Many business experts have successfully shown that people generally buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for ways to sell more products or services online and get people to stay longer on your site, then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for prospects to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your business better.
If you use WordPress, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to display information about your partners, your business team, or your employees using a WordPress directory plugin.
This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to create an easy-to-maintain directory of employees in your WordPress site.
Tutorial: How To Add An Employee List Directory To Your WordPress Site
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List is free and lets you easily display basic information to visitors about your staff on your website.
The first step is to install and activate the plugin.
Log into your WP administration and go to Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on Install Now …
(WordPress Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, a new entry will have been added to your WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
Configuring The Plugin
Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can just begin adding new staff details at this at this stage, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualemployees into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s configure your groups. From your WP dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This opens up the Groups area …
(Groups settings screen)
Note: Setting up groups is just like configuring categories …
(Groups work just like WordPress categories)
Create a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group name
- Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your category. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – Use this drop-down menu if you plan to set up nested groups
- Description – Enter a group description here
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up the new directory group …
(Groups section)
If you manage a business that employs many people, having the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for partners, developers, 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 entering new items …
To edit Groups for an entry, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The category will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button to save your changes …
To change your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose Quick Edit …
Click the Update Group button when done …
Add as many groups as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested categories)
Once you are done setting up your groups, the next step is to start to add staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This loads the Add New Staff Member screen in your web browser …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
This area provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your employee’s name
- Permalink: Change the slug for each employee if required (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The employee’s position
- Email: Type your employee’s email
- Phone Number: Your staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Add your company’s Facebook URL here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type in your company’s Twitter username here (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. Since this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign the individual 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)
You can enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your employee’s details …
(Add Staff Member fields)
Once you have entered your staff member’s details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups feature in your sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you have not set up directory groups before starting to add staff member details, you can create a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group link)
A field will display allowing you to create a new group name, with a dropdown 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. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …
(New group)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing new employee 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 entering the person’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can edit the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
If you need help using the admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
Note: If ’page not found’ errors shows up like the one shown in the example below, check that you have correctly configured your permalinks …
(Not found error – Check your permalinks)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks in WordPress here:
Keep adding new details to your staff 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 your main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the directory items and their details …
(Staff Members list)
If you need to make changes to individual details, hover your mouse over their list name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to update the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove someone from your employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Edit Staff Members info)
If you have added many employees to this section, your table can grow quite large.
You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate entries …
(Search members)
The plugin also lets you specify which fields to display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide specific fields. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when finished to save your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order that your employees show on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order on the main menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to the new location …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list)
After adding all members’ details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order in which your staff details show on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to its desired location …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered listings)
After adding all employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to add the directory to your site visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin also lets you create the layout and style of your employee directory listings 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 the main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Simple Staff List Templates screen)
To customize your directory, reorganize any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying listings …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To display these fields, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your listings page)
Your directory entries will now display with Facebook and Twitter links as shown in the screenshot below …
(Directory listings with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings 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 being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Usage Shortcode section)
This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations that the plugin lets you use.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can choose to display a list of members belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”technical engineers”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options in your WP admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – Options screen)
Here you can edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
Finally, you can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export screen …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need help with the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the plugin support page.
Additional 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 plugins you can look at:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory)
Modern Team Staff Directory 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)
Learn more here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Staff Directory lets you easily display a list of faculty/team/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
This plugin also lets you create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: plugin website)
More info:
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, school or university.
The plugin also includes a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
Learn more here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your staff to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and customizable single views, as well as fields like position title, email, phone, pic 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 employee in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory website)
This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders or just one single member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each employee 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)
Staffer uses custom post types for staff management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage a staff directory on your website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)
Staffer works with many popular 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, just go online or visit the WordPress plugin directory and search for:
- Add Staff Directory To WordPress
- WordPress Staff List
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has shown you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-update employee directory to your website.
Images of persons used to depict sample staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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