Consumer behaviour studies show that people generally will buy from those they already know, like and trust.
Are you looking for simple ways to grow your business online and get people to engage more on your site? Then make it easier for visitors to get to know you, your team and your business better.
If your website runs on WordPress, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to use a WordPress staff list plugin that lets you display information about your key people, your business team, or your staff.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to easily create and add a list directory of staff members to your WordPress site.
Adding An Employee Directory To WordPress
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
Simple Staff List lets you easily staff.
First, let’s install and activate the plugin.
Log into the admin and in your admin menu section, click on Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on Install Now …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, you will see that a new menu entry will be added to the main WP menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
Here is where you will configure and manage all of the options and settings for this plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
Configuring The Plugin
Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can begin adding new staff details at this at this stage, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s configure your groups. From your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
The Groups settings screen loads in your web browser …
(Groups settings screen)
Note: Configuring directory groups is just like configuring categories …
(Groups are like categories)
Create new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group name
- Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version 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 to set up nested groups
- Description – Enter the group description
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to create the new group …
(Groups settings)
If you are a business that employs many people, the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for investors, project teams, 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 assign these to a hierarchical structure …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating each item …
To edit or reassign Groups for individual items, hover your mouse button over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The selected item’s details will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new group category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button when done …
To change your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click on Update Group when done to save your changes …
Add as many categories as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Add nested groups to your directory)
After you have finished setting up your directory structure, you can begin to add names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WP admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member settings area …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This section provides an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The employee’s name
- Permalink: Edit the slug for your employee if you want (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your employee’s role
- Email: Type the staff member’s email here
- Phone Number: Add the employee’s phone number into this field
- Facebook URL: Type in your employee’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type your company’s Twitter username (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your employee or team member here. As this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign the individual to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen options)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your employee’s details …
(Add New Staff Member fields)
After you have entered details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups box in the sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you did not set up directory groups before adding staff member details, you can create a group now by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group link)
A field will display allowing you to enter a new group name, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new group and click on Add New Group …
Your new category will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign an entry to the group …
(Groups section)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to employee details. To edit an item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).
***
After filling in the person’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To make changes to the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial about using the admin toolbar here:
Note: If you see ’page not found’ errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly configured your permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get errors)
For a detailed step-by-step tutorial on setting up permalinks, go here:
Continue adding more entries to your directory 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 in the main admin menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all the employees and their details …
(Staff Members table)
If you need to make changes to individual details, hover your mouse over their listing, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to update the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from the employee directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members profile information)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can get quite long.
You can use the Search Staff Members search box to locate member details …
(Search Staff Members search feature)
You can specify which fields to display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …
(Staff Members Screen Options tab)
Selecting a check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when done to update your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that your employees display on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the entry to its desired location …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list items)
After adding your member listing details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory display on your site.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order in which entries display on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order on your main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to its new location …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list items)
After adding your staff details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List 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 directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your WordPress admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, 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 Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)
The This code displays your listing as shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To display these fields, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown below …
(Use template tags to customize your listings page)
Your directory profiles will now display as as shown below …
(Staff profiles with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with template tags 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 listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Usage Shortcode section)
This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations that the plugin allows you to use.
A useful shortcode variation you can select, for example, to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”property managers”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In the WordPress admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Options settings)
This section lets you edit some of the labels used in the plugin
You can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export section …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need plugin help or support, go to the plugin faq page and request help from the plugin developer.
Additional Employee Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only for displaying a directory of your team members in WordPress. For example, here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can use:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP 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)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin lets you easily display a list of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.
You can also create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory website)
Go here to learn more:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory)
Faculty And Staff Directory was developed to provide a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.
The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
With the Company Directory plugin, you can add your employees to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and customizable single views, plus as fields like title, email address, 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 employee in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory website)
This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.
Go here to learn more:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just one individual person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
Employee Spotlight comes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.
Detailed information about each staff member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)
Go here to learn more:
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 onsite staff directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer plugin website)
Staffer works with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
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
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple employee directory to your WordPress site with no coding skills required, so your web visitors can get to know you and the people in your company better.
Images used in this tutorial to display sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
***
"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