Consumer behaviour research shows that people generally buy from those they know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker, simpler and cheaper ways to sell more products or services online or get people to stay longer on your site, then something you can do, is make it easier for visitors to get to know, like and trust your business better.
If your web presence is powered by WordPress, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to display information about your partners, your faculty, or your employees using a WordPress staff list plugin.
In this tutorial, we show you how to create and add a simple employee directory to your website using free WordPress plugins.
WordPress Plugin Tutorial: How To Easily Add A Staff Directory
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 easily staff members.
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your WordPress administration and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on Install Now …
(WordPress Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, a new entry will have been added to your main WordPress menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the settings for this plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you can just begin to add new staff entries after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualstaff members into.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your groups go to your WP dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This brings you to the Groups panel …
(Groups settings)
Note: Setting up directory groups is just like adding WordPress categories …
(Groups work just like categories)
Add new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group name here
- Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your category. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – This section lets you set up nested categories
- Description – Enter the group description here
- Click Add New Group when done to create a new directory group …
(Groups screen)
If you manage a medium to large organization, having the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for founders, project teams, departments, etc.
Create as many groups and nested categories as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a hierarchical structure …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating new items …
To edit or reassign Groups for individual entries, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
The category details will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update when done …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and click on Quick Edit …
Click on Update Group 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 …
(Nested groups)
Once you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, 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 – Add New)
This opens up the Add New Staff Member settings area …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This area provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Enter the employee’s name
- Slug: Modify the slug for each staff member if you want (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your employee’s position
- Email: Enter the employee’s email address into this field
- Phone Number: Type in the person’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type your company’s Facebook URL into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter your company’s Twitter username (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your employee here. As this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can format content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign the individual to a 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)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your employee’s details …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
After you have entered details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups box in the sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you did not set up categories before starting to add new staff members, you can add a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group)
A field for entering your group name will display, with a dropdown 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 category will be added. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(New group added)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to an employee’s details. 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 entering your employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can make changes to the employee’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
If you need help using the dashboard admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If ’not found’ page errors like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that you have correctly configured your permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’page not found’ errors)
If you need help setting up WP permalinks, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
Continue adding more entries to your staff directory directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff details to your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in the 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 modify an individual’s entry, just hover your mouse over their name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to edit the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a member from your staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members profile details)
If you have many entries, your list can become unwieldy.
You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate member details if necessary …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields to display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …
(Staff Members Screen Options tab)
Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which entries appear on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to its new location …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
Once you are done adding all of your employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to add the directory to your site users.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order that entries appear on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on the main menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to the desired position …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list items)
Once you are done adding employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin 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 directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Templates page)
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 template used for displaying listings …
(Default Template)
The The code shown above displays your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To make these fields appear in your directory, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your listings page)
Here is what your listings page should now look like …
(Directory with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks but don’t want to mess around 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 listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List shortcodes)
This screen lists all the shortcode variations you can use.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can add 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=”senior staff”])
Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options in your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)
Here you can change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
Finally, you can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export menu …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need plugin support, go to the Simple Staff List plugin website and request help from the plugin developer.
Other Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to create a listing of your staff in WordPress. For example, here are a few other free plugins you can check out:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress 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 about the plugin here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
With the Staff Directory plugin, you can easily create a directory of faculty/team/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 Screen. Screenshot source: Staff Directory website)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
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 installs a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
With Company Directory, you can easily add your employees to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and single views, as well as fields like title, email address, phone, photo 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 staff member in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory website)
This plugin also uses shortcodes.
Learn more about the plugin here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just one 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.
Employee Spotlight includes two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus 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 sourced from plugin website)
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
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 employee directory on your site …
(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.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
If the directory plugins listed above 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
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this tutorial has shown you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-update employee directory to your WordPress site.
Images of models used to portray staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"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)