Something that’s been proven to work in business, is that people will buy from those they know, like and trust.
Are you looking for inexpensive ways to grow your business online or get people to stay longer on your site? Then one of the things you can do, is help your prospects get to know your organization better.
Adding an employee directory to your website can lead to more trust, boost your online credibility and get more prospects to buy from your site.
In this tutorial, we show you how to create and add a simple and easily updatable simple staff directory in your website using free plugins.
How To Easily Add An Employee Directory: WordPress Plugin Tutorial
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you create a basic staff directory for.
The first step is to install and activate this plugin.
Log into your administration and go to Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on Install Now …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, you will notice that new menu entry will show up in your WordPress menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the settings and options for this plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Configuring The Plugin
Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can start to add new entries at this point, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to assign yourstaff members into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s configure your groups. In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This brings you to the Groups screen …
(Groups area)
Note: Adding groups works just like categories …
(Groups are like WordPress categories)
Add new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your category name here
- Slug – Enter the slug of your category name. 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 a directory hierarchy
- Description – Enter a group description
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to create a new group name …
(Groups area)
If you manage a medium to large organization, the ability to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for partners, developers, departments, etc.
Create as many categories and nested categories as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a hierarchical structure …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating each new item …
To edit Groups for a specific item, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The category details open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update to save your changes …
To change your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and choose Quick Edit …
Click the Update Group button when done to save your changes …
Add as many categories as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Add nested groups to your directory)
Once you have finished setting up your hierarchical structure, the next step is to begin adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WP admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member settings screen in your browser …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
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: The employee’s name
- Permalink: You can change the permalink URL for each staff member if required (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The staff member’s position
- Email: Enter the person’s email address here
- Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type in 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: Enter a profile description for your staff or team member here. Since this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can format content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign the person to a group (see above to learn how to set up groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen options tab)
You can enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your employee’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
After you have entered details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups box located in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you have not set up categories before adding new staff members, you can add a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group feature)
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 Add New Group …
The new group will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or edited. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).
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After entering your staff or team member’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can edit the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial about using the WP admin toolbar here:
Note: If you have set up groups and get ’page not found’ errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly set up your permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get errors)
If you need help setting up permalinks, see this step-by-step tutorial:
Repeat the above process to add more members to your employee directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you are done entering employee or faculty members into your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on your menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the employees and their details …
(Staff Members table)
If you need to modify individual entries, hover your mouse over their list name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to update their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a listing from your directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Edit Staff Members profile information)
If you have many entries, your table can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate entries …
(Search members)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields to display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide specific fields. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when done to save your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order in which entries appear on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to its new position …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list items)
Once you are done adding members’ details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory display on your site.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order in which listings show on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on your main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the item to its new position …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list items)
Once you are done adding all of your member listing details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List allows you to customize the layout and style of your staff directory items 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 brings up the Templates page …
(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, below is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Plugin Template)
The The code shown above will display your listing as shown below …
(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. To make these fields show up in the directory, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template, as shown below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Your directory listings will now display as as shown below …
(Directory listings with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess with code or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
In addition to being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcodes)
This screen lists all the shortcode variations that the plugin lets you use.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can insert in your page to display a list of employees or team members belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Asia Pacific Region”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Choose Staff Members >Options in your menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – Options settings screen)
This section lets you change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
You can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export menu …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need plugin help or support, go to the plugin plugin site.
Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Staff Directories
Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to build a listing of your staff in WordPress. Here are some other free plugins you can check out:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Modern Team Staff Directory 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)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
Staff Directory lets you easily create a directory of faculty/team/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.
The plugin also lets you set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: plugin website)
More info:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college or university.
The plugin also includes a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory)
Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your staff to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and customizable single views, plus as fields like job title, email, phone, image and member bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.
Visitors can 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 a simple shortcode system.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, 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 which display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.
Detailed information about each faculty member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot source: plugin website)
Learn more 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 a staff directory on your website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin website)
Staffer works with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
Learn more about this plugin here:
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 Directory Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to easily add a simple employee directory to your site.
Models used to portray sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"I am beyond impressed with what you have put together. I can tell that you put a ton of hard work into building what you have. You have the absolute best content on WordPress I have ever seen!" - Robert T. Jillie