Donate link: https://emarketdesign.com/donate-emarket-design/
Requires at least: 4.5
Tested up to: 6.9
Stable tag: 5.1.5
License: GPLv2 or later
License URI: http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-2.0.html
Tags: team members, staff directory, employee profiles, team showcase, team grid

Showcase your team with beautiful, responsive layouts: grid, carousel, cards, and more. Perfect for meet-the-team pages and employee highlights.

== Description ==

> <strong>LIVE DEMO SITE</strong>
> [Employee Spotlight Starter Demo Site](https://espotlight-com.emdplugins.com?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme)
> Powerful | Easy to use | Beautiful 


<strong>Employee Spotlight</strong> is a powerful and easy-to-use plugin that lets you beautifully showcase your team members on your WordPress site. Whether you want to create a stylish "Meet the Team" page or highlight featured employees, this plugin gives you the flexibility and visual impact to do it with ease.

Choose from multiple responsive layouts including grid, list, panel, and carousel to match your brand’s look and feel. Add team member photos, bios, job titles, social links, and more — all without touching a line of code.

Ideal for creative agencies, startups, small businesses, nonprofits, and remote teams looking to build trust by introducing their people.

Employee Spotlight offers 5 great ways to display your team members or staff profiles:

* Employee Circle Grid : Team members or staff name and photo.
* Employee Circle Panel Grid : Team members or staff name, photo, social and contact links on hover and brief bio.
* Stacked view: Team members or staff name, photo, email and location. Used for team member, staff, founder or partner archives or employee tags and employee locations.
* Profile view: Team members or staff name, photo, social and contact links and employee tags and employee locations.
* Recent and Featured Team members, staff sidebar widgets display photo and name; all linking to team member profile

There are many customization options available in the plugin settings to make it match to your needs. Once you install and activate the plugin you will see many resources in the getting started section. Pro edition offers enterprise level, best in class features every modern organization needs.

> [CHECK OUT LIVE DEMO SITE](https://espotlight-com.emdplugins.com/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme) 
> Powerful | Easy to use | Beautiful

**Introduction Video to get you started**

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ug4UNSKVjjU

**Employee Spotlight YouTube Playlist**

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoVKQWdo7tE&list=PLxQpKElaVx8tLAhMv8yFkiM4wBrQadmSs

**Shortcodes Examples**

* Display 15 team members(employees) in one page, with no pagination.<br>
[employee_circle_grid filter="misc::posts_per_page::is::15;misc::has_pages::is::false;"]<br>
* Display 5 team members(employees) per page. If you have more than 5 team members(employees), it will display a page navigation bar:<br>
[employee_circle_grid filter="misc::posts_per_page::is::5;"]<br>
* Display team members(employees) with locations in "Miami".<br>
[employee_circle_grid filter="tax::office_locations::is::miami;"]<br>
* Display team members(employees) with groups "sales".<br>
[employee_circle_grid filter="tax::groups::is::sales;"]<br>
[Employee Spotlight Community Edition Documentation](https://docs.emdplugins.com/docs/employee-spotlight-community-documentation/)


**RELATED PLUGINS YOU MAY LIKE**

* [Employee Directory Starter](https://employee-directory-com.emdplugins.com) The most complete employee directory software to power up your business.
* [Campus Directory Starter](https://campusdircom.emdplugins.com) The Best Campus Directory for Higher Education Institutions.
* [WP Easy Contact Starter](https://wpeasycontactcom.emdplugins.com) Complete contact management solution to start, develop and grow your customer relationships.

