Consumer buying habits show that people generally will buy from businesses they know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker and easier ways to sell more products or services online and get people to stay longer on your site, then something you can do, is help visitors get to know, like and trust your business better.
If your site runs on the WordPress CMS platform, a simple way to help visitors get to know you better is to display information about your key partners, your business team, or your staff using a staff list plugin.
In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to easily add an easy-to-update directory of staff or team members to your WordPress site using free WP plugins.
WordPress Plugin Tutorial: Adding An Employee List Directory In WordPress
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List lets you display information to visitors about your employee on your website.
The first step is to install and activate the plugin.
Log into the admin and in your admin menu section, choose Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu entry will appear on your WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the settings and options for this plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
How To Configure The Plugin
Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can begin to add new employee entries at this at this stage, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualmembers into.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your directory groups go to your WordPress dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
The Groups screen …
(Groups screen)
Note: Configuring directory groups works just like categories …
(Groups are like categories)
Create new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your category name
- Slug – Enter the slug of your group. 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 – Type in your category description in this field (optional)
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to create a new category …
(Groups screen)
If you are a medium to large organization, having the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for investors, developers, faculties, 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 groups)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To edit or reassign Groups for a specific entry, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The group details will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new group category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update when done …
To change the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and choose the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click Update Group when done …
Add as many group names as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Add nested groups to your directory)
Once you have finished setting up your groups, you can start to add names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member section …
(Add New Staff Member area)
This section 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: Type the employee’s name
- Permalink: Modify your staff members’ slug (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your staff member’s position
- Email: Add the person’s email address here
- Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Add your staff member’s Facebook address into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type in the employee’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 WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign your employee to a specific group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up your groups).
If you 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)
Once you have entered details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups box located in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you have not set up directory groups before starting to add new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group link)
A field will appear 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 Add New Group …
The new category will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign a person’s entry to the group …
(New group)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to new employee details. To edit a group item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).
***
After typing in the person’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can make changes to your staff member’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
If you need help using the dashboard admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
Note: If ’page not found’ errors shows up like the one shown in the example below, check that your site permalinks have been set up correctly …
(Page error – Check your permalinks)
To learn more about setting up permalinks in WordPress, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
Continue adding new details to your staff or partner directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you are done adding employees into your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all your employees and their details …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to change an individual’s entry, just hover over their listing, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to update the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from your employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Editing Staff Members profile info)
If you have added many individual listings to this section, your list can become unwieldy.
You can use the Search Staff Members search box to find items …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields to 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)
Selecting a check box displays the field and unchecking a box 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 plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order that entries display on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the entry to its new position …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list entries)
After adding your employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to add the directory to your site visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order in which entries display on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order in the main admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the entry to its new position …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list entries)
After adding your member listing details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List lets you customize 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 main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, insert any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above listing. To make these fields show in your directory, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Your staff entries will now display as as shown below …
(Directory listings with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with code or are not sure what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
As well as allowing you to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to use.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can add to your page to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”customer representatives”])
Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
In your WP admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – Options screen)
This section lets you modify some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members details by going to your menu and clicking Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need plugin help or support, go to the Simple Staff List faq page and contact the plugin author.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only adding a directory of your employees. For example, here are some other free WordPress plugins you can use to create an employee directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress 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 – Plugin For WordPress)
With Staff Directory, you can easily display a list of faculty/team/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
You can also add custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: plugin website)
Learn more here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.
The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.
Learn more about the plugin here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory)
The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your employees, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are available, including grid and single views, plus as fields like title, email, phone, pic and 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 shortcodes.
Go here to learn more:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders or just an individual member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
With this plugin, you also get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, 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 employee circle grid. Screenshot source: plugin website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP Plugin)
The Staffer plugin uses custom post types for employee 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 immediately with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
For more details, visit the plugin site 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 Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has shown you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-maintain directory of staff in your website.
Images of models used to depict fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
***
"I love the way your email series "Infinite Web Content Creation Training Series" is documented and presented. It is very absorbing and captivating. The links and tutorials are interesting and educational. This has motivated me to rewrite my content following the concepts I am learning from the email series." - Mani Raju, www.fortuneinewaste.com