Author: WP Compendium

Something often said in business and marketing, is that people will buy from people they already know, like and trust.

Are you looking for ideas to sell more products online or get people to stay longer on your site? Then help your visitors get to know you and your business better.

If you use WordPress, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to add a WordPress directory plugin that lets you add information about your partners, your business team, or your staff.

This step-by-step tutorial explains how to create a simple and easy-to-update employee directory in your WordPress site.

Step-By-Step Tutorial: Adding An Employee List Directory To Your Site

In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin

(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you easily employee.

First, let’s install and activate this plugin.

Log into the admin and navigate to Plugins > Add New …

(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 Install Now …

(WordPress Plugins  – Add Plugins screen)

Click on Activate Plugin …

(Activate plugin)

After the plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu entry will have been added to your main WP menu bar called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

All of the options and settings for your plugin are configured and managed in this menu.

Plugin Configuration

Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could just begin to add new employee details after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualemployees into.

Staff Members – Groups

To set up your groups go to your WP dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members Menu – Groups)

The Groups settings panel …

(Groups settings area)

Note: Setting up groups works just like categories in WordPress …

(Groups work like WordPress categories)

Add a new group by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Type in your group category name
2. Slug – Enter 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 section if you plan to set up nested categories
4. Description – Type in a category description here (optional)
5. Click Add New Group when finished to create your new group name …

(Groups settings screen)

If you work with a larger organization, being able to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for partners, project teams, departments, etc.

Create as many groups and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a directory hierarchy …

(Nested groups)

Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating each new item …

To change or reassign Groups for a specific item, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …

The item’s details will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group settings)

Click Update when done …

To change the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and choose Quick Edit …

Click the Update Group button when done to save your changes …

Add as many groups as you need to until you have created your directory structure …

You can add as many nested categories as you like …

(Nested groups)

After you are done setting up your directory structure, you can begin adding names to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

In your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …

(Staff Members – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member settings area …

(Add New Staff Member settings screen)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Your staff member’s name
• Slug: You can edit the permalink URL associated with 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: Enter your staff member’s position
• Email: Add the person’s email
• Phone Number: Type in the employee’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 (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)

Staff Member Bio Section (4)

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

Groups Section (5)

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

Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …

(Screen options tab)

You will see options to enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)

Now that you know what each section does, enter each staff member’s details …

(Add Staff Member settings)

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

(Groups box)

Note: If you have not set up groups before adding staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …

(Groups > + Add New Group feature)

A field will appear 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 group and click on Add New Group …

Your new group will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …

(New group added)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing an employee’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 typing in your staff or team member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your staff directory …

Click View Post …

You can edit your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

If you need help using the WordPress admin toolbar, see this step-by-step tutorial:

• The WP Control Screen – A Tutorial

Note: If you have set up groups and get ’page not found’ errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly set up your permalinks …

(Page error? Check your permalinks)

We have written a detailed tutorial on using WP permalinks here:

• Changing Your WordPress Permalinks

Keep adding new details to your directory directory as described above.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering employees into your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a table displaying all the directory entries and any details you have added for each entry …

(Staff Members details list)

If you need to change an individual’s entry, just hover over their listing, and a menu will appear.

Click on Edit to modify their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a listing from the employee directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …

(Edit Staff Members details)

Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can become unwieldy.

You can use the Search Staff Members search field to find items …

(Search Staff Members search box)

The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …

(Staff Members Screen Options)

Selecting a check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to update your preferences …

Staff Members – Order

Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which listings display on your directory page.

Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

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

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your directory will automatically be rearranged …

(Reordered list)

Once you have added all of your member details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order in which your employees display on your directory pages.

Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the entry to a desired position …

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your list will be automatically reordered …

(Reordered listings)

After adding all employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your site visitors.

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

Simple Staff List lets you customize the style and layout of your employee directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).

Templates Menu

To customize the style and layout of your directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the dashboard menu …

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Customize your directory template)

To customize your directory, insert any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.

For example, here is the default template used for displaying listings …

(Default Staff Loop Template)

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

(Default Template Listing)

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

(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)

Here is what your staff list will now look like …

(Directory listings with social media links)

Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess around with editing code or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.

Usage Menu

As well as allowing you to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.

In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List shortcodes)

This screen displays all the shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.

For example, a useful variation you can add to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales reps”])

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

Options Menu

In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – Options settings screen)

Here you can modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title

Finally, you can also export your staff members details by going to your menu and clicking Tools > Export …

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need plugin support, visit the Simple Staff List site and contact the plugin author.

Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Staff Directories

Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use. For example, here are some other free WordPress plugins you can check out:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)

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 – WP Plugin)

Staff Directory lets you easily display a list of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.

This plugin lets you insert custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: Staff Directory website)

Go here to learn more:

• Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

Faculty And Staff Directory 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 a profile in a widget area.

More info:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress

Company Directory

(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)

The Company Directory plugin lets you add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and table views, plus as fields like job title, email, phone, image and staff bio, allowing visitors to get to know 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 in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: plugin website)

This plugin uses shortcodes.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Company Directory – WP Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders or just an individual person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.

With this plugin, you also get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.

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 Employee Spotlight plugin website)

Learn more about the plugin here:

• Employee Spotlight

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin)

Staffer 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 employee directory on your site …

(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.

More info:

• Staffer – WordPress Plugin

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 List
• Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
• Simple Staff List Template WordPress
• etc.

Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple employee or team member directory to your WordPress site, so your site visitors can get to know you and your business better.

Images used to portray staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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