**Employee Spotlight Features**

* [Customizable Filters: Find the Right People on Your Team](https://emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-categorize-and-group-employees/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme)
* [Your Mobile-Friendly Platform for Employee Profiles](https://emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-responsive-mobile-friendly/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme)
* [Unleash Your Team's Potential: Explore Employee Spotlight Today!](https://emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-beautiful-profile-pages/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme)
* [Leverage Employee Spotlight's Custom Fields for Personalized Storytelling](https://emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-custom-fields/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme)
* [Seamless Team Management: Build Brand Consistency with Employee Spotlight](https://emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-one-place-for-all-your-profiles/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme)
* [Transform Your Online Team Presence with Employee Spotlight](https://emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-easy-customization/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme)
* [Boost Collaboration: Find Employees & Offices Instantly](https://emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-search-employee-or-office-locations-on-map/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme) - Premium feature (included both Pro and Ent)
* [Alphabetical Search for Your Directory](https://emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-alphabetical-search/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme) - Premium feature (included both Pro and Ent)
* [Data Security Made Easy: Control Employee Profile Access](https://emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-field-based-access/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme) - Premium feature (Included in Ent only)
* [Empower & Simplify: Effortless Profile Updates for Employees](https://emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-frontend-profile-editing/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme) - Premium feature (Included in Ent only)
* [Boost Security & Efficiency: Grant Precise Permissions](https://emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-empower-users/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme) - Premium feature (included both Pro and Ent)
* [Find the Perfect Fit: Tag Cloud Search with Employee Spotlight](https://emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-tag-cloud-search/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme) - Premium feature (included both Pro and Ent)
* [Employee Spotlight: Shining a Light on Achievements and Milestones](https://emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-employee-milestone-widgets/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme) - Premium feature (included both Pro and Ent)
* [Ditch the Paperwork! Update Your Info on Employee Spotlight](https://emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-self-service-give-power-to-your-employees/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme) - Premium feature (included both Pro and Ent)
* [Streamline Your Team Showcase with Drag & Drop Ordering](https://emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-drag-drop-ordering/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme) - Premium feature (included both Pro and Ent)
* [Showcase Your Team: Select the Ideal Layout with Employee Spotlight!](https://emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-awesome-layout-options/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme) - Premium feature (included both Pro and Ent)
* [Refined Team Permissions: Empower Your Team with Precision Control](https://emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-assign-roles-to-your-team/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme) - Premium feature (included both Pro and Ent)
* [Streamline Onboarding, Build Connections](https://emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-instant-notifications/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme) - Premium feature (included both Pro and Ent)
* [Organize with Custom Groups in Employee Spotlight](https://emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-create-custom-groups/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme) - Premium feature (included both Pro and Ent)
* [Harness the Power of Customizable Animations with Employee Spotlight](https://emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-bring-your-team-to-life-add-dynamic-flair/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme) - Premium feature (included both Pro and Ent)
* [Employee Spotlight's Smart Search pinpoints the right team member with ease](https://emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-smart-search-addon/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme) - Add-on (Included in Ent only)
* [Streamline Onboarding with Employee Spotlight's CSV Import/Export Addon](https://emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-csv-import-export-addon/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme) - Add-on (included both Pro and Ent)
* [Automate Profile Updates with Active Directory/LDAP Sync](https://emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-microsoft-active-directory-ldap-addon/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme) - Add-on
* [Seamless Business Card Sharing](https://emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-vcard-addon/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme) - Add-on (Included in Ent only)

**PLUGIN LINKS**
* [Employee Spotlight Starter Demo Site](https://espotlight-com.emdplugins.com?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme)
* [Employee Spotlight Starter Documentation](https://docs.emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-community/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme)
* [Employee Spotlight Professional Demo Site](https://espotlight.emdplugins.com/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme)
* [Employee Spotlight Professional Documentation](https://docs.emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-professional/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme)
* [Employee Spotlight Professional Changes](https://emdplugins.com/articles/empslight-pro-wordpress-plugin-changelog/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme)
* [Employee Spotlight Enterprise Demo Site](https://espotlight.emdplugins.com/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme)
* [Employee Spotlight Enterprise Documentation](https://docs.emdplugins.com/employee-spotlight-enterprise/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme)
* [Employee Spotlight Enterprise Changes](https://emdplugins.com/articles/empslight-ent-wordpress-plugin-changelog/?pk_campaign=employee-spotlight-com&pk_kwd=readme)

> This plugin's code was generated by [WP App Studio](https://wpappstudio.com) Professional WordPress Design and Development Platform based on the plugin's design. You can develop a plugin like Employee Spotlight using [WP App Studio](https://wpappstudio.com/quick-start/) plugin and sell its designs by [becoming a SellDev author](https://wpappstudio.com/become-a-selldev-author/) <br>

== Installation ==

The simplest way to install is to click on 'Plugins' then 'Add' and type 'Employee Spotlight' in the search field.

= Manual Installation Type 1 =

* Login to your website and go to the Plugins section of your admin panel.
* Click the Add New button.
* Under Install Plugins, click the Upload link.
* Select the plugin zip file from your computer then click the Install Now button.
* You should see a message stating that the plugin was installed successfully.
* Click the Activate Plugin link.

