No doubt you already know that people generally tend to buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for inexpensive ideas to sell more products or services online and increase user interaction with your site, then help your prospects get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.
If you use WordPress, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to add a directory plugin that lets you display information about your partners, your faculty, or your staff.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to easily add an updatable simple employee directory in your WordPress site without coding skills.
Tutorial: Adding An Employee List Directory To Your Site
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you staff.
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into the WP dashboard and from the admin menu section, 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 search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new entry will appear on your main WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
This menu is where you will manage and configure all of the settings for your plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you can just begin adding new employee entries at this at this stage, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to place yourmembers into.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your groups go to your dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This brings up the Groups screen in your web browser …
(Groups section)
Note: Adding groups is very similar to creating categories in WordPress …
(Groups work like categories)
Add a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group category name here
- Slug – Enter the slug of your group name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – Use this section to set up nested categories
- Description – Type in the group description in this field
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up your new directory group …
(Groups section)
If you are a business that employs many people, having the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for investors, project teams, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories and nested categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To edit or reassign Groups for specific entries, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
Your selected category open in the Edit Group page. Select a new category from the Parent drop-down 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 Update Group when done …
Add as many group names as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested categories)
Once you are done setting up your groups, you can begin to add names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This brings you to the Add New Staff Member section …
(Add New Staff Member settings screen)
This area provides an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The employee’s name
- Slug: Modify the slug associated with each staff member if required (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Add the person’s role
- Email: Add your staff member’s email address here
- Phone Number: The employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Enter your company’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type the person’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 in a profile description for your employee or team member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatted content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign your staff member to a specific group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up your groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen options)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your staff member’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
After you have finished inputting each of you staff member’s details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups section located in your sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you have not set up directory groups before adding staff member details, you can add a new group by selecting 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 to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on Add New Group …
The new group will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign your listing to the group …
(Groups section)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to a person’s details. 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 your employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To update the staff member’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using the admin toolbar here:
Note: If ’page not found’ errors like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that your permalinks have been set up correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get errors)
To learn more about setting up permalinks, see this step-by-step tutorial:
Keep adding more details to your employee or team directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you have added employee or team members into 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 listing entries and their details …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to make changes to an individual’s entry, hover your mouse over their name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to edit the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a member from the directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Editing Staff Members profile)
If you have added many employees to this section, your table can become unwieldy.
You can use the Search Staff Members search box to find items if necessary …
(Search Staff Members search feature)
You can specify which fields to display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options tab)
Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when done to update your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order in which listings display on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order in the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to the new location …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered listings)
Once you are done adding all of your members’ details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order in which entries show on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order in the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to a desired position …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered listings)
Once you are done adding staff details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin allows you to create the layout and style of your staff list entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the WP admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the allowable template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is the default template used for displaying listings …
(Default Plugin Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above listing. To make these fields display in the directory, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown in the example below …
(Use template tags to customize your directory page)
Here is what your directory should now look like …
(Directory with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks but don’t want to mess around with editing code or are not sure what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
In addition to allowing you to customize your listing 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 page …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.
For example, a useful variation you can add to your page to display a list of individuals belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”partners”])
Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)
This section lets you change some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export screen …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need help with the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the plugin plugin site and contact the plugin author.
Other Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to build a listing of your staff in WordPress. Here are other free plugins you can look at to add a staff directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
The Modern Team Staff Directory 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:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
With the Staff Directory plugin, you can easily display a list of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
You can also set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory)
This plugin provides 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.
Learn more about the plugin here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory)
The Company Directory plugin lets you add your employees to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and single views, plus as fields like job title, email address, phone, pic and staff bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.
Visitors will be able to 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: plugin website)
This plugin uses shortcodes.
For more details go here:
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.
Employee Spotlight installs with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each staff member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer)
The Staffer plugin uses custom post types for staff 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 sourced from Staffer plugin 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:
If the directory plugins listed above 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 Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple staff directory to your WordPress site, so your web visitors can get to know you and your team better.
Images of persons used to depict sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group