Business experts often raise the point that people tend to buy from people they already know, like and trust.
Are you looking for quicker, easier and cost-effective ways to sell more products online or get people to stay longer on your site? Then one of the things you can do, is help visitors get to know you, your team and your business better.
Adding a staff directory to your site is a great way to let visitors learn more about the team behind the scenes in your organization.
In this tutorial, we explain how to create and add an easy-to-update list directory of staff members to your site using a free plugin.
How To Add An Employee Directory: Tutorial
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress
(Simple Staff List)
Simple Staff List lets you easily staff (you could also use it to display board of directors, etc.).
First, let’s install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your administration 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 your plugin, you will see that a new menu entry will display on the WordPress menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
Here is where you will manage and configure all of the settings and options for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration
Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can just start to add new staff members at this point, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your group members.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your directory categories go to your WP dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This takes you to the Groups settings screen …
(Groups area)
Note: Setting up groups works in the same way as configuring categories …
(Groups are like WordPress categories)
Create a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group category 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 – Use this drop-down menu if you plan to set up a directory hierarchy
- Description – Enter a category description
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up a new category …
(Groups settings screen)
If you run a larger organization, the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for investors, project teams, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories and nested groups as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a directory hierarchy …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating each new item …
To change Groups for an entry, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The group details open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent category 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 select the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click the Update Group button to save your changes …
Continue adding groups to this section until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested groups)
Once you are done setting up your directory structure, the next step is to start adding your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member settings screen …
(Add New Staff Member screen)
This screen provides an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Add the staff member’s name
- Permalink: Modify your employees’ slug (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type the person’s role
- Email: Your employee’s email address
- Phone Number: Type your staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Enter the person’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter your employee’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 or faculty member here. As this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign your staff member to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options)
You will see options to enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each staff member’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
Once you have finished inputting each staff member’s details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups section located in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you have not set up directory groups before adding new staff members, you can add a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field for entering your new group name will appear, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on Add New Group …
The new category will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign a person to the group …
(New group added in Groups section)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or modified. To edit an 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 your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If ’page not found’ errors like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that your site’s permalinks have been set up correctly …
(Not found error – Check your permalinks)
If you need help setting up permalinks, see this step-by-step tutorial:
Repeat the above process to continue adding more members to your employee directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employees into your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in the main menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the directory items and their details …
(Staff Members details table)
If you need to change individual entries, hover your mouse over their name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to update the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like 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 selecting View …
(Edit Staff Members profile)
If you have many employees, your list can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to locate a member …
(Search Staff Members search field)
The plugin also lets you specify which fields can 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)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide specific fields. You can also select 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 arrange the order that your employee profiles display on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to its desired position …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered listings)
After adding your staff details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory show on your site.
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order in which your employees appear on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to the new location …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list items)
After adding your members’ details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory show on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin also lets you customize the layout and style of your staff directory entries 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 the main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Templates page)
To customize your directory, reorganize any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Staff Loop Template)
The The code shown above displays your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Plugin Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To make these fields show in the directory, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your staff list will now look like …
(Directory listings with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with template tags or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
As well as being able to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen lists all the shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin lets you use.
For example, a useful variation you can add to your page to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”customer representatives”])
Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Select Staff Members >Options on the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – Options settings screen)
Here you can change some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export menu …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need help with the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the plugin support page and contact the plugin developer.
Additional Employee Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only adding a listing of your team members. For example, here are some other free plugins you can check out to add a staff directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP 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)
Learn more here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory)
This plugin lets you easily display a list of faculty/team/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.
The plugin also lets you use custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: plugin website)
Learn more here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
This plugin provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.
The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)
Company Directory lets you easily add your employees to your website. Different layouts are available, including grid and table views, plus as fields like job title, email address, phone number, photo and member bio, allowing you to present 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 source: plugin website)
This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just one individual person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
This plugin comes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus 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: Employee Spotlight website)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Staffer
(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)
Staffer 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 staff directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer plugin website)
Staffer works immediately with many popular 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
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this tutorial has helped you learn how to create and add an easy-to-update staff directory in your site.
Images of persons used to display sample staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"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