Something that is often quoted in business and marketing circles, is that people generally tend to buy from people they know, like and trust.
Are you looking for ways to sell more products or services online and get people to stay longer on your site? Then help your visitors get to know you, your team and your business better.
Adding an employee directory to your site can help boost your online credibility and get interested prospects considering using your services.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to add an easy-to-update list directory of employees to WordPress using a free plugin.
How To Easily Add A Staff Directory: Plugin Tutorial
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you staff.
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into the WordPress dashboard and in your admin menu, 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 – Add Plugins screen)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu will show up in the main WP admin menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
This menu is where you will manage and configure all of the options and settings for your plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Plugin Configuration
Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can just start adding new staff member details at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualmembers into.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your groups go to your dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
The Groups section …
(Groups settings area)
Note: Adding groups works in the same way as configuring categories …
(Groups work like categories)
Create a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group name
- 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 section if you plan to set up nested groups
- Description – Enter your group description in this field (optional)
- Click Add New Group when done to set up a new group …
(Groups section)
If you work with a business that employs many people, being able to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for partners, developers, faculties, etc.
Create as many groups 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 individual items, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The selected category will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update when done …
To change the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click Update Group after making changes …
Add as many groups 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 have finished setting up your directory structure, the next step is to begin to add names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This takes you to the Add New Staff Member settings screen …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This page provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your staff member’s name
- Slug: Edit your employees’ permalink URL (you will see this section after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The staff member’s role
- Email: Your staff member’s email
- Phone Number: Add the person’s phone number here
- Facebook URL: Type in the employee’s Facebook address here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter the staff member’s Twitter username into this field (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 employees here. Since this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign the person to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up groups).
If you 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 your staff member’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
Once you have entered your staff member’s details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups box located in the sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you did not set up your directory groups before starting to add staff member details, 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 creating a new group name will appear, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new category and click on the Add New Group button …
A new directory category will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign your listing to the group …
(New group added via Groups feature)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or edited. 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 team member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …
Click View Post …
You can make changes to the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the dashboard admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
Note: If errors shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that your site permalinks have been configured correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’page not found’ errors)
For a detailed step-by-step tutorial about setting up WordPress permalinks, go here:
Repeat the above process to add new details to your directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employees to your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all your directory entries and all details you have added related to each entry …
(Staff Members list)
If you need to modify an individual’s entry, simply hover your mouse over their list name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to modify the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a listing from your directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Edit Staff Members profile)
If you have many employees, your table can grow quite large.
Use the Search Staff Members search field to find member details if required …
(Search Staff Members search field)
You can specify which fields can 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 tab)
Selecting a check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are shown 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 main menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to its desired location …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you have added all of your staff details to your directory, the next step is to display your directory on your site.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order that your employees display on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order in the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to its desired location …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list)
Once you have added all of your member details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your site users.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin lets you edit 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 directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Simple Staff List Templates page)
To customize your directory, insert any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Plugin Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To make these fields show up in your directory, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your directory should now look like …
(Employee profiles with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess around with template tags or are not sure what to do, 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 listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to use.
For example, a useful variation you can add to your page to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales reps”])
You can also display listings 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 – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – Options settings screen)
Here you can modify some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export page …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need plugin help or support, visit the Simple Staff List plugin website.
Additional Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List is not the only adding a directory of your team members. Here are other free plugins you can use for creating a staff directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
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 about this plugin here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
This plugin lets you easily create a directory of staff/faculty/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
The plugin also lets you insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: plugin website)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
Faculty And Staff Directory provides 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 a profile in a widget area.
For more details go here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory)
The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and single views, plus as fields like job title, email, phone number, image and 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 members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory website)
This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders or just one single member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
This plugin includes two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each employee can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight plugin website)
Learn more here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
Staffer uses custom post types for staff 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 with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
For more details go 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
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to add a simple faculty directory to in WordPress using a free WP plugin.
Images used to display sample staff members in this tutorial 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