No doubt you already know that people will mostly buy from people they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker, easier and cost-effective ways to grow your business online, then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for your prospects to get to know, like and trust you and your business better.
Adding an employee directory to your site can help increase your online credibility and get interested prospects to contact you.
In this tutorial, you are going to learn how to easily create and add a simple faculty directory to your web site without coding skills.
How To Easily Add An Employee Directory
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List)
Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you easily display basic information about your employee on your site.
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your WordPress administration and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This should bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(WordPress Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, a new menu will show up in the main WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the settings for your plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.
Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration
Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could start to add new entries at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualstaff into.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your directory categories go to your WordPress dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This opens up the Groups section …
(Groups settings area)
Note: Adding directory groups is very similar to working with categories in WordPress …
(Groups work like categories)
Add a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group 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 if you plan to set up nested categories
- Description – Type in the group description
- Click Add New Group when done to create the new directory group …
(Groups settings screen)
If you are a business that employs many people, being able to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for investors, 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 build a hierarchical structure …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating new items …
To edit or reassign Groups for specific entries, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The item’s details open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button when done …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click the Update Group button after making changes …
Add as many group names as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested groups)
After you have finished setting up your directory structure, you can begin to add staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This brings you to the Add New Staff Member area …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
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: Enter your employee’s name
- Permalink: Change each employees’ slug (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 position
- Email: The employee’s email address
- Phone Number: Your employee’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: Type in the person’s Twitter username into this field (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your employee here. As this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign your employee to a specific group (see the previous section 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 each of your staff member’s details …
(Add New Staff Member fields)
After you have entered each of you staff member’s details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups section located in the sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you did not set up groups before starting to add 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 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 Add New Group …
A new group will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign your staff member to the group …
(New group added)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing new employee details. To edit a group item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).
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After filling in your employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can update the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
If you need help using the admin toolbar, refer to this tutorial:
Note: If an error shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that you have correctly set up your site permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’not found’ page errors)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using WordPress permalinks here:
Keep adding more members to your staff directory directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you have added staff or team members into your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in the WordPress admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all your listing entries and the details you have added for each entry …
(Staff Members details table)
If you need to modify individual details, hover over their list name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to update the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a member from the employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Edit Staff Members profile information)
If you have many entries, your list can grow quite large.
You can use the Search Staff Members search field to find a member …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields can display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options tab)
Placing a tick in the item’s check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when finished to update your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order that your staff profiles appear on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order on the WordPress admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to the desired location …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list)
After adding all staff details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order that your employee profiles display on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order in your main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to a new location …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list items)
After adding your employees’ details to your directory, the next step is to display your directory to your site visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin lets you create the style and layout of your employee directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your employee directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Templates page)
To customize your directory listings, insert any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Staff Loop Template)
The This code will display your listing as shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above example. To make these fields show up in the directory, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Your directory entries will now display as as the example below shows …
(Employee profiles with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with template tags or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
In addition to allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List shortcodes)
This screen displays all different shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to use.
A useful shortcode variation you can choose, for example, to display a list of individuals 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 inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Choose Staff Members >Options on your WordPress admin menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This opens the Options screen …
(Options settings screen)
Here you can edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
Finally, you can also export your staff members info by going to the menu and clicking Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need plugin support, go to the Simple Staff List plugin site and contact the plugin author.
Additional Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List is not the only adding a listing of your team members in WordPress. For example, here are other plugins you can check out:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory 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)
Go here to learn more:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
This plugin lets you easily create a directory of faculty/team/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
You can also add custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: plugin website)
Learn more here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory)
This plugin was developed to provide a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college or university.
The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
The Company Directory plugin lets you add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, plus as fields like job title, email, phone, photo 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 employee in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory website)
This plugin uses shortcodes.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders or just an individual member of your team in a four-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, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each faculty member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: plugin website)
Learn more here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)
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 a staff directory on your site …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)
Staffer works with almost all 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 List
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple staff directory to your WordPress site, so you can better showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.
Images of persons used to depict fictitious staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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