Business experts have successfully shown that people generally tend to buy from businesses they know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker, simpler and cheaper ways to grow your business online, then one of the things you can do, is help prospects get to know, like and trust you, your team and your business better.
Adding a directory of staff to your website can help to generate more trust, increase your credibility online and get interested prospects making enquiries.
In this step-by-step tutorial, we explain how to easily add a directory of staff members to your site.
Adding A Staff Directory In WordPress
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you staff members.
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into the WP admin and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This should bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu will appear in your main WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
The Staff Members menu is where you will manage and configure all of the settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
How To Configure The Plugin
Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can start to add new staff members after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s configure your categories. From your WP dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This loads the Groups screen …
(Groups section)
Note: Configuring groups works in the same way as configuring WordPress categories …
(Groups are like categories)
Create new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group category name
- Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your group name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – This section lets you set up nested groups
- Description – Type in your category description here (optional)
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up the new directory group …
(Groups settings area)
If you manage a business that employs many people, being able to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for investors, project teams, 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 the Add New Group button after entering each item …
To change Groups for a particular item, hover your mouse over a category title and select the Edit link …
Your selected item will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update when done …
To change the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and select Quick Edit …
Click Update Group when done to save your changes …
Add as many groups as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested categories)
After you have finished setting up your groups, the next step is to start adding your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This takes you to the Add New Staff Member settings …
(Add New Staff Member screen)
This page provides you with 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
- Permalink: Change the slug for each employee if you want (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your employee’s position
- Email: Your staff member’s email
- Phone Number: The employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type in the person’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Add your company’s Twitter username here (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 or team member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatted content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign your employee to a group (see above to learn how to set up groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen options tab)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each employee’s details …
(Add New Staff Member fields)
Once you have entered details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups feature located in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up categories before starting to add staff member details, you can create a group now by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field will display allowing you to enter a new group name, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new directory category and click on Add New Group …
The new group will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign a staff member to the group …
(Groups section)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or modified. 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 typing in your staff member’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can edit your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
For a detailed step-by-step tutorial on using the dashboard admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If you see an error like the one shown below, check that you have correctly configured your permalinks …
(Page error? Check your permalinks)
If you need help setting up permalinks, refer to this tutorial:
Continue adding more details to your directory directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff members into your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on the WordPress admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the staff members and details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members details)
If you need to edit an individual’s details, simply hover your mouse over their list name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to make changes to the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove an entry from your directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Edit Staff Members profile information)
If you have many employees, your list can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search field to find listing items …
(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 …
(Screen Options tab)
Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when finished to save your settings …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order in which listings show on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the entry to the new position …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list)
After adding all staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order that entries display on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order on the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to its desired location …
(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list)
After adding all staff details to the directory, the next step is to add the directory to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin allows you to edit the layout and style of your directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your staff directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Templates page)
To customize your directory, reorganize any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is a screenshot of the Default Template …
(Default Staff Loop Template)
The The code shown above displays your listing as shown below …
(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To make these fields display in your directory, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your listings page will now look like …
(Directory listings with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with editing code or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
In addition to being able to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main 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 that you can use.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can choose to display a list of staff members belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”partners”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
Here you can edit some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members details by going to your menu and selecting Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need plugin support, visit the plugin site.
Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Employee Directories
Simple Staff List is not the only for displaying a directory of your staff. Here are other free WordPress plugins you can look at:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP 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)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
Staff Directory lets you easily display a list of staff/faculty/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
The plugin lets you set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory plugin website)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
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 profiles in a widget area.
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory)
The Company Directory plugin lets you add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and single views, plus as fields like position title, email address, phone number, pic 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 read 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 a simple shortcode system.
Learn more about the plugin here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders or just a single member of your team in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
The Employee Spotlight plugincomes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.
Detailed information about each employee can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer)
Staffer 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 website)
Staffer works 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 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 Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to easily add a simple staff directory to your site without coding skills.
Images of models used in this tutorial to display staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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