= Manual Installation Type 2 =

* You should have access to the server where WordPress is installed. If you don't, see your system administrator.
* Copy the plugin zip file up to your server and unzip it somewhere on the file system.
* Copy the "employee-spotlight" folder into the /wp-content/plugins directory of your WordPress installation.
* Login to your website and go to the Plugins section of your admin panel.
* Look for "Employee Spotlight" and click Activate.

== Screenshots ==

1. Displays responsive employee circle panel grid in 4 column large screen layout with page navigation. Column size changes on smaller screen sizes. Featured and recent employee sidebar widgets.
2. Employee circle grid view with page navigation. Border can be changed or disabled from Plugin Settings page. When border color changes, it changes in every view. 
3. Each employee profile resides in its own page with full information. Edit in one place, display it everywhere. Comes with a setup assistant which creates all available pages when used.
4. Edit each employee profile with a simple interface. PRO version allows to set order of the profile displayed and shows the order in all view layouts
5. Admin list layout only displays the relevant
6. [Employee Spotlight Pro Edition](https://emdplugins.com/plugins/employee-spotlight-wordpress-plugin) - offers best in class features to showcase your most valuable asset
7. [Employee Directory Pro Edition](https://emdplugins.com/plugins/employee-directory-wordpress-plugin) is the most advanced company directory and event management solution ever built for WordPress - designed and developed without writing single line of PHP code
8. Create and selectively display custom fields easily, set slugs for employees, locations, tags and groups
9. Stacked views for archives, groups, employee tags and locations
10. [eMD vCard Extension](https://emdplugins.com/plugin-features/employee-spotlight-vcard-addon) to allow generation of vCards based on employee profiles
11. [eMD CSV Import Export Extension](https://emdplugins.com/plugin-features/employee-spotlight-importexport-addon) for bulk import/export from/to CSV files
12. Customize front and backend plugin pages easily

== FAQ ==

= Can I categorize my employees? =
Yes, you can categorize team members by department, location, or any custom taxonomy.

= Is this plugin responsive? =
Yes, all layouts are mobile-friendly and adapt to any screen size.

= How do I add team members in WordPress? =
Go to Employee Spotlight > Add New, enter the team member’s name, photo, title, and bio, then publish. Use the shortcode to display them.

= Can I create a team member grid or list layout? =
Yes! You can display your team in grid, list, panel, or carousel layouts. All layouts are responsive and work on mobile devices.

= Is this plugin good for a staff directory? =
Absolutely. Employee Spotlight lets you organize staff by department, role, or location and even highlight featured employees.

= Can I show featured employees or team leads? =
Yes, you can mark employees as featured to highlight them separately on your site—perfect for showing founders or department heads.

= Can I categorize team members (by department, region, etc.)? =
Yes. You can assign categories and display team members filtered by department, office location, or custom taxonomy.

= Is the plugin mobile responsive? =
Yes. All team member layouts are fully responsive and adjust to look great on all devices.

= Can I use this plugin for remote or distributed teams? =
Yes! It’s ideal for remote-first companies. Add team members with bios and photos to introduce your distributed team to the world.


