Consumer buying habits show that people will buy from those they know, like and trust.
If you are looking for quicker and simpler ways to sell more products or services online and get people to stay longer on your site, then make it easier for your prospects to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your organization better.
Adding a directory of employees to your site will help to let visitors learn more about the people working behind your business.
This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to add an easy-to-maintain staff directory to your WordPress site.
Adding A Staff Directory: Plugin Tutorial
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List)
Simple Staff List is free and lets you display information to visitors about your staff members on your site.
First, let’s install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your WP dashboard and go to Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, a new entry will be added to the main WP menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
This menu is where you will manage and configure all of the settings for this plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
Plugin Configuration
Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you can just begin to add new employee details at this at this stage, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your staff.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your groups go to your dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This brings up the Groups screen in your browser …
(Groups screen)
Note: Configuring directory groups works just like WordPress categories …
(Groups are like categories)
Create new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group name
- Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your category. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – Use this drop-down menu if you plan to set up nested groups
- Description – Enter the group description here (optional)
- Click Add New Group when done to create the new group name …
(Groups screen)
If you are a medium to large organization, having the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for partners, developers, faculties, etc.
Create as many groups and nested categories as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a directory hierarchy …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To change Groups for an item, hover your mouse button over a category title and click on the Edit link …
Your selected category details will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new group category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update when done …
To change the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click Update Group when done …
Add as many groups as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested categories)
Once you have finished setting up your groups, the next step is to begin adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your WP admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This loads the Add New Staff Member screen …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
This area provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your employee’s name
- Permalink: Change the slug for each staff member if you want (you will see this section after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your employee’s position
- Email: Type the person’s email address
- Phone Number: Type your employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type the staff member’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type the employee’s Twitter username (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your employees here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content into 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 at the top of your screen …
(Screen options tab)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your staff member’s details …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
Once you are done entering details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups section located in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up groups before adding staff member details, you can add a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group feature)
A field for entering your new group name will appear, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on the Add New Group button …
A new directory category will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …
(Groups box)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to a staff or team member’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 entering your staff or team member’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To make changes to your staff member’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
If you need help using the WP admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If ’not found’ page errors like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that you have configured your site’s permalinks correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’not found’ page errors)
If you need help setting up WordPress permalinks, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
Repeat the above process to add new members to your staff or partner directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employee details to your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all your employees and their details …
(Staff Members details table)
If you need to modify individual details, hover your mouse over their name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to make changes to their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a listing from your employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Edit Staff Members info)
If you have many employees, your table can become unwieldy.
Use the Search Staff Members search field to find member details if necessary …
(Search Staff Members search field)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields to display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide fields. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which your staff profiles appear on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to its new position …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list items)
Once you have added employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory to your site visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order in which listings display on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order on the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to its desired position …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you are done adding employees’ details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory to your site visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List 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 style and layout of your staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from the menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying listings …
(Default Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Plugin Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To make these fields show in the directory, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your directory will now look like …
(Staff profiles with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks but don’t want to mess with editing code or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
As well as being able to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)
This screen displays all the shortcode variations that you can use with the plugin.
For example, a useful variation you can insert in your page to display a list of members belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”technical engineers”])
Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Choose Staff Members >Options in your menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
Here you can change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
Finally, you can also export your staff members details by going to the menu and selecting Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need help with the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the plugin support page.
Other Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a directory of your faculty in WordPress. Here are some other free plugins you can check out to add an employee directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory)
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)
More info:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
Staff Directory lets you easily display a list of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
This plugin lets you create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)
For more details go here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin was developed to provide 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 a profile in a widget area.
For more details go here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory)
With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your staff to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and customizable single views, plus as fields like title, email address, phone, photo and member 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 employee in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders or just an individual person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
Employee Spotlight installs with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.
Detailed information about each faculty member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP Plugin)
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 a staff directory on your website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)
Staffer works immediately with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
Go here to learn more:
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 List
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has explained how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of staff to your website.
Images of models used in this tutorial to portray staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now