Many business and marketing experts have successfully shown over the years that people generally will buy from people they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for inexpensive ways to sell more products or services online, then one of the things you can do, is help visitors get to know you and your business better.
If you own a WordPress-driven site, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to add a staff list plugin that will let you add information about your partners, your faculty, or your staff.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to easily create and add an updatable simple employee directory in your WordPress site using free plugins.
Plugin Tutorial: Adding A Staff List Directory
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you easily display basic information about your employee on your website.
The first step is to install and activate this plugin.
Log into your administration and go to Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This should bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on Install Now …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, a new entry will appear on your WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the settings and options for this plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.
Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration
Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could begin adding new entries after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign yourmembers into.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your categories go to your WordPress dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This opens up the Groups screen …
(Groups section)
Note: Adding groups is just like setting up categories …
(Groups work like categories)
Create a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your category name here
- Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your 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 a directory hierarchy
- Description – Type in a group description (optional)
- Click Add New Group when done to set up the new group name …
(Groups settings screen)
If you are a medium to large organization, having the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for partners, developers, departments, etc.
Create as many groups and nested groups as you want 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 individual entries, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
The item’s details will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click the Update button to save your changes …
To change your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and select the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click the Update Group button when done to save your changes …
Add as many categories as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
Once you are done setting up your directory structure, you can begin to add your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member screen in your web browser …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This screen provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The staff member’s name
- Slug: Here you can edit the slug associated with each 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: Your employee’s role
- Email: Your employee’s email
- Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Enter the employee’s Facebook URL (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 or faculty member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign the person to a specific group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options tab)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your employee’s details …
(Add New Staff Member fields)
After you are done entering each of you staff member’s details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups box in your sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you have not set up categories before adding staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group feature)
A field for entering your new group name will appear, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …
A new directory category will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign your listing to the group …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing employee details. 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 entering your staff member’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To edit 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 dashboard admin toolbar here:
Note: If errors like the one shown in the screenshot below shows up, check that you have correctly configured your site permalinks …
(Not found error? Check your permalinks)
If you need help setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:
Keep adding new members to your employee or team directory as described above.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you are done entering employee details into your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a list displaying all your employees and their details …
(Staff Members details)
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 change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a member from the directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Editing Staff Members profile)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search feature to find entries if necessary …
(Search Staff Members search field)
The plugin also lets you specify which fields to display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Selecting a checkbox 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 preferences …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order in which your employees appear on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order on the main menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the item to its desired location …
(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
After adding all member listing details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory show on your site.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order that listings show on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order in your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to the new location …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list entries)
After adding your member listing details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory to your site users.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin lets you edit the layout and style of your directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your main admin menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory, insert any of the allowable template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)
The This code displays your listing as shown below …
(Default Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above example. To make these fields show in the directory, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template, as shown in the example below …
(Use template tags to customize your directory page)
Your directory listings will now appear with Facebook and Twitter addresses as as the screenshot below shows …
(Directory listings with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks but don’t want to mess with template tags or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
As well as allowing you to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen displays all different shortcode variations that you can use with this plugin.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can insert in your page to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales managers”])
Or, you can make your listings display in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
In your main menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Options settings)
Here you can change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
You can also export your staff members data by going to your menu and choosing Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need plugin support, visit the plugin support page.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to create an employee directory in WordPress. Here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can look at:
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)
More info:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
This plugin lets you easily display a list of team/faculty/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.
You can also add custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
This plugin 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 profiles in a widget area.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Plugin)
With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and table views, plus as fields like position title, email address, phone number, image 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 members in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin also uses shortcodes.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just one individual member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
The Employee Spotlight plugincomes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of 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 sourced from Employee Spotlight plugin website)
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
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: plugin website)
Staffer works immediately with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
Learn more 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 Directory Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple staff directory to your WordPress site without touching code, so your web visitors can get to know you and your company better.
Images of models used to portray staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now