Many business experts often raise the point that people generally tend to buy from those they know, like and trust.
If you are looking for inexpensive ways to grow your business online and get people to stay longer on your site, then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for prospects to get to know, like and trust you and your business better.
If your website is driven by the WordPress CMS, a simple way to help visitors get to know you better is to add a staff list plugin that will let you display a directory listing with information about your key people, your team, or your staff.
In this step-by-step tutorial, we are going to show you how to add a simple and easy-to-manage simple faculty members directory to WordPress.
How To Easily Add An Employee Directory In WordPress: Plugin Tutorial
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress
(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you staff members.
The first step is to install and activate this plugin.
Log into your admin and in your admin menu section, select Plugins > Add New …
(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(WordPress Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, a new menu entry will display on your WordPress menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on how many people are employed in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you can start adding new staff member details at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual group members.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s set up your groups. From your WordPress dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This brings you to the Groups section …
(Groups section)
Note: Configuring groups is similar to creating WordPress categories …
(Groups work like categories)
Add new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group category name here
- Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your group. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – Use this drop-down menu if you plan to set up nested groups
- Description – Type in the group description in this field (optional)
- Click Add New Group when finished to create your new group name …
(Groups area)
If you run a business that employs many people, having the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for partners, developers, faculties, 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 directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering each new item …
To edit or reassign Groups for a particular entry, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The selected group will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button when done …
To change your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click Update Group after making changes …
Continue adding groups to this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Add nested categories your staff directory)
After 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 loads the Add New Staff Member settings area in your browser …
(Add New Staff Member settings area)
This area provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Type your employee’s name
- Permalink: Here you can change the slug for your staff member if you want (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type in the person’s role
- Email: Enter the person’s email address
- Phone Number: Type in the employee’s phone number into this field
- Facebook URL: Enter the person’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter your staff member’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your employees here. Since this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: 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 the screen …
(Screen options tab)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your employee’s details …
(Add Staff Member settings)
After you are done inputting details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in your sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you did not set up groups before starting to add new staff members, you can create a group now by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field for entering a new group name will appear, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new directory category and click on Add New Group …
The new category will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or modified. To edit an item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).
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After filling in the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your employee directory …
Click View Post …
To edit your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the 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 configured correctly …
(Page error – Check your permalinks)
If you need help setting up permalinks in WordPress, see this step-by-step tutorial:
Repeat the above process to continue adding more details to your staff directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff members into your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on the menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table of all your directory entries and details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members list)
If you need to change individual details, simply hover over their listing, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to make changes to the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a member from the directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Editing Staff Members profile info)
If you have many entries added to this section, your table can grow quite large.
Use the Search Staff Members search field to locate member details if required …
(Search members)
The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Placing a tick in the item’s 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 settings …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order that your employees display on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to its desired location …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered listings)
Once you are done adding all of your staff details to your directory, the next step is to display your directory on your site.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order that your staff entries show on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order in the main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to the new position …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list)
Once you have added employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List also lets you customize the layout and style of your directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, insert any of the allowable template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying listings …
(Default Plugin Template)
The This code will display your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Plugin Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. To make these fields appear in the directory, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Use template tags to customize your directory page)
Here is what your staff list should now look like …
(Directory listings with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess with CSS code and template tags or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.
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, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Usage Shortcode screen)
This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin lets you 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=”Asia Pacific Region”])
Or, you can make your listings display in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
This section lets you edit some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members data by going to the main admin menu and selecting Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need plugin help or support, visit the plugin site and contact the plugin author.
Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Employee Directories
Simple Staff List is not the only WordPress staff directory plugin you can use. For example, here are other plugins you can check out:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
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 go here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
This plugin lets you easily display a list of faculty/staff/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
This plugin also lets you set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Go here to learn more:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory)
This plugin 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.
For more details go here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Plugin)
The Company Directory plugin lets you add your employees to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and single views, plus as fields like title, email address, phone, photo and member bio, allowing visitors to get to know 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 in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.
Learn more here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just one individual person in a four-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 selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each staff member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: plugin website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)
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 an employee directory on your website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin website)
Staffer works immediately with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
Learn more about the plugin 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 List
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has explained how to add an easy-to-manage directory of staff members to your WordPress site.
Images of models used to depict sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"This is AMAZING! I had learnt about how to use WordPress previously, but this covers absolutely everything and more!! Incredible value! Thank you!" - Monique, Warrior Forum