No doubt you’ve already heard that people generally tend to buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.
If you are looking for ideas to sell more products online and get people to stay longer on your site, then help prospects get to know you, your team and your business better.
Adding a directory of employees or faculty members to your website can generate more trust, boost your online credibility and get interested prospects to get in touch with you.
In this tutorial, we show you how to create and add a directory of employees to your site using a free WordPress plugin.
How To Easily Add A Staff List Directory To Your WordPress Site: Step-By-Step Tutorial
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List lets you easily display basic information to visitors about your employee on your website.
First, let’s install and activate the plugin.
Log into your WordPress administration and from the admin menu, choose Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress 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)
Click the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu will display on the WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the settings and options for this plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
How To Configure The Plugin
Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you can just begin adding new employee entries at this at this stage, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualmembers into.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your directory groups go to your dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This brings up the Groups screen in your web browser …
(Groups screen)
Note: Configuring groups works just like categories …
(Groups work just like categories)
Create new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group category name here
- Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your group name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – Use this section to set up nested categories
- Description – Type in the group description (optional)
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to create the new category …
(Groups section)
If you run a business that employs many people, being able to create groups 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 hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after creating new items …
To change Groups for a particular item, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The item’s details open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update to save your changes …
To change your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and select the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click the Update Group button after making changes …
Continue adding categories to this section until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
After you have finished setting up your groups, the next step is to start adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WordPress admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member settings screen in your browser …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This page provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Type the employee’s name
- Permalink: Modify the permalink URL associated with each staff member if you want (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type in the person’s position
- Email: Type in your staff member’s email address
- Phone Number: Type the person’s phone number here
- Facebook URL: Type in your company’s Facebook URL here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type your company’s Twitter username (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your staff members here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign the individual to a specific group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your employee’s details …
(Add Staff Member fields)
Once you have finished inputting your staff member’s details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups section located in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up groups before adding staff member details, you can create a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field will display allowing you to create a new group name, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on Add New Group …
A new group will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign an individual to the group …
(Groups box)
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 entering the person’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To edit the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
If you need help using the admin toolbar, see this tutorial:
Note: If ’not found’ page errors shows up like the one shown in the example below, check that you have correctly set up your permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’not found’ page errors)
For a detailed step-by-step tutorial about setting up WP permalinks, go here:
Continue adding more entries to your employee directory directory as described above.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff members into your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on your menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a list displaying all your employees and their details …
(Staff Members table)
If you need to edit individual entries, simply hover your mouse over their list name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to edit the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a list item from your employee directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Edit Staff Members profile info)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search feature to find a member if required …
(Search members)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields to display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …
(Screen Options tab)
Placing a tick in the item’s checkbox 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 finished to save your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that your employees appear on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order on the main admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to the desired position …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list)
After adding all employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory display on your site.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order that entries show on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the entry to its new location …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list)
After adding your member listing details to the directory, the next step is to display the directory to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin allows you to create the layout and style of your staff directory entries 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 Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Templates page)
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 template used for displaying listings …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)
The The code shown above will display your listing as shown below …
(Default Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To make these fields show up in the directory, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your listings page will now look like …
(Staff profiles with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with CSS code and template tags or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
In addition to being able to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode screen)
This screen displays all different shortcode variations that the plugin lets you use.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can decide to use to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Asia Pacific Region”])
Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In your main admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)
This section lets you change some of the labels used in the plugin
You can also export your staff members info by going to your dashboard menu and clicking Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need additional information about the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the plugin faq page and request help from the plugin developer.
Other Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to build an employee directory in WordPress. For example, here are a few other plugins you can check out for creating a directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
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)
Learn more here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
With the Staff Directory plugin, you can easily display a list of team/faculty/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
You can also set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Learn more here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory)
This plugin 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.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
Company Directory lets you easily add your staff to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and single views, as well as fields like title, email address, phone, photo and 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 source: Company Directory website)
This plugin also uses a simple shortcode system.
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just a single member of your team in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
The Employee Spotlight pluginincludes two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen in 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 source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site 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 sourced from Staffer plugin website)
Staffer works immediately with many popular 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, search the WordPress plugin directory or go online and search for:
- Add Staff Directory To WordPress
- WordPress Staff Directory Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple staff or faculty directory to your WordPress site without editing code, so your site visitors can get to know you and your team better.
Images of models used to display staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"I am beyond impressed with what you have put together. I can tell that you put a ton of hard work into building what you have. You have the absolute best content on WordPress I have ever seen!" - Robert T. Jillie