Business experts have successfully proven over time that people tend to buy from those they know, like and trust.
If you are looking for quicker and easier ways to grow your business online, then something you can do, is make it easier for visitors to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your organization better.
Adding a directory of employees to your site can help increase your online credibility and get more prospects contacting you.
This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to create and add an easy-to-update staff directory in WordPress.
WordPress Plugin Tutorial: Adding An Employee Directory
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you easily display basic information about your staff members on your site.
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your administration and from the admin menu section, select Plugins > Add New …
(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu will have been added to the main WP admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
Here is where you will configure and manage all of the options and settings for your plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on how many people are employed in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you could start adding new employee entries after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your employees.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your directory categories go to your WP dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This loads the Groups settings panel in your browser …
(Groups settings screen)
Note: Configuring directory groups works just like WordPress categories …
(Groups work just like WordPress categories)
Add a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group category name
- Slug – Type in the slug of your category. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – Use this section if you plan to set up a directory hierarchy
- Description – Enter your category description here
- Click Add New Group when finished to create the new directory category …
(Groups settings)
If you run a business that employs many people, having the ability to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for investors, developers, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories 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 the Add New Group button after creating each item …
To edit or reassign Groups for individual entries, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
The group details will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update when done …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click the Update Group button when done …
Continue adding group names to this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested categories)
After you have finished setting up your groups, you can begin adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This brings you to the Add New Staff Member area …
(Add New Staff Member settings area)
This page provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Enter your staff member’s name
- Slug: Edit your employees’ permalink URL (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: Type the employee’s position
- Email: Type in the staff member’s email
- Phone Number: Your employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type in your company’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type in your company’s Twitter username into this field (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your staff members here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign the person to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up 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 your employee’s details …
(Add New Staff Member fields)
Once you have entered each staff member’s details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups box located in the sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you did not set up directory groups before adding staff member details, you can create a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field for creating a group name will appear, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on the Add New Group button …
A new group will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign your listing to the group …
(New group added)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to new employee 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 …
Click View Post …
You can make changes to your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial on using the WP admin toolbar here:
Note: If ’page not found’ errors shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that you have configured your site’s permalinks correctly …
(Not found error – Check your permalinks)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using permalinks here:
Continue adding new entries to your directory directory as described above.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employee details into your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in the main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the staff members and all details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members table)
If you need to edit an individual’s entry, simply hover your mouse over their name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to update the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a member from the staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Edit Staff Members profile)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can get quite long.
You can use the Search Staff Members search field to locate member details if necessary …
(Search Staff Members search field)
You can specify which fields to 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 tab)
Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when done to update your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order in which entries display on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to the desired location …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
After adding all members’ details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your site visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order that listings show on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to its new location …
(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list items)
Once you are done adding employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to add the directory to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin lets you create the layout and style of your staff directory entries 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 WordPress admin menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Templates page)
To customize your directory, insert any of the allowable template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)
The The code shown above displays your listing as shown below …
(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above example. To make these fields show up in your directory, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Use template tags to customize your directory page)
Your employee profiles will now display with Facebook and Twitter addresses as as shown below …
(Directory with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with 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 lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your WordPress admin menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcode variations)
This screen lists all different shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to use.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can select to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”customer representatives”])
Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – Options screen)
Here you can edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
Finally, you can also export your staff members data by going to the dashboard menu and choosing Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need plugin support, go to the plugin website.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a listing of your employees in WordPress. For example, here are other plugins you can use:
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)
More info:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
This plugin lets you easily create a directory of team/staff/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. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory website)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin was developed to provide a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college or university.
The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your employees, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, plus as fields like job title, email, phone, image 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 source: Company Directory website)
This plugin uses simple shortcodes.
Go here to learn more:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just an individual person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
This plugin includes two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, plus 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 employee circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)
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 online employee directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer website)
Staffer works immediately with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
More info:
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
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to easily add a simple and easy-to-maintain list directory of employees to a WordPress site.
Images of persons used to depict staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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