You have no doubt heard that people tend to buy from people they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for simple ideas to sell more products or services online and get people to stay longer on your site, then help prospects get to know, like and trust your organization better.
If your web presence is driven by WordPress, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to add a WordPress staff list plugin that lets you display a directory listing with information about your key partners, your team, or your employees.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to easily create and add an updatable list directory of employees to your web site using free plugins.
Adding An Employee List Directory In WordPress
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List lets you staff members (you could also use it to display board of directors, etc.).
First, let’s install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into the dashboard and go to 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 the Install Now button …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, you will notice that new menu will show up in your WordPress menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
The Staff Members menu is where you will manage and configure all of the settings and options for the Simple Staff List 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 staff directory, you could 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 categories go to your WP dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This brings up the Groups section …
(Groups area)
Note: Adding directory groups works in the same way as configuring categories …
(Groups work just like WordPress categories)
Create a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group category name
- 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 drop-down menu if you plan to set up a directory hierarchy
- Description – Type in the group description in this field (optional)
- Click Add New Group when done to create your new group …
(Groups screen)
If you are a medium to large organization, having the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for founders, developers, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories and nested categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering each item …
To change or reassign Groups for specific entries, hover your mouse button over a category title and select the Edit link …
The group details will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click the Update button when done …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click on Update Group to save your changes …
Continue adding groups in this section until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested categories)
Once you have finished setting up your groups, you can begin to add your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member area …
(Add New Staff Member area)
This section provides 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
- Slug: Here you can change the slug associated with your staff member if required (you will see this section after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The employee’s role
- Email: Your employee’s email address
- Phone Number: Add the person’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Enter the staff member’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Add your employee’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 staff or faculty member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign the individual to a specific group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen options tab)
You will see options to enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your staff member’s details …
(Add 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 feature in the sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up directory groups before starting to add new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group)
A field for entering your group name will appear, 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 …
Your new group will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to a staff member’s 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 entering the person’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To modify the staff member’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the WP admin toolbar, see this tutorial:
Note: If errors shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that you have correctly configured your permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’page not found’ errors)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks in WordPress here:
Continue adding more members to your employee directory directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you are done adding employees into your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all your staff profiles and details you have added for each entry …
(Staff Members list)
If you need to modify individual details, simply hover over their name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to make changes to 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 your directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Edit Staff Members profile information)
If you have many employees, your list can become unwieldy.
Use the Search Staff Members search field to locate a member …
(Search members)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields to display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide specific fields. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when done to save your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order in which entries show on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the entry to the new location …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list items)
Once you are done adding all of your staff listing details to the directory, the next step is to display the directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order that your staff entries show on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order in your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to a desired position …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list entries)
After adding your staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin lets you customize the style and layout of your employee directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the allowable template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. To display these fields, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Use template tags to customize your listings page)
Your employee entries will now display as shown in the example below …
(Directory with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks but don’t want to mess around with template tags or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
As well as allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin lets you use.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can choose to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales managers”])
Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Choose Staff Members >Options on the menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Options screen)
This section lets you change some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members data by going to your menu and selecting Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need plugin help or support, visit the Simple Staff List faq page and contact the plugin developer.
Other Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to display a faculty directory in WordPress. For example, here are other free WordPress plugins you can use:
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)
Learn more here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory)
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.
You can also set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)
More info:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin provides 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.
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
With Company Directory, you can add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and single views, plus as fields like title, email address, phone, pic and staff 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 employee in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin uses simple shortcodes.
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, 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 upon plugin activation.
With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get 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 staff 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)
The Staffer plugin 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 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.
Learn more about the plugin here:
If the above plugins 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
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this tutorial has shown you how to add an easy-to-maintain staff directory to WordPress.
Images used to portray sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"This is an awesome training series. I have a pretty good understanding of WordPress already, but this is helping me to move somewhere from intermediate to advanced user!" - Kim Lednum