Consumer buying habits have successfully shown that people generally will buy from people they know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker, easier and cheaper ways to sell more products or services online, then one of the things you can do, is help prospects get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.
If you own a WordPress site, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to add a WordPress staff list plugin that will let you display a directory containing information about your partners, your faculty, or your employees.
This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to create and add an easy-to-update employee directory to your WordPress site.
Tutorial: How To Easily Add An Employee Directory
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)
The Simple Staff List plugin is a free plugin that lets you easily employee (you could also use it to display board of directors, etc.).
First, let’s install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into the WP dashboard and from the 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 search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, you will see that a new menu will display on your WordPress menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the settings and options for the Simple Staff List 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 directory, you could just start adding new staff entries at this at this stage, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign yourmembers into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s configure your directory categories. In your WordPress dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This brings you to the Groups settings panel …
(Groups settings screen)
Note: Adding directory groups works in the same way as configuring categories in WordPress …
(Groups are like categories)
Create a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group name here
- Slug – Type in the slug of your group category name. 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 categories
- Description – Enter a category description
- Click the Add New Group button when done to create a new group …
(Groups settings screen)
If you are a business that employs many people, having the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for partners, project teams, faculties, etc.
Create as many groups and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating each new item …
To change Groups for individual entries, hover your mouse button over a category title and select the Edit link …
The selected item will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button when done …
To change your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on Quick Edit …
Click Update Group after making changes …
Continue adding group names to this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
You can add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
After you have finished setting up your directory structure, the next step is to start to add names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WP admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member settings area in your browser …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
This area provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The staff member’s name
- Slug: Change your staff members’ permalink URL (you will see this section after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Enter the employee’s role
- Email: Type in your employee’s email
- Phone Number: Your employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type the person’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter your company’s Twitter username (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your employee here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign the individual to a specific group (see the previous section 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 …
(Add Staff Member settings)
After you have entered each staff member’s details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups feature in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you have not set up categories before starting to add new staff members, you can add a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group link)
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 the Add New Group button …
The new category will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing someone’s 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 your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the employee directory …
Click View Post …
You can update the employee’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the WP admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If ’not found’ page errors like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that your site’s permalinks have been configured correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’not found’ page errors)
If you need help setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:
Repeat the above process to continue adding more entries to your directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you are done entering employee details into your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in the main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a list of all your listing entries and their details …
(Staff Members list)
If you need to modify an individual’s details, just hover over their name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to modify the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a listing from your employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Edit Staff Members details)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can become unwieldy.
You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to find member details if required …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields to display in this screen. To show 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 unselecting it hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to update your settings …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order that your employees appear on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to its new location …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered listings)
Once you are done adding all of your staff listing details to the directory, the next step is to display the directory 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 appear on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to a new position …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list items)
After adding all members’ details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your site visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin also lets you create the style and layout of your staff 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 the main menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Simple Staff List Templates page)
To customize your directory listings, insert any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is the default template used for displaying listings …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Plugin Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To display these fields, we 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 …
(Employee profiles with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with CSS code and template tags or are unsure of what to do, 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 admin menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen displays all different shortcode variations that you can use with this 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=”senior staff”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – Options screen)
This section lets you modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
You can also export your staff members data by going to your menu and selecting Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need plugin support, visit the Simple Staff List website.
Other Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use. Here are a few other 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)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
With Staff Directory, you can easily create a directory of team/staff/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
The plugin also lets you create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: Staff Directory website)
For more details go here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
This plugin was developed to provide 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.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)
The Company Directory plugin lets you add your staff to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and single views, as well as fields like title, email address, phone, image and member 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 in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin uses shortcodes.
Learn more about the plugin here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders or just one individual person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
This plugin includes two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, and 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 circle grid. Screenshot source: plugin website)
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Staffer
(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)
This 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 a staff directory on your website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer plugin website)
Staffer works with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
For more details go here:
If the directory plugins listed above 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 Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple staff directory to your WordPress site without editing code, so you can showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.
Images of persons used in this tutorial to portray 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