Something that is often quoted in marketing circles, is that people will mostly buy from those they know, like and trust.
If you are searching for ideas to sell more products online and get people to stay longer on your site, then help your visitors get to know, like and trust you and your business better.
If you are a WordPress user, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to add a WordPress directory plugin that will let you display information about your key partners, your faculty, or your staff members.
In this step-by-step tutorial, we are going to show you how to easily add an easy-to-maintain directory of employees to WordPress with no coding skills required.
WordPress Plugin Tutorial: How To Add A Staff Directory To Your Site
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a free WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List lets you staff members (you could also use it to display board of directors, etc.).
The first step is to install and activate this plugin.
Log into the admin and in your admin menu section, click on 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 …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, a new entry will display on the main WP menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
Here is where you will configure and manage all of the settings and options for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.
Plugin Configuration
Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you could just begin adding new entries after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your groups go to your dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
The Groups settings loads in your browser …
(Groups section)
Note: Setting up groups is similar to creating categories …
(Groups work like WordPress categories)
Create a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group category name here
- Slug – Enter the slug 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 groups
- Description – Enter the category description
- Click the Add New Group button when done to set up your new directory category …
(Groups section)
If you run a business that employs many people, being able to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for investors, developers, faculties, etc.
Create as many groups and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering each item …
To change Groups for a particular entry, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The category details will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click the Update button when done …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click on Update Group when done to save your changes …
Add as many groups as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested categories)
Once you have finished setting up your hierarchical structure, the next step is to begin to add staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your WordPress admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member section …
(Add New Staff Member settings screen)
This section provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The staff member’s name
- Slug: You can modify each staff members’ slug (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: Enter the person’s position
- Email: The staff member’s email address
- Phone Number: Type in the person’s phone number into this field
- Facebook URL: Enter your employee’s Facebook URL into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type in your employee’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Type in a profile description for your employee here. Since this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign the individual to a specific group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up your groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options)
You will see options to enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your staff member’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
Once you are done entering each staff member’s details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups box located in your sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you did not set up categories before adding new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field for entering a group name will display, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on Add New Group …
A new group will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign a person to the group …
(New group added)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s 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).
***
After entering the person’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can edit the employee’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the WordPress admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If you see ’not found’ page errors like the one shown below, check that your site’s permalinks have been set up correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’not found’ page errors)
For a detailed tutorial about setting up WordPress permalinks, go here:
Repeat the above process to add new members to your staff directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employee or faculty members into your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in your main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all your directory items and any details you have added for each entry …
(Staff Members details table)
If you need to edit an individual’s entry, hover over their listing, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to modify their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove someone from the employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Edit Staff Members profile details)
If you have many entries, your list can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to locate member details …
(Search members)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields can display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …
(Staff Members Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide specific fields. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to update your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which listings display on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order in the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the item to its desired position …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered listings)
After adding all member details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory display on your site.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order that entries display on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to the new position …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered listings)
Once you have added all of your employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory to your site visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin also lets you customize the style and layout of your directory entries 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 main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Simple Staff List Templates page)
To customize your directory listings, insert any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above example. To display these fields, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Your directory profiles will now display with Facebook and Twitter addresses as as shown below …
(Directory with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with editing code or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.
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, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List shortcodes)
This screen lists all the shortcode variations you can use with this plugin.
For example, a useful variation you can decide to use to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales managers”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options on the main menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This opens 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 by going to your menu and clicking Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need plugin help or support, go to the Simple Staff List website.
Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Staff Directories
Simple Staff List isn’t the only WordPress employee directory plugin you can use. Here are some other free plugins you can look at:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP 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)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
With Staff Directory, you can easily create a directory of team/faculty/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
You can also insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
More info:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
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 profiles in a widget area.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
With Company Directory, you can add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and customizable single views, plus as fields like position title, email address, phone, image and staff bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.
Visitors can 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 in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory website)
This plugin uses shortcodes.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders or just one individual person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.
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 plugin website)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP 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 sourced from plugin website)
Staffer works immediately with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
To learn more about this plugin go 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
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple staff directory to your WordPress site, so you can better showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.
Images of persons used in this tutorial to display fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
***
"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group