Something that’s been proven to work in business, is that people will buy from those they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker, simpler and cost-effective ideas to grow your business online, then make it easier for your visitors to get to know your business better.
Adding an employee directory to your site can help increase your online credibility and get more prospects buying from you.
This tutorial will show you how to create an easy-to-update employee directory in your WordPress site.
Step-By-Step Tutorial: How To Add A Staff Directory To Your WordPress Site
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List)
Simple Staff List lets you employee (you could also use it to display partners, etc.).
The first step is to install and activate the plugin.
Log into your WP administration and from the admin menu, choose Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This should bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu will show up in your WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
This menu is where you will configure and manage all of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
How To Configure The Plugin
Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could just start to add new employee entries at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your staff.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by configuring your groups. In your WP dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This opens up the Groups settings screen …
(Groups settings screen)
Note: Setting up directory groups is just like configuring categories …
(Groups are like WordPress categories)
Create new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group name
- Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your category name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – Use this section to set up nested groups
- Description – Type in your group description here
- Click Add New Group when finished to create the new category …
(Groups section)
If you are a medium to large organization, having the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for founders, project teams, departments, etc.
Create as many groups and nested groups as you want 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 entering new items …
To change Groups for an individual item, hover your mouse button over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The selected item will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update when done …
To change your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and click on Quick Edit …
Click the Update Group button when done …
Add as many categories as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Add nested groups to your staff directory)
After you have finished setting up your groups, the next step is to start adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WordPress admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This loads the Add New Staff Member settings area …
(Add New Staff Member settings area)
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: Enter the employee’s name
- Permalink: Modify each employees’ permalink URL (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Add your employee’s role here
- Email: Add your staff member’s email address
- Phone Number: Add the person’s phone number here
- Facebook URL: Enter your company’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter 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 members here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign a staff or team member to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your 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 staff member’s details …
(Add Staff Member fields)
After you have entered details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups section located in the sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you have not set up categories before starting to add staff member details, you can create a group now by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group)
A field for creating your group name will appear, 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 …
Your new group will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign a staff member to the group …
(New group)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to new employee details. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).
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After filling in your employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can make changes to your staff member’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the dashboard admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
Note: If you have set up groups and get ’not found’ page errors like the one shown below, check that you have configured your site’s permalinks correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get errors)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using WordPress permalinks here:
Keep adding more details to your employee directory directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you are done adding employee details to your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all your listing entries and any details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members details)
If you need to change an individual’s details, just hover your mouse over their list name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to edit their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove someone from the employee directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Edit Staff Members profile details)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can become unwieldy.
You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate a member …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields to display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options tab)
Placing a tick in the item’s checkbox displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. 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 in which your employees display on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the entry to its new position …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list entries)
After adding your employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory on your site.
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order that your employee profiles show on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to its desired position …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list items)
Once you have added all of your members’ details to your directory, the next step is to display your directory to your site users.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List lets you create the layout and style of your employee directory items 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 menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, insert any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)
The The code shown above will display your listing as shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above example. To make these fields show up in the directory, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template loop, as shown below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Your staff listings will now display with Facebook and Twitter links as as the example below shows …
(Employee profiles with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess with template tags 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 lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcode variations)
This screen lists all the shortcode variations that you can use with the plugin.
For example, a useful variation you can select to display a list of individuals belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”property managers”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Select Staff Members >Options on your main menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
This section lets you change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
Finally, you can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export screen …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need additional information about the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the plugin plugin site.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List isn’t the only for displaying a directory of your staff in WordPress. Here are some other plugins you can look at for adding an employee directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
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)
Learn more here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
The Staff Directory plugin lets you easily create a directory of team/faculty/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
This plugin also lets you use custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Go here to learn more:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
Faculty And Staff Directory was developed to provide 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.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
With the Company Directory plugin, you can add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and single views, as well as fields like position title, email address, phone, pic and 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 also uses simple shortcodes.
Learn more about this plugin here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders 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.
Employee Spotlight comes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.
Detailed information about each staff member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP 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 website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin website)
Staffer works with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
Go here to learn more:
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
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has shown you how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of staff members to your website.
Images of models used to display staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)