Something often said in marketing circles, is that people generally tend to buy from those they know, like and trust.
If you are looking for simple ideas to sell more products or services online, then make it easier for your visitors to get to know, like and trust your business better.
Adding a faculty directory to your website can help boost your credibility online and get interested prospects buying from your site.
In this step-by-step tutorial, we are going to show you how to create and add an easy-to-manage simple team members directory in your website.
Adding A Staff List Directory To Your Site: Tutorial
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you create a simple staff directory list for.
The first step is to install and activate the plugin.
Log into your WordPress dashboard and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This should bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on Install Now …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Click the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, a new menu will show up in the main WordPress menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
Plugin Configuration
Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can start adding new staff details at this at this stage, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your staff members.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your categories go to your dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
The Groups section …
(Groups settings)
Note: Configuring groups works in the same way as configuring categories …
(Groups work like WordPress categories)
Create new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group name
- Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your group. 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 your group description
- Click Add New Group when done to create a new group name …
(Groups settings area)
If you work with a business that employs many people, being able to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for investors, developers, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating each item …
To edit Groups for specific entries, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
The selected item’s details will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update to save your changes …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose Quick Edit …
Click the Update Group button after making changes …
Continue adding group names in this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Add nested groups to your directory)
Once you are done setting up your groups, the next step is to begin to add staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your WordPress admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member settings …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This section provides 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
- Slug: Modify each staff members’ permalink URL (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type your staff member’s role
- Email: Type in the person’s email here
- Phone Number: The employee’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: Type your company’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 members here. Since this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can format content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign your staff member to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen options tab)
You will see options to 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)
After you have entered your staff member’s details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups section in the sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you have not set up categories before adding staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group link)
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 the Add New Group button …
A new category will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign an employee’s details to the group …
(New group)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing a staff member’s details. To edit a group item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).
***
After entering your employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To modify the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial about using the WP admin toolbar here:
Note: If ’page not found’ errors shows up like the one shown in the example below, check that your site’s permalinks have been set up correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get a page error)
If you need help setting up permalinks, see this tutorial:
Keep adding more details to your directory directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff details into your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all the staff profiles and all details you have added for each entry …
(Staff Members details table)
If you need to make changes to individual entries, just hover your mouse over their name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to edit the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a member from the employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Edit Staff Members profile information)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can get quite long.
You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to find member details if required …
(Search members)
The plugin also lets you specify which fields to display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …
(Screen Options)
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 the Apply button when done to update your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that entries display on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to its desired position …
(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list)
Once you have added all of your member details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory show on your site.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order that listings display on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to a new position …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you are done adding all of your member listing details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List lets you edit the layout and style of your employee directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Simple Staff List Templates page)
To customize your directory listings, insert any of the allowable template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is a screenshot of the Default Template …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. To display these fields, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown below …
(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your directory page)
Your staff entries will now display Facebook and Twitter addresses as as the example below shows …
(Directory with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with CSS styles and template tags or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
In addition to being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your dashboard menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode section)
This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations you can use with the plugin.
A useful 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=”partners”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In your main menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Options settings)
Here you can modify some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members info by going to your menu and clicking Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need help with the Simple Staff List plugin, visit the plugin plugin site and request help from the plugin developer.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List is not the only for displaying a directory of your employees. For example, here are some other free plugins you can check out for creating a directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
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)
More info:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
With Staff Directory, you can easily display a list of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.
You can also insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory website)
Learn more here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
This 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.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
With the Company Directory plugin, you can add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and customizable single views, plus as fields like 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 members in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
This plugin uses shortcodes.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners 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 on plugin activation.
With Employee Spotlight, you also get 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 employee can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)
This plugin uses custom post types for employee management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an online employee directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: 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 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
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to add a simple team members directory to your website using free plugins.
Images used in this tutorial to depict fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
***
"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)