No doubt you already know that people often tend to buy from those they know, like and trust.
Are you looking for quicker, easier and cheaper ways to grow your business online and get people to engage more on your site? Then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for prospects to get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.
If you are a WordPress user, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to display information about your key partners, your team, or your employees using a WordPress staff list plugin.
In this tutorial, you are going to learn how to easily create and add a simple and easy-to-update list of staff members in your WordPress site using a free plugin.
WordPress Plugin Tutorial: Adding An Employee List Directory To WordPress
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you display information about your staff on your site.
First, let’s install and activate the plugin.
Log into your WordPress administration and go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu entry will have been added to your main WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the options and settings for this plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could just start adding new staff members after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign youremployees into.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your categories go to your dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
The Groups settings panel …
(Groups section)
Note: Adding directory groups works in the same way as adding WordPress categories …
(Groups are 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 drop-down menu if you plan to set up nested groups
- Description – Type in the group description
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up the new group name …
(Groups area)
If you run a business that employs many people, the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for founders, developers, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories and nested categories as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering each new item …
To change or reassign Groups for specific items, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The selected item’s details will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click the Update button to save your changes …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and select the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click the Update Group button when done …
Continue adding groups in this section until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested categories)
After you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, the next step is to start adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WordPress admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member settings screen …
(Add New Staff Member settings screen)
This area provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your employee’s name
- Permalink: Here you can change the slug associated with each staff member if required (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type in your employee’s role
- Email: The staff member’s email address
- Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Add the person’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type in your staff member’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 a profile description for your staff members here. As this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign a staff or faculty member to a group (see above to learn how to set up 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 tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each employee’s details …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
Once you have entered details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups box located in your sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you have not set up categories before starting to add staff member details, you can add a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group link)
A field will display allowing you to create a new group name, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …
Your new directory category will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign the person’s details to the group …
(New group added in Groups section)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing new employee details. To edit a group item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).
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After entering your employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can edit your employee’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
If you need help using the WP admin toolbar, see this step-by-step tutorial:
Note: If errors shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that you have correctly configured your site’s permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’not found’ page errors)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using permalinks here:
Keep adding new 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 the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all the directory entries and details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members details)
If you need to make changes to an individual’s entry, just hover over their list name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to make changes to the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove an entry from the directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Editing Staff Members profile)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search feature to find entries …
(Search Staff Members search feature)
The plugin also lets you specify which fields can 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 show or hide fields. You can also specify how many staff members are listed 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 specify the order that listings appear on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to the new position …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you have added members’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display on your site.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order in which entries display on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in the WordPress admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to its desired position …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list items)
Once you have added all of your employees’ details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin also lets you customize the layout and style of your directory entries 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 page …
(Templates page)
To customize your directory, insert any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Plugin Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above listing. To make these fields show in your directory, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your directory page)
Here is what your staff list will now look like …
(Directory listings with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with code or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
In addition to allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main admin menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to use.
A useful shortcode variation you can choose, 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=”technical engineers”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)
Here you can edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
You can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export section …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need plugin help or support, visit the Simple Staff List support page and request help from the plugin author.
Other Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to build a directory of your staff in WordPress. For example, here are other free WordPress plugins you can check out to add a staff directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
This 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)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
With the Staff Directory plugin, you can easily display a list of staff/faculty/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
The plugin also lets you create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: plugin website)
Learn more here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
This plugin 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 a profile in a widget area.
Go here to learn more:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
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 number, photo and bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.
Visitors can 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 Company Directory website)
This plugin uses simple shortcodes.
Go here to learn more:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just one individual member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
The Employee Spotlight plugincomes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each employee can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staffer
(Staffer)
This plugin uses custom post types for staff/employee management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an employee directory on your site …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Staffer works immediately with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
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
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to easily add an easy-to-manage simple employee directory in your website without coding skills.
Images of models used to portray fictitious staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"This is an awesome training series. I have a pretty good understanding of WordPress already, but this is helping me to move somewhere from intermediate to advanced user!" - Kim Lednum