Many business and marketing experts often raise the point that people tend to buy from people they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker and easier ways to sell more products or services online, then help prospects get to know, like and trust your organization better.
If your website uses the WordPress Content Management System, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to display information about your key people, your business team, or your staff members using a WordPress staff list plugin.
This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to create a simple and easy-to-maintain employee directory in your WordPress site.
How To Add A Staff Directory
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 about your employee on your website.
First, let’s install and activate the plugin.
Log into your administration and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This should bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on Install Now …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, a new entry will be added to your WordPress menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the settings for your plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.
How To Configure The Plugin
Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could just start adding new staff details at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualmembers into.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your directory categories go to your dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
The Groups settings …
(Groups section)
Note: Adding groups works just like WordPress categories …
(Groups are like categories)
Create a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group name here
- Slug – Enter the slug of your group category name. 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 – Type in a group description
- Click the Add New Group button when done to set up the new directory category …
(Groups area)
If you manage a larger organization, being able to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for partners, project teams, faculties, etc.
Create as many groups and nested groups as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To edit or reassign Groups for specific entries, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The category details open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update to save your changes …
To change your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and choose Quick Edit …
Click on Update Group to save your changes …
Add as many groups 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 are done setting up your groups, you can begin to add names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your WP admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This takes you to the Add New Staff Member settings …
(Add New Staff Member settings area)
This section provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The staff member’s name
- Slug: Change the permalink URL for your employee if required (you will see this section after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The employee’s role
- Email: The employee’s email
- Phone Number: Type the person’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type your company’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter the employee’s Twitter username (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your staff or faculty member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatted content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign the person to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen options)
You will see options to enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each staff member’s details …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
After you have entered details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups box located in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up categories before adding new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field will appear allowing you to enter a new group name, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …
Your new directory category will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign a staff member to the group …
(Groups feature)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing 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 typing in the person’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To make changes to the employee’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the WordPress admin toolbar, see this tutorial:
Note: If you see ’not found’ page errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly configured your site permalinks …
(Not found error? Check your permalinks)
To learn more about setting up WordPress permalinks, see this tutorial:
Continue adding new details to your employee directory directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employees to your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all the directory entries and their details …
(Staff Members details)
If you need to change individual details, hover your mouse over their listing, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to modify the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete an entry from your staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Editing Staff Members profile details)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can grow quite large.
You can use the Search Staff Members search box to locate items if required …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields can display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …
(Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide fields. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when finished to update your settings …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order that entries show on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to its new location …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list entries)
After adding your employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to display the directory to your site visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order in which your employees display on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to its new position …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list entries)
After adding your employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory to your site visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin lets you customize the style and layout of your employee directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from the main menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Simple Staff List 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 a screenshot of the Default Template …
(Default Simple Staff List Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To display these fields, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Your directory entries will now display with Facebook and Twitter addresses as as the example below shows …
(Employee profiles with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess 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 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 – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)
This screen lists all different shortcode variations that you can 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=”property managers”])
Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This opens the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – Options settings)
Here you can edit some of the labels used in the plugin
You can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export page …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need plugin support, go to the Simple Staff List plugin website.
Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Staff Directories
Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a listing of your employees in WordPress. Here are some other plugins you can check out:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory)
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)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory)
The Staff Directory plugin lets you easily create a directory of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
The plugin lets you insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
Faculty And Staff Directory was developed to provide 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 a profile in a widget area.
Go here to learn more:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)
The Company Directory plugin lets you add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable single views, plus as fields like position title, email address, phone, 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 employee in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin also uses a simple shortcode system.
Learn more here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just one 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.
With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each team member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: plugin website)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP Plugin)
Staffer uses custom post types for 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 sourced from 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
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple staff directory to your WordPress site without messing around with code, so you can showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.
Images used to display staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group