Consumer buying habits have successfully shown that people will mostly buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker and easier ways to grow your business online, then something you can do, is help prospects get to know, like and trust your organization better.
Adding a directory of employees to your website can help boost your online credibility and get interested prospects contacting you.
This step-by-step tutorial explains how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of employees in WordPress.
Plugin Tutorial: Adding An Employee Directory
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you easily build a basic staff directory for.
The first step is to install and activate the plugin.
Log into your administration and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu will have been added to the WordPress menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the options and 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 organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can start to add new employee details after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual employees.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your directory groups go to your dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This brings you to the Groups settings …
(Groups section)
Note: Configuring groups works just like categories in WordPress …
(Groups work like WordPress categories)
Add new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group name here
- Slug – Type in the slug of your group. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – This section lets you set up a directory hierarchy
- Description – Type in the category description
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up the new directory category …
(Groups settings area)
If you are a business that employs many people, the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups 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 assign these to a directory hierarchy …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To edit or reassign Groups for a specific entry, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The item’s details open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click the Update button to save your changes …
To change your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and select the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click the Update Group button when done …
Continue adding groups in this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested categories)
After you have finished setting up your hierarchical structure, the next step is to start adding your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your WP admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This brings you to the Add New Staff Member settings area …
(Add New Staff Member area)
This screen provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Enter your staff member’s name
- Slug: Change your staff members’ permalink URL (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Enter the person’s position
- Email: Type in your staff member’s email address into this field
- Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type your employee’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter 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 here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatted content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign your staff member to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen options)
You can enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your staff member’s details …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
Once you have finished entering your staff member’s details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups section located in your sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you have not set up categories before starting to add staff member details, you can add a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group link)
A field will appear allowing you to create a new group name, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new group and click on Add New Group …
A new directory category will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign your staff member to the group …
(Groups section)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing a staff member’s details. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).
***
After typing in your team member’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To modify the employee’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using the admin toolbar here:
Note: If a ‘page not found’ error like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that your site permalinks have been set up correctly …
(Page error – Check your permalinks)
For a detailed step-by-step tutorial on setting up permalinks, go here:
Repeat the above process to add more entries to your directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you are done adding employees into your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in the WP admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table of all your listing entries and their details …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to modify individual details, hover your mouse over their list name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to update the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a list item from the employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members profile info)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can become unwieldy.
Use the Search Staff Members search field to locate listing items if necessary …
(Search Staff Members search box)
You can specify which fields to display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …
(Screen Options tab)
Placing a tick in the item’s check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when finished to update your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order that listings appear on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on the WP admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to its new location …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you have added all of your member listing details to the directory, the next step is to add the directory to your site visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which entries show on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order in your main admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to its desired position …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you have added staff listing details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin allows you to customize the style and layout of your employee directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Simple Staff List 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 directory listings …
(Default Template)
The This code displays your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To make these fields display in the directory, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown below …
(Use template tags to customize your directory page)
Your employee entries will now display as as the screenshot below shows …
(Staff profiles with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with CSS code and template tags or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
In addition to being able to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Usage Shortcode section)
This screen displays all different shortcode variations that you can use with the plugin.
A useful shortcode variation you can add to your page, 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=”technical engineers”])
Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In your main admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Options screen)
This section lets you edit some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members data by going to your menu and clicking Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need additional information about the Simple Staff List plugin, visit the Simple Staff List website.
Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Staff Directories
Simple Staff List is not the only adding a listing of your staff. For example, here are other plugins you can look at for creating an employee directory on your site:
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)
Learn more here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
Staff Directory lets you easily display a list of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
This plugin also lets you create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: plugin website)
More info:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin 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 a profile in a widget area.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Plugin)
With Company Directory, you can easily add your employees to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable single views, plus as fields like position title, email, 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 source: Company Directory website)
This plugin uses shortcodes.
Learn more here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners 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.
With Employee Spotlight, you also get two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.
Detailed information about each staff member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP Plugin)
The Staffer 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 staff directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Staffer works immediately with many popular 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 Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-manage simple faculty directory in your WordPress site without coding skills.
Images used to display staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
***
"I was absolutely amazed at the scope and breadth of these tutorials! The most in-depth training I have ever received on any subject!" - Myke O'Neill, DailyGreenPost.com