Consumer buying habits show that people generally will buy from people they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker and easier ways to sell more products online or get people to interact more with your site, then something you can do, is help your prospects get to know you, your team and your organization better.
If your web presence is powered by the WordPress Content Management System, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to display information about your partners, your team, or your staff members using a directory plugin.
This tutorial shows you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-manage staff directory in your website.
Step-By-Step Tutorial: How To Add A Staff Directory
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
Simple Staff List lets you easily create a simple staff directory for.
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your WP dashboard and from the admin menu, click on Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on Install Now …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, you will notice that new entry will have been added to your main WordPress menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
This menu is where you will configure and manage all of the settings and options for your plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Configuring The Plugin
Depending on how many people are employed in your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you could begin to add new entries after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your directory groups go to your WordPress dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
The Groups screen …
(Groups settings)
Note: Setting up directory groups is just like configuring WordPress categories …
(Groups work just like categories)
Create new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group category 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 – Type in the group description here
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up your new category …
(Groups settings screen)
If you work with a medium to large organization, the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for investors, developers, departments, etc.
Create as many categories and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a hierarchical structure …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering each item …
To change or reassign Groups for a particular item, hover your mouse button over a category title and select the Edit link …
Your selected item will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update to save your changes …
To change your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose Quick Edit …
Click Update Group when done …
Continue adding group names to this section until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested categories)
After you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, you can begin to add names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WordPress admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member screen opens on your browser …
(Add New Staff Member screen)
This screen provides an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Type the staff member’s name
- Slug: Edit each staff members’ slug (you will see this section after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Add the person’s position
- Email: The employee’s email
- Phone Number: Your employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Add the person’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Add 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 in a profile description for your staff member here. Since this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign the person to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen options tab)
You can enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your employee’s details …
(Staff directory settings)
Once you have finished inputting each of you staff member’s details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups section located in the sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you have not set up categories before starting to add new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field for creating your group name will appear, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new category and click on the Add New Group button …
Your new group will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign the entry to the group …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or edited. To edit an item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).
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After filling in your staff member’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To update the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
If you need help using the admin toolbar, see this tutorial:
Note: If you see a ‘page not found’ error like the one shown below, check that you have configured your site’s permalinks correctly …
(Not found error – Check your permalinks)
To learn more about setting up permalinks in WordPress, see this step-by-step tutorial:
Repeat the above process to add new entries to your employee directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you have finished entering staff members to your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a list with all your staff members and their details …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to make changes to an individual’s details, hover your mouse over their name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to make changes to the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a listing from your staff 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 added many items to this section, your list can grow quite large.
You can use the Search Staff Members search box to locate items …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields to display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …
(Screen Options tab)
Selecting a checkbox 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 settings …
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order in which entries show on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in the main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to the new position …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list)
After adding all members’ details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that entries display on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the entry to the new position …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list items)
Once you have added all of your members’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to display your directory to your site visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin lets you create the style and layout of your directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from your WP admin menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory, insert any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Plugin Template)
The The code shown above displays your listing as shown below …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above listing. To display these fields, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Your employee listings will now display as as shown below …
(Directory with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks but don’t want to mess with CSS code and template tags or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
In addition to allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations you can use.
A useful variation you can choose, for example, to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”customer representatives”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Choose Staff Members >Options in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – Options settings screen)
Here you can edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
Finally, you can also export your staff members data by going to your menu and clicking Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need help with the Simple Staff List plugin, visit the Simple Staff List support page and contact the plugin author.
Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Staff Directories
Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use. Here are a few other free plugins you can look at:
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)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
The Staff Directory plugin lets you easily create a directory of faculty/team/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
This plugin lets you create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
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 the plugin go here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)
The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your employees, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and customizable single views, as well as fields like job title, email address, phone, image and bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.
Visitors can 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 sourced from Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders or just an individual person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
The Employee Spotlight pluginincludes two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen in 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: Employee Spotlight plugin 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 employee directory on your website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin website)
Staffer works immediately with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
To learn more about this plugin go here:
If the directory plugins listed above aren’t what you’re looking for, just go online or visit the WordPress plugin directory and search for:
- Add Staff Directory To WordPress
- WordPress Staff Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-maintain simple staff directory in your site without touching code.
Images of persons used to display sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"I am beyond impressed with what you have put together. I can tell that you put a ton of hard work into building what you have. You have the absolute best content on WordPress I have ever seen!" - Robert T. Jillie