You have no doubt heard that people will buy from those they know, like and trust.
If you are looking for quicker, simpler and cost-effective ideas to sell more products or services online or increase user interaction on your site, then help visitors get to know, like and trust your business better.
Adding a directory to your site can help to generate increased trust, increase your online credibility and get interested prospects to consider using your services.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add a simple employee directory in your web site using a free plugin.
How To Add A Staff List Directory To Your WordPress Site: Tutorial
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
Simple Staff List is free and lets you staff members.
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into the WP administration and navigate to 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 the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, a new entry will have been added to your WordPress menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration
Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could begin adding new staff entries after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your staff.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your groups go to your dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This loads the Groups panel in your browser …
(Groups section)
Note: Adding groups works in the same way as adding categories in WordPress …
(Groups work like WordPress categories)
Add new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group name here
- Slug – Enter the slug of your group name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – Use this section if you plan to set up a directory hierarchy
- Description – Type in a category description here
- Click the Add New Group button when done to create a new group …
(Groups settings screen)
If you work with a larger organization, having the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for partners, project teams, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories 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 the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To edit or reassign Groups for specific entries, hover your mouse button over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The group will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new group category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click the Update button to save your changes …
To change the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click Update Group after making changes …
Continue adding categories to this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested categories)
Once you have finished setting up your directory structure, you can begin to add your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your WP admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This loads the Add New Staff Member section …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
This area provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Add the staff member’s name
- Slug: Here you can modify each employees’ slug (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The employee’s position
- Email: The employee’s email address
- Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type your company’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 employees here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatted content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign the individual to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up your groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options tab)
You will see options to enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your staff member’s details …
(Staff directory settings)
After you have finished entering each staff member’s details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups box in your sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you did not set up categories before starting to add new staff members, you can create a group now by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field for creating a group name will display, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …
Your new category will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(Groups section)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to someone’s details. To edit an item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).
***
After typing in your staff member’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To edit the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial about using the dashboard admin toolbar here:
Note: If you see ’page not found’ errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly set up your site’s permalinks …
(Page error? Check your permalinks)
If you need help setting up permalinks in WordPress, see this tutorial:
Keep adding new details to your employee directory directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you are done adding staff members to your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in your WP admin menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table of all the directory items and details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members list)
If you need to modify individual entries, hover your mouse over their list name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to update their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from the staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Edit Staff Members profile details)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can get quite long.
You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to find a member …
(Search Staff Members search field)
You can specify which fields to display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …
(Screen Options tab)
Placing a tick in the item’s checkbox displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when finished to update your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order that your employees appear on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order in the main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the entry to its new location …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list items)
After adding all staff details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order in which your staff details show on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to a desired position …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list)
Once you are done adding all of your members’ details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your site visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin lets you create the style and layout of your employee directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Templates screen)
To customize your directory listings, insert any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is the default template used for displaying listings …
(Default Simple Staff List Template)
The The code shown above will display your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To display these fields, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Use template tags to customize your directory page)
Your directory entries will now display with Facebook and Twitter links as as the screenshot below shows …
(Directory listings with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with CSS code and template tags or are not sure what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
In addition to being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your dashboard menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)
This screen displays all different shortcode variations you can use.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can decide to use to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales reps”])
Or, you can make your listings display in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In your menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – Options settings)
Here you can edit some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members details by going to the menu and choosing Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need additional information about the plugin, go to the plugin faq page and request help from the plugin developer.
Other Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List is not the only for displaying a directory of your employees. Here are other plugins you can look at for creating an employee directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
This 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)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
With the Staff Directory plugin, you can easily display a list of staff/faculty/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
The plugin lets you insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: plugin website)
More info:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
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.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Plugin)
Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and table views, plus as fields like job title, email, phone, photo 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 learn more about each employee in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.
Learn more here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners 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.
The Employee Spotlight pluginincludes 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 Employee Spotlight website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staffer
(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)
Staffer uses custom post types for staff/employee management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an onsite employee directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer website)
Staffer works immediately with almost all 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, search the WordPress plugin directory or go online and search for:
- Add Staff Directory To WordPress
- WordPress Staff Directory Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple staff or team member directory to your WordPress site with no coding skills required, so you can showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.
Images of persons used to depict sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
***
"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)