Consumer buying habits show that people will mostly buy from those they know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker, simpler and cost-effective ways to grow your business online, then make it easier for your visitors to get to know, like and trust you and your business better.
If you use WordPress, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to add a WordPress staff list plugin that lets you display information about your key people, your faculty, or your staff.
This tutorial explains how to create and add a simple and easy-to-maintain employee directory to your WordPress site.
How To Easily Add An Employee List 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)
The Simple Staff List plugin is a free plugin that lets you easily create a basic staff directory list for.
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your admin and in your admin menu, choose Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, 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 – Add Plugins screen)
Click on the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, you will see that a new menu entry will appear on the main WP menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the settings for your plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could just start to add new staff details at this at this stage, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual group members.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s configure your directory groups. In your WP dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
The Groups screen …
(Groups screen)
Note: Configuring directory groups is just like adding categories …
(Groups work just like categories)
Add a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group category name here
- Slug – Enter the slug of your group name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – Use this section to set up a directory hierarchy
- Description – Type in your category description
- Click Add New Group when done to create the new directory category …
(Groups area)
If you are a medium to large organization, being able to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for partners, project teams, departments, etc.
Create as many categories and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a directory hierarchy …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering each new item …
To edit or reassign Groups for specific items, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
The category will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button to save your changes …
To change your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and select the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click Update Group when done …
Continue adding categories to this section until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Add nested categories your staff directory)
After you are done setting up your groups, you can start to add your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WordPress admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This loads the Add New Staff Member area …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
This page provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Enter your staff member’s name
- Permalink: Edit the permalink URL associated with your staff member if you want (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The staff member’s role
- Email: Your staff member’s email
- Phone Number: Enter the person’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Add your employee’s Facebook address into this field (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: Add a profile description for your employee here. Since this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign an employee or team member to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen options)
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 Staff Member settings)
Once you are done entering details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups section in your sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you have not set up directory groups before adding new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field will display allowing you to create a new group name, with a drop-down 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 directory category will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to an individual’s 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 entering your employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To edit your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If you see ’not found’ page errors like the one shown below, check that your site permalinks have been set up correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’page not found’ errors)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks in WordPress here:
Keep adding more members to your directory directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employee or team members to your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the employees and details you have added related to each entry …
(Staff Members table)
If you need to edit individual details, simply hover over their listing, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to update the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete an entry from the directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Edit Staff Members details)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can get quite long.
You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate entries if necessary …
(Search Staff Members search field)
You can specify which fields to display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …
(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 settings …
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order in which entries show on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to its desired position …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered listings)
Once you have added members’ details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory to your site visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order in which entries appear on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in your WordPress admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to its desired position …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list items)
Once you are done adding all of your members’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to add the directory to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin allows you to customize the layout and style of your staff directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory, reorganize any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is a screenshot of the Default Template …
(Default 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 listing. To make these fields show in your directory, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Use template tags to customize your directory page)
Your staff listings will now display as as shown below …
(Directory with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory 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
As well as allowing you to customize your directory 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 – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)
This screen displays all the shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to use.
A useful variation you can insert in your page, for example, to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”technical engineers”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
In the WP admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – Options settings)
Here you can edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
You can also export your staff members data by going to the WP admin menu and clicking Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need any help with this plugin, go to the Simple Staff List plugin website.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a directory of your faculty. For example, here are a few other plugins you can look at to add a staff directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory)
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)
Staff Directory lets you easily display a list of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.
You can also insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
This plugin was developed to provide 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 profiles in a widget area.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory)
This plugin lets you easily add your employees to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and table views, plus as fields like title, email address, 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 learn 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.
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just an individual person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
The Employee Spotlight plugincomes with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each team member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight website)
Learn more here:
Staffer
(Staffer)
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 an onsite staff directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer 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 about the plugin:
If the above plugins 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 Directory Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has helped you learn how to create a simple and easy-to-update employee directory in your website.
Images of persons used in this tutorial to display sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now