Something that’s been proven to work in business, is that people will mostly buy from people they already know, like and trust.
Are you searching for quicker and easier ways to grow your business online or get people to stay longer on your site? Then something you can do, is help your prospects get to know your organization better.
Adding a directory of employees or faculty members to your website can help to generate more trust, increase your online credibility and get more prospects buying from your site.
In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to create and add an updatable list of staff or faculty members in your web site using a free WP plugin.
Plugin Tutorial: How To Add An Employee List Directory To WordPress
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)
The Simple Staff List plugin is a no cost WordPress plugin that lets you easily staff members.
First, let’s install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into the admin and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This should bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, a new entry will show up in the WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
This menu is where you will configure and manage all of the settings for this plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration
Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could just start to add new staff entries after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your staff.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s set up your directory groups. From your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This brings up the Groups area …
(Groups screen)
Note: Adding groups is very similar to creating categories in WordPress …
(Groups work like categories)
Create new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group name here
- Slug – Type in the slug of your group category name. 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 nested groups
- Description – Enter your category description (optional)
- Click Add New Group when finished to set up a new category …
(Groups section)
If you manage a larger organization, having the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for partners, 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 assign these to a hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating new items …
To edit Groups for individual entries, hover your mouse over a category title and select the Edit link …
The item’s details will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update to save your changes …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose Quick Edit …
Click the Update Group button after making changes …
Continue adding groups in this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Add nested categories your directory)
Once you are done setting up your groups, the next step is to start adding staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member settings screen …
(Add New Staff Member settings screen)
This section provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The staff member’s name
- Slug: Edit each staff members’ permalink URL (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your staff member’s role
- Email: The employee’s email
- Phone Number: Your staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Enter the employee’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter the employee’s Twitter username (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Type in a profile description for your staff or faculty member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign the person to a group (see the previous section 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 Staff Member fields)
Once you have entered your staff member’s details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups feature in the sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you did not set up directory groups before starting to add staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group feature)
A field for entering your new group name will display, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on the Add New Group button …
Your new group will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign your list entry to the group …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing someone’s details. To edit an item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).
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After filling in your employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can modify your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
If you need help using the WP admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
Note: If ’page not found’ errors like the one shown in the screenshot below shows up, check that you have set up your permalinks correctly …
(Not found error? Check your permalinks)
If you need help setting up WP permalinks, see this tutorial:
Keep adding more entries to your directory directory as shown above until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you are done entering employee details into your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on the menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all the employees and their details …
(Staff Members details)
If you need to make changes to individual details, simply hover your mouse over their list name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to make changes to their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from the directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members profile)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can become unwieldy.
Use the Search Staff Members search feature to find listing items if required …
(Search Staff Members search field)
You can 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 specific fields. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when finished to save your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order in which entries display on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to its new location …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you have added staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to display your directory to your site visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order in which entries appear on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to the new position …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list)
Once you are done adding member details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin lets you customize the style and layout of your directory items 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 WP admin menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory, insert any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To make these fields appear in the directory, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your directory should now look like …
(Directory with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings 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 being able to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen displays all different shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.
A useful variation you can decide to use, for example, to display a list of employees or team members belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales trainers”])
Or, you can make your listings display in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In the WP admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
Here you can edit some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export page …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need plugin support, go to the plugin website and contact the plugin developer.
Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Staff Directories
Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use. For example, here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can check out 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)
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory)
The Staff Directory plugin lets you easily create a directory of team/faculty/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
This plugin lets you add custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory website)
Go here to learn more:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
Faculty And Staff Directory provides 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)
This plugin lets you easily add your employees to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and table views, as well as fields like job title, email, phone, image and staff bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.
Visitors can click through from your list, grid, and table views to read more about each staff member in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.
Learn more here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just a single person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
This plugin comes with 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 team member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
This 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 an online staff directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Staffer works with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
To learn more about the plugin go 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 Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has helped you learn how to create and add a simple and easy-to-update directory of staff in your site.
Images of models used to portray sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)