Consumer buying habits show that people tend to buy from businesses they know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker, easier and cost-effective ideas to grow your business online or increase user interaction with your site, then one of the things you can do, is help your visitors get to know, like and trust you and your business better.
Adding a faculty directory to your website can help to generate more trust, boost your online credibility and get more prospects to contact you.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to easily create and add an easy-to-manage simple team members directory in WordPress using a free WordPress plugin.
How To Easily Add A Staff Directory To Your WordPress Site: Plugin Tutorial
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you easily display information about your employee on your website.
First, let’s install and activate the plugin.
Log into your dashboard and in your admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on Install Now …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Click the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, you will see that a new menu entry will display on your main WP menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
The Staff Members menu is where you will manage and configure all of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
Configuring Simple Staff List
Depending on how many people are in your team and how you want to structure your directory, you can start to add new staff members after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place yourgroup members into.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your categories go to your dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This loads the Groups screen in your web browser …
(Groups settings screen)
Note: Adding directory groups is similar to working with categories …
(Groups work like categories)
Create new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group name here
- Slug – Enter the slug of your group category name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – This section lets you set up nested groups
- Description – Enter your group description in this field
- Click Add New Group when done to create your new directory group …
(Groups settings)
If you are a medium to large organization, having the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for founders, developers, departments, etc.
Create as many categories and nested groups as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering each new item …
To change or reassign Groups for an entry, hover your mouse button over a category title and select the Edit link …
Your selected category open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update when done …
To change the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and choose Quick Edit …
Click on Update Group after making changes …
Add as many group names as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested categories)
Once you are done setting up your groups, you can start to add names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your WP admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This takes you to the Add New Staff Member settings area …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This area provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Add the staff member’s name
- Permalink: Modify the permalink URL for your employee if required (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type the person’s position
- Email: The employee’s email
- Phone Number: Add the person’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type your company’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type in 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 a profile description for your employee or faculty member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign the individual to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up 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 features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your staff member’s details …
(Add New Staff Member fields)
Once you have entered each of you staff member’s details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups box located in the sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up groups before starting to add staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group link)
A field for creating a new group name will display, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on the Add New Group button …
Your new directory category will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign your staff member to the group …
(Groups section)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or modified. 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 typing in your team member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …
Click View Post …
To update your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
If you need help using the admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
Note: If ’not found’ page errors shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that you have correctly set up your permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’not found’ page errors)
For a detailed tutorial on setting up WP permalinks, go here:
Continue adding new members to your employee directory directory as described above.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employees to your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on your main admin menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the employees and their details …
(Staff Members list)
If you need to make changes to an individual’s details, hover your mouse over their listing, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to edit the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from your 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 box to find items if necessary …
(Search members)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields to display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when done to update your settings …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which entries show on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the entry to the new position …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered listings)
After adding all members’ details to your directory, the next step is to display your directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order that your employees show on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to the desired position …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you have added all of your employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin allows you to edit the layout and style of your staff list entries 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 main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying listings …
(Default Plugin Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Plugin Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To display these fields, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template loop, as shown below …
(Use template tags to customize your directory page)
Here is what your listings page should now look like …
(Employee profiles with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize your directory 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
As well as being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcode variations)
This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.
A useful variation you can add to your page, for example, to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Gold Level associates”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Choose Staff Members >Options in the main menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)
This section lets you change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
You can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export screen …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need plugin help or support, go to the Simple Staff List site and request help from the plugin author.
Additional Employee Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only adding a directory of your staff. For example, here are other free plugins you can look at 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)
For more details go here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
The Staff Directory plugin lets you easily display a list of team/faculty/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.
You can also set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: plugin website)
More info:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
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 a profile in a widget area.
Go here to learn more:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Plugin)
This plugin lets you easily add your employees to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and single views, plus as fields like position title, email, phone number, image and 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 in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory website)
This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.
Learn more about the plugin here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just a single person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
This plugin comes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each employee can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
This 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 a staff directory on your site …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)
Staffer works immediately with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
Learn more about this plugin 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 Directory Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-manage simple employee directory to your WordPress site using free plugins.
Images used in this tutorial to portray fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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