== Changelog ==
= 5.1.5 =
* FIXED An issue where non-admin users were blocked from wp-admin due to an incorrect wp_die() call in show_optin()
= 5.1.4 =
* FIXED Missing authorization and nonce check in callback function for check_optin
* TWEAK tested with WP 6.9
= 5.1.3 =
* FIXED XSS Vulnerability on social links
= 5.1.2 =
* FIXED Vulnerability related to emd_get_widg_pagenum
= 5.1.1 =
* TWEAK tested with WP 6.8
* FIXED XSS vulnerability when using custom fields
= 5.1.0 =
* FIXED WordPress dashboard accordions issue on setting and glossary pages due to changes in core code on WP 6.7.1
= 5.0.1 =
* FIXED Issue with saving employee photo
= 5.0.0 =
* TWEAK tested with WP 6.5
* FIXED Translation to one textdomain
* FIXED Add sanitization and fix CSRF vulnerability
= 4.9.8 =
* TWEAK tested with WP 6.2
= 4.9.7 =
* TWEAK tested with WP 6.0
= 4.9.6 =
* NEW Added reddit on employee profile
* TWEAK tested with WP 5.9.1 and PHP 8
= 4.9.5 =
* TWEAK tested with WP 5.8.1
* TWEAK Added ability to set the maximum number of employees to show in multiple sidebar widgets.
* TWEAK Added ability to set pagination support with customization options for multiple sidebar widgets.
= 4.9.4 =
* TWEAK updates and improvements to libraries
= 4.9.3 =
* TWEAK tested with WP 5.6.1
= 4.9.2 =
* TWEAK fixes and improvements for better performance and compatibility
= 4.9.1 =
* TWEAK updates to translation strings and libraries
* NEW Added version numbers to js and css files for caching purposes
* TWEAK tested with WP 5.5.1
= 4.9.0 =
* NEW Added previous and next buttons for the edit screens of employees
* TWEAK updates and improvements to libraries
= 4.8.0 =
* NEW Added support for Emd Custom Field Builder when upgraded to premium editions
* TWEAK Emd templates
= 4.7.0 =
* TWEAK Cleaned up unnecessary code and optimized the library file content.
* FIXED Session cleanup workflow by creating a custom table to process records.
= 4.6.1 =
* TWEAK Misc updates for better compatibility and stability
= 4.6.0 =
* NEW Created a new shortcode page which displays all available shortcodes. You can access this page under the plugin settings.
* TWEAK Emd templating system to match modern web standards
= 4.5.4 =
* TWEAK Updated how pages are displayed with or without sidebars
= 4.5.3 =
* TWEAK Misc updates for better compatibility and stability
= 4.5.2 =
* TWEAK library updates
= 4.5.1 =
* NEW LIVE DEMO SITE available - https://espotlight-com.emdplugins.com
* FIXED HTML code editor in WordPress dashboard compressing output after switching from visual mode
= 4.5.0 =
* TWEAK library updates
= 4.4.0 =
* NEW Added ability to limit the size, type and number of allowed file uploads for photos
= 4.3.2 =
* NEW Added getting started section in the backend
* TWEAK library updates and misc. minor fixes
= 4.3.1 =
* NEW Added custom JavaScript option in plugin settings under Tools tab
* FIXED PHP 7 compatibility
* TWEAK Updated codemirror libraries for custom CSS and JS options in plugin settings page
= 4.3.0 =
* NEW Added support for EMD Active Directory/LDAP extension
* FIX Fixed misc issues
= 4.2.0 =
* NEW Email is not required anymore for employee entries
* NEW Added ability to set the page templates for single, archive and every taxonomy related to Employees (left sidebar, right sidebar and full width) without modifying the theme files through plugin settings page
* NEW Added ability to hide the previous and next post links and page navigation on the frontend for single, archive and taxonomy pages
* NEW Added ability to enable, disable or simple hide every available visible field, taxonomy from frontend
* NEW Added Tools tab in settings page with options to install missing shortcodes (pages), deleting data and settings and adding custom css rules
* Fixed misc issues
= 4.0.1 =
* NEW Configured to work with EMD CSV Import Export Extension for bulk import/export
* NEW Configured to work with EMD VCard extension
= 4.0.0 =
* Added entity and taxonomy base slugs
* Fixed employee images not showing in larger screen size when number of employees displayed are less than 5
* Fixed WooCommerce search results issue
* Added Employee tags taxonomy
* Added ability to display custom fields selectively a.k.a mitigating issues related to junk themes or plugins adding data blindly to everywhere messing up employee profiles
* Added views for employee archives and taxonomies
* Optimized images to load only thumbnail size improving page load performance
= 3.0.0 =
* Added ability to create and display custom fields on employee pages
= 2.0.1 =
* Compatibility with WordPress 4.5 and misc. bug fixes
* Fixed posts not getting displayed when the plugin is activated
= 2.0.0 =
* Added border to person images
* Added ability to set the color of person image border from settings
* Added link to person images in the grid and widgets
* Added three dots when excerpt and person tags exceed their limits
* Changed the grid column to 6 columns for medium to large screens
* Added a circle grid panel view
= 1.3.1 =
* Made it compatible for WordPress 4.4
= 1.3.0 =
* Added page navigation and update employee count to 12 per page for circle grid view
* Fixed misc bugs
= 1.2.0 =
* Fixed issues related to WordPress 4.3 upgrade
* Enabled Office location taxonomy in the backend
= 1.1.0 =
* Fixed the issue related to photos not getting changed in the editor
* NEW Changed featured data display to checked icon
= 1.0.0 =
*Initial release
