No doubt you’ve heard that people will buy from those they know, like and trust.
If you are looking for quicker and simpler ways to sell more products or services online and get people to interact more on your site, then help visitors get to know, like and trust you, your team and your organization better.
Adding a directory of employees or team members to your website can lead to increased trust, increase your online credibility and get interested prospects getting in touch with you.
In this tutorial, we explain how to add an easy-to-manage simple employee directory in your site without coding skills.
Adding A Staff Directory: Step-By-Step Tutorial
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)
The Simple Staff List plugin is a no cost plugin that lets you staff (you could also use it to display faculty, etc.).
First, let’s install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your administration and in your admin menu, choose Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, you will notice that new menu entry will appear on the main WordPress menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
The Staff Members menu is where you will configure and manage all of the settings and options for your plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
Plugin Configuration
Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you can start adding new employee details at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your employees.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your groups go to your WP dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
The Groups settings panel …
(Groups screen)
Note: Configuring directory groups works just like categories in WordPress …
(Groups work just like WordPress 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 category. 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 a directory hierarchy
- Description – Type in your group description in this field
- Click Add New Group when done to create the new group …
(Groups settings)
If you are a business that employs many people, having the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for founders, developers, departments, etc.
Create as many categories and nested groups as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a hierarchical structure …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after creating each new item …
To change Groups for individual items, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The category details will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click the Update button to save your changes …
To change your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on Quick Edit …
Click Update Group when done to save your changes …
Add as many categories as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested categories)
After you have finished setting up your groups, the next step is to begin to add your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your WordPress admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This loads the Add New Staff Member settings area …
(Add New Staff Member screen)
This page 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: The staff member’s name
- Permalink: Change your employees’ permalink URL (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your staff member’s position
- Email: Type in your employee’s email address
- Phone Number: Enter the person’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 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: Type in a profile description for your staff members here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign the individual to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options tab)
You will see options to enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your employee’s details …
(Add New Staff Member fields)
After you have finished inputting details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups box located in your sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you have not set up categories before adding staff member details, you can create a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group feature)
A field will display allowing you to enter a new group name, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on the Add New Group button …
The new directory category will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …
(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 above for details).
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After filling in your team member’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To update your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If ’page not found’ errors like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that you have configured your permalinks correctly …
(Page error? Check your permalinks)
To learn more about setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:
Repeat the above process to add new entries to your employee directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you are done adding employee or team members into your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table with all your listing entries and all details you have added related to each entry …
(Staff Members details table)
If you need to make changes to individual details, hover over their list name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to edit their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a listing from your directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Editing Staff Members profile)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can become unwieldy.
Use the Search Staff Members search field to locate items …
(Search Staff Members search box)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields can display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide specific fields. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your settings …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order that your employees show on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to its new location …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list)
After adding all member details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your site visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order in which your employees appear on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to its desired position …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list items)
Once you are done adding all of your staff details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory to your site users.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List allows you to edit the style and layout of your directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the main menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, insert any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is a screenshot of the Default Template …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop 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 example. To make these fields show up in the directory, 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)
Here is what your listings page will now look like …
(Directory with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with editing code or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
In addition to allowing you to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin lets you use.
A useful shortcode variation you can decide to use, for example, to display a list of staff or faculty members belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”senior staff”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Choose Staff Members >Options on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Options settings)
This section lets you edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
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 site and contact the plugin developer.
Other Employee Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only adding a directory of your employees in WordPress. For example, here are a few other free plugins you can check out:
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)
Go here to learn more:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
This plugin lets you easily display a list of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
You can also add custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin provides 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.
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and single views, as well as fields like position title, email, phone number, photo and member 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 Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin uses simple shortcodes.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders or just a single person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
Employee Spotlight includes two sidebar widgets that let you 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 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)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Staffer
(Staffer)
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 onsite employee directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer plugin website)
Staffer works immediately with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
More info:
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 List
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to easily add a simple employee directory to your site without touching code.
Images used to display sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"This is an awesome training series. I have a pretty good understanding of WordPress already, but this is helping me to move somewhere from intermediate to advanced user!" - Kim Lednum