Author: WP Compendium

Something that’s been proven to work in business, is that people will mostly buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.

Are you searching for quicker and simpler ideas to sell more products online? Then something you can do, is make it easier for your visitors to get to know your organization better.

Adding a directory to your site can lead to greater trust, boost your credibility online and get interested prospects to contact you.

This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-maintain staff directory to your website.

Adding An Employee Directory In WordPress

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

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)

Simple Staff List lets you staff.

The first step is to install and activate this plugin.

Log into your WordPress admin and in your admin menu, choose Plugins > Add New …

(Plugins Menu – Add New)

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

Click on the Install Now button …

(Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Activate the plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After installing and activating your plugin, you will see that a new menu will appear in the WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

All of the settings and options for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.

How To Configure The Plugin

Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can begin adding new employee details after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place youremployees into.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s configure your groups. In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

This brings you to the Groups panel …

(Groups settings)

Note: Setting up directory groups works in the same way as adding WordPress categories …

(Groups are like WordPress categories)

Add new groups by entering the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group category name
2. Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your group. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
3. Parent – Use this drop-down menu if you plan to set up nested categories
4. Description – Enter the category description in this field
5. Click Add New Group when done to create a new category …

(Groups settings)

If you run a business that employs many people, the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for founders, developers, departments, etc.

Create as many groups and nested groups 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 on the Add New Group button after entering each new item …

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

The category details will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group category from the Parent dropdown menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update when done …

To edit the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose Quick Edit …

Click on Update Group  to save your changes …

Continue adding groups to this section until you are done creating your directory structure …

You can add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested groups)

After you have finished setting up your groups, you can start to add names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

In your WP admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member section …

(Add New Staff Member area)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your staff member’s name
• Slug: You can edit the slug associated with each staff member if required (you will see this section after saving your details).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Add a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

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

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

• Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your employee here. As this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: Assign the person to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).

If you click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options)

You will see options to 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 Staff Member settings)

After you have finished entering your staff member’s details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups section in your sidebar …

(Groups box)

Note: If you have not set up directory groups before starting to add staff member details, you can create a group now by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field will display allowing you to enter a new group name, 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 Add New Group …

A new category will be added. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …

(New group)

Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing a staff member’s details. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).

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After typing in the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …

Click View Post …

You can make changes to the employee’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

We have created a detailed tutorial on using the admin toolbar here:

• The WordPress Control Area Explained

Note: If ’not found’ page errors like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that your site’s permalinks have been set up correctly …

(Page error? Check your permalinks)

To learn more about setting up permalinks, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:

• How To Change WordPress Permalinks

Continue adding more details to your employee or team directory as described above.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering employees to your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on your dashboard menu …

(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all your employees and any details you have added for each entry …

(Staff Members 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 update their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a member from the employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …

(Edit Staff Members details)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can get quite long.

Use the Search Staff Members search field to find listing items …

(Search members)

The plugin also lets you specify which fields can 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 show or hide fields. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when done to save your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order that your employees appear on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order on your main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to the new position …

(Rearrange items using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you have added all of your members’ details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory show on your site.

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order in which entries display on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order on the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the entry to its new position …

(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …

(Reordered list entries)

Once you have added all of your staff details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory display on your site.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List also lets you customize the style and layout of your employee directory listings 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 your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Templates)

This brings up 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, below is a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …

(Default Plugin Template)

The This code will display your directory listing as shown below …

(Default Plugin Template Listing)

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

(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your listings page)

Your directory listings will now display as as the screenshot below shows …

(Directory listings with social media links added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with template tags or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, 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 listings differently using modified shortcodes.

In your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members Menu – Usage)

This opens the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcodes)

This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin lets you use.

A useful variation you can add to your page, for example, to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Asia Pacific Region”])

You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).

Options Menu

In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members – Options)

This opens the Options page …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

This section lets you change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles

Finally, you can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export section …

(Export Staff Members plugin information)

If you need plugin help or support, go to the Simple Staff List support page.

Other Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress

Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a directory of your team members. For example, here are other free WordPress plugins you can use for adding a staff directory on your website:

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)

For more details go here:

• Modern Team Staff Directory

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

This plugin also lets you use custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: plugin website)

Learn more about this plugin here:

• Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

Faculty And Staff Directory 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 profiles in a widget area.

To learn more about this plugin go here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

With Company Directory, you can add your employees to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and table views, plus as fields like title, email, 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 in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)

This plugin uses simple shortcodes.

More info:

• Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight)

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.

With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, and 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 circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight plugin website)

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress

Staffer

(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)

This 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 onsite employee directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer 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:

• Staffer – WordPress Plugin

If the directory plugins listed above 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
• Employee Directory WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, this tutorial has explained how to add an easy-to-maintain staff directory to your website.

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

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