No doubt you already know that people will mostly buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker, easier and cheaper ideas to grow your business online and get people to engage more with your site, then one of the things you can do, is help visitors get to know your business better.
Adding an employee directory to your website can help boost your credibility online and get interested prospects buying from you.
In this tutorial, we explain how to easily create and add an easy-to-manage list of employees or team members to your site using a free WP plugin.
How To Add An Employee List Directory To Your Site
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you staff.
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your administration and go to Plugins > Add New …
(WP 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 the Install Now button …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, you will notice that new menu entry will display on the WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
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 the size of your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could start to add new employee details after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign yourmembers into.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your directory categories go to your WordPress dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This brings up the Groups screen …
(Groups section)
Note: Configuring directory groups works in the same way as adding categories …
(Groups are like categories)
Add a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your category 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 section to set up nested groups
- Description – Type in the group description
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to create your new group …
(Groups area)
If you work with a medium to large organization, the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for investors, developers, departments, etc.
Create as many categories and nested categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To edit or reassign Groups for individual items, hover your mouse over a category title and select the Edit link …
Your selected category details will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update to save your changes …
To change the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click on Update Group to save your changes …
Continue adding groups in this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Add nested groups to your directory)
After you have finished setting up your hierarchical structure, the next step is to start adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WordPress admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member screen …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This screen provides you with 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: You can change the slug associated with your staff member if required (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Enter the staff member’s role
- Email: The staff member’s email address
- Phone Number: Type in the employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Enter your company’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter the person’s Twitter username (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your employees here. As this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign the person to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options)
You can enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each employee’s details …
(Add Staff Member fields)
After you have entered details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups box located in the sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up your directory groups before starting to add staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field will appear allowing you to create a new group name, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on Add New Group …
Your new category will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or edited. To edit a group entry, 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 the person’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can make changes to your employee’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the dashboard admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
Note: If you have set up groups and get a page error like the one shown below, check that you have configured your site’s permalinks correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get an error)
For a detailed tutorial on setting up WP permalinks, go here:
Keep adding more entries to your directory directory as described above.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you have added staff members to your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the employees and their details …
(Staff Members details table)
If you need to edit individual details, just hover your mouse over their name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to make changes to the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from your staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Edit Staff Members profile)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to find member details if necessary …
(Search members)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields can display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …
(Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide fields. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when finished to save your settings …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order in which your staff entries display on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order in your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to its desired position …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered listings)
Once you have added all of your employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display on your site.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order in which listings appear on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order in the main admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to the desired position …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you have added member listing details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List also lets you create the style and layout of your staff directory listings 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 main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory, reorganize any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is the default template used for displaying listings …
(Default Staff Loop Template)
The This code displays your listing as shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above listing. To make these fields display in your directory, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Your staff details will now display as shown in the example below …
(Directory with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks but don’t want to mess with CSS code and template tags or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
In addition to allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)
This screen displays all the shortcode variations that you can use.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can add 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=”partners”])
Or, you can 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 brings up the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – Options settings screen)
This section lets you modify some of the labels used in the plugin
You can also export your staff members data by going to your WordPress admin menu and clicking Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need plugin help or support, visit the plugin plugin website.
Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Staff Directories
Simple Staff List is not the only adding a directory of your faculty. Here are other free plugins you can look at 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)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin lets you easily display a list of team/staff/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
You can also add custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: plugin website)
More info:
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 includes a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and customizable single views, as well as fields like position title, email address, phone, image and bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.
Visitors will be able to 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 sourced from plugin website)
This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
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 upon plugin activation.
With this plugin, you also get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, and 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 employee circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)
Learn more here:
Staffer
(Staffer)
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 employee 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.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
If the above plugins aren’t what you’re looking for, search the WordPress plugin directory or go online and search for:
- Add Staff Directory To WordPress
- WordPress Staff List
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple employee directory to your WordPress site without messing with code, so you can showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.
Images of persons used in this tutorial to display sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"This is AMAZING! I had learnt about how to use WordPress previously, but this covers absolutely everything and more!! Incredible value! Thank you!" - Monique, Warrior Forum