Consumer buying habits have successfully shown that people generally tend to buy from those they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker, easier and cheaper ways to sell more products or services online, then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for your prospects to get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.
If your site runs on the WordPress CMS platform, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to display information about your key partners, your team, or your staff members using a directory plugin.
This tutorial will show you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-manage employee directory to WordPress.
Step-By-Step Tutorial: How To Add An Employee List Directory
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List lets you staff members.
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into your WordPress administration and go to Plugins > Add New …
(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins panel, 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 the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new entry will have been added to the main WP menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the settings for this plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Plugin Configuration
Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you can just begin to add new staff member details after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your staff.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your directory categories go to your WordPress dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
The Groups section …
(Groups settings)
Note: Setting up directory groups works just like categories in WordPress …
(Groups work like WordPress categories)
Create new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group name here
- Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your group category name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – This section lets you set up a directory hierarchy
- Description – Enter your group description here
- Click Add New Group when done to set up the new group name …
(Groups settings area)
If you run a medium to large organization, the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for partners, project teams, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after creating new items …
To edit Groups for specific entries, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
Your selected group will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click the Update button when done …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and select Quick Edit …
Click the Update Group button after making changes …
Continue adding group names to this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Add nested categories your staff directory)
Once you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, the next step is to start to add staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This opens up the Add New Staff Member settings screen …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This screen provides an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Enter your staff member’s name
- Permalink: Modify each staff members’ permalink URL (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your staff member’s role
- Email: The staff member’s email address
- Phone Number: Type in the staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type your staff member’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type 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: Enter a profile description for your employees here. As this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign your employee to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options tab)
You can enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each employee’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
After you are done entering your staff member’s details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups box located in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you have not set up categories before adding 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 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 group and click on the Add New Group button …
A new category will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign a person to the group …
(Groups section)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to a staff member’s details. 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 entering the person’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To make changes to your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
If you need help using the admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If a page error like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that you have configured your permalinks correctly …
(Not found error – Check your permalinks)
If you need help setting up permalinks, see this step-by-step tutorial:
Repeat the above process to continue adding new details to your employee or member directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employees to your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table of all your listing entries and details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members details)
If you need to make changes to individual entries, hover over their list name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to update their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from the directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members profile details)
If you have added many employees to this section, your list can grow quite large.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to locate listing items …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields to 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)
Selecting a check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when done to update your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which entries show on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in the WordPress admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to the desired position …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
Once you are done adding member listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order that listings appear on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to the new position …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered listings)
After adding your employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory display on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List also lets you create the style and layout of your employee 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 WP admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Templates page)
To customize your directory, insert any of the allowable template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Simple Staff List Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above listing. To display these fields, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template loop, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your staff list will now look like …
(Staff profiles with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with editing code or are not sure what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
As well as allowing you 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 …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen lists all different shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.
A useful shortcode variation you can add to your page, for example, to display a list of persons belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”customer representatives”])
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 your menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
This section lets you modify some of the labels used in the plugin
You can also export your staff members info by going to your main menu and choosing Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need plugin support, go to the Simple Staff List support page and contact the plugin author.
Other Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to build an employee directory in WordPress. Here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can look at for adding a directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
This 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)
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
This plugin lets you easily display a list of team/faculty/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
This plugin also lets you set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory plugin website)
For more details go here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory 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.
Learn more here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)
Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your staff to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and single views, plus as fields like position title, email address, phone number, image and member 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 in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory website)
This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners 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.
Employee Spotlight comes with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.
Detailed information about each faculty member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight website)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Staffer 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 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.
More info:
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 Directory Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple directory of staff members to your WordPress site without editing code, so your site visitors can get to know you and the people in your organization better.
Images used to depict fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)