Category: WordPress Customization

Business experts often raise the point that people generally buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.

Are you looking for simple ways to grow your business online and get people to stay longer on your site? Then make it easier for your prospects to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your business 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 business team, or your staff members using a directory plugin.

In this tutorial, you are going to learn how to easily create and add a list of employees or faculty members to WordPress with no coding skills required.

WordPress Plugin Tutorial: Adding An Employee List Directory To Your Site

In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.

Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress

(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)

Simple Staff List lets you easily display information about your employee on your website.

First, let’s install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.

Log into the WordPress administration and from the admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …

(WordPress 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 notice that new menu will display on your WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …

(Staff Members)

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

Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin

Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could just begin to add new staff entries after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff.

Staff Members – Groups

Let’s configure your directory categories. From your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …

(Staff Members – Groups)

This takes you to the Groups panel …

(Groups area)

Note: Adding directory groups works just like categories in WordPress …

(Groups are like categories)

Add new groups by typing in the following information:

1. Group Name – Enter your category name here
2. Slug – Enter the slug of your group name. 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 group description
5. Click Add New Group when done to set up your new directory group …

(Groups screen)

If you manage a business that employs many people, having the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for founders, developers, faculties, etc.

Create as many groups and nested categories 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 on the Add New Group button after creating new items …

To change Groups for an individual entry, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …

Your selected category details will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group from the Parent drop-down menu …

(Edit Group screen)

Click Update to save your changes …

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

Click the Update Group button after making changes …

Continue adding group names to this section until you have created your directory structure …

You can add as many nested groups as you like …

(Nested categories)

Once you have finished setting up your hierarchical structure, the next step is to start to add staff details to your directory.

Staff Members – Add New

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

(Staff Members Menu – Add New)

The Add New Staff Member section …

(Add New Staff Member section)

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

Name Section (1)

• Name: Add your staff member’s name
• Slug: Modify your staff members’ permalink URL (you will see this section after your first save).

Staff Photo Section (2)

• Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member

Staff Member Info Section (3)

• Position: The staff member’s position
• Email: Type in your staff member’s email here
• Phone Number: Your staff member’s phone number
• Facebook URL: Enter your company’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
• Twitter URL: Type the person’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 member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered in this section.

Groups Section (5)

• Groups: This section lets you assign the individual to a group (see above to learn how to set up groups).

If you click on the Screen Options tab …

(Screen options tab)

You will see options to enable additional features …

(Enable additional fields in screen options)

Now that you know what each section does, enter your employee’s details …

(Staff directory fields)

After you have finished inputting each of you staff member’s details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups feature in your sidebar …

(Groups section)

Note: If you have not set up directory groups before starting to add new staff members, you can create a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …

(Add a new group inside your Groups box)

A field for creating a new group name will appear, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on the Add New Group button …

A new category will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign an entry to the group …

(New group added)

Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or edited. 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 typing in your employee’s details, click the Publish button …

Click View Post …

To update the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …

(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)

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

• How To Navigate Inside The WordPress Dashboard

Note: If you see errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly configured your site’s permalinks …

(Page error – Check your permalinks)

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

• Improve Your WordPress SEO With Permalinks

Keep adding new details to your staff or team directory until done.

Staff Members – All Staff Members

After entering employee details to your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in the main admin menu …

(Staff Members – All Staff Members)

This brings up a list with all your directory entries and their details …

(Staff Members details table)

If you need to modify an individual’s details, just hover your mouse over their name, and a submenu will appear.

Click on Edit if you need to make changes to the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a member from your directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …

(Editing Staff Members profile information)

If you have added many individual listings to this section, your list can get quite long.

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

(Search Staff Members search box)

You can specify which fields can display in this section. 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 choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when done to save your screen options …

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order in the main admin menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to its desired position …

(Reorder listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reorganized …

(Reordered list)

After adding all staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your visitors.

Staff Members – Order

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

Select Staff Members > Order on your main menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Order)

To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the entry to the new location …

(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)

Your staff list will automatically be reordered …

(Reordered listings)

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

Simple Staff List – Additional Notes

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

Templates Menu

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

(Staff Members – Templates)

This brings up the Templates page …

(Customize your directory template)

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 …

(Default Staff Loop Template)

The above code displays the listing shown below …

(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)

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

(Employee profiles with social media URLs added)

Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with CSS code and template tags or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.

Usage Menu

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

In your main menu, select Staff Members >Usage …

(Staff Members – Usage)

This brings up the Usage screen …

(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcodes)

This screen displays all different shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin lets you use.

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

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

Options Menu

Choose Staff Members >Options on your menu …

(Staff Members Menu – Options)

This brings up the Options screen …

(Simple Staff List – customizable options)

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

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

(Export Staff Members plugin info)

If you need plugin help or support, go to the plugin faq page.

Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Staff Directories

Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to build an employee directory in WordPress. For example, here are a few other free plugins you can use:

Modern Team Staff Directory

(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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)

Go here to learn more:

• Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Staff Directory

(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)

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

This plugin also lets you insert custom fields …

(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory website)

More info:

• Staff Directory – WP Plugin

Faculty And Staff Directory

(Faculty And Staff Directory)

This 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 profiles in a widget area.

For more details, visit the plugin site here:

• Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin

Company Directory

(Company Directory)

The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your employees to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable single views, as well as fields like position title, email, phone number, photo and 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 learn more about each staff member in a customizable single view …

(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory plugin website)

This plugin also uses shortcodes.

Go here to learn more about the plugin:

• Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin

Employee Spotlight

(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)

Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders or just an individual member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.

The Employee Spotlight pluginincludes two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of 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 sourced from plugin website)

For more details go here:

• Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin

Staffer

(Staffer – WP Plugin)

The Staffer 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 onsite staff directory …

(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer plugin website)

Staffer works immediately with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.

Learn more here:

• Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory 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
• Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
• etc.

Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has explained how to add a simple and easy-to-update directory of staff to your web site.

Models used in this tutorial to depict fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com

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