Many business and marketing experts have successfully shown that people generally will buy from businesses they know, like and trust.
Are you looking for simple ways to sell more products online or get people to stay longer on your site? Then something you can do, is help visitors get to know your organization better.
If your website runs on the WordPress CMS, a simple way to help visitors get to know you better is to add a WordPress staff list plugin that lets you add information about your partners, your business team, or your employees.
This step-by-step tutorial explains how to create and add a simple and easy-to-update staff directory in your web site.
Step-By-Step Tutorial: Adding A Staff Directory To WordPress
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
Simple Staff List lets you employee (you could also use it to display faculty members, etc.).
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your WordPress admin and from the admin menu, 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 search results area.
Click on Install Now …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu entry will be added to your WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
The Staff Members menu is where you will manage and configure all of the options and settings for this plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration
Depending on how many people are in your team and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could begin to add new employee entries after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your members.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by configuring your directory categories. From your WP dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This takes you to the Groups settings …
(Groups screen)
Note: Adding directory groups works in the same way as configuring categories in WordPress …
(Groups work like WordPress categories)
Create new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your category name
- Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your group. 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 your group description (optional)
- Click Add New Group when done to create your new directory group …
(Groups settings screen)
If you are a business that employs many people, having the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for partners, 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 organize these into a hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To change or reassign Groups for a specific item, hover your mouse over a category title and select the Edit link …
The group open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update to save your changes …
To change your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click on Update Group when done to save your changes …
Add as many groups as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
After you have finished setting up your groups, the next step is to begin to add names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member settings …
(Add New Staff Member screen)
This screen provides an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your employee’s name
- Permalink: You can edit the permalink URL associated with your staff member if you want (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The staff member’s position
- Email: Your staff member’s email
- Phone Number: Type your employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Enter the person’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter the employee’s Twitter username into this field (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. As this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can format content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can 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 your screen …
(Screen options tab)
You will see options to enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your staff member’s details …
(Add Staff Member settings)
Once you have finished inputting details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups section located in your sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you have not set up groups before adding new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group feature)
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 directory category and click on Add New Group …
A new group will be added. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(New group added in Groups section)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing new employee details. To edit a group 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 staff member’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To update the staff member’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using the WP admin toolbar here:
Note: If you see ’not found’ page errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly set up your permalinks …
(Page error? Check your permalinks)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using WP permalinks here:
Continue adding new details to your directory directory as shown above until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you are done adding employees into your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on the WP admin menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all the employees and their details …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to edit individual details, hover your mouse over their listing, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to modify the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete an entry from your employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Edit Staff Members profile information)
If you have added many individual listings to this section, your list can grow quite large.
You can use the Search Staff Members search box to locate member details 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 the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Placing a tick in the item’s check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when finished to save your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that listings show on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to its new location …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list)
Once you have added employees’ details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order in which listings show on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to its new position …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list items)
After adding all members’ details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory show on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List lets you edit 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 menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Templates screen)
To customize your directory listings, insert any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is a screenshot of the Default Template …
(Default Plugin Template)
The The code shown above displays your listing as shown below …
(Default Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. To display these fields, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template loop, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your listings page)
Here is what your directory will now look like …
(Directory listings with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess with code or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
In addition to being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.
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=”Asia Pacific Region”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
This section lets you edit some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members info by going to your menu and clicking Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need plugin help or support, go to the plugin faq page and contact the plugin developer.
Other Employee Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to create a listing of your faculty members in WordPress. For example, here are a few other plugins you can check out to create a staff directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
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)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
With the Staff Directory plugin, you can 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 use 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 provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college or university.
The plugin also includes a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
This plugin lets you easily add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and single views, plus as fields like position title, email, phone number, pic 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 members in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: plugin website)
This plugin uses simple shortcodes.
For more details go here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders 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 which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.
Detailed information about each team member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)
The Staffer plugin uses custom post types for employee management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an employee directory on your website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin website)
Staffer works immediately with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
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
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has explained how to add a simple and easy-to-manage directory of staff members to your website.
Images of models used to depict fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group