Consumer behaviour research shows that people generally buy from people they know, like and trust.
Are you looking for quicker and easier ideas to sell more products or services online? Then make it easier for prospects to get to know, like and trust your organization better.
If you are a WordPress user, a simple way to help people 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 step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to create and add a simple and easily updatable directory of staff members in your site using a free WordPress plugin.
Step-By-Step Tutorial: Adding A Staff List Directory To Your Site
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a free WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List)
The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you display information to visitors about your staff members on your website.
First, let’s install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into the WordPress administration and from the admin menu section, select 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 plugin search results.
Click on Install Now …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu entry will show up in the WordPress menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the settings and options for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
Configuring Simple Staff List
Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can just begin to add new staff member details at this at this stage, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualmembers into.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your groups go to your WordPress dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
The Groups settings panel …
(Groups settings screen)
Note: Adding directory groups is just like adding categories …
(Groups are like categories)
Add a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your category name
- Slug – Type in the slug of your group. 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 a directory hierarchy
- Description – Type in your category description (optional)
- Click the Add New Group button when done to set up a new directory group …
(Groups screen)
If you work with a business that employs many people, the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for founders, project teams, 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 assign these to a hierarchical structure …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering each new item …
To change Groups for individual items, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The selected category open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent category 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 choose the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click Update Group after making changes …
Continue adding group names in this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested categories)
Once you are done setting up your groups, you can start to add names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your WordPress admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member area …
(Add New Staff Member settings screen)
This page provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your staff member’s name
- Slug: Change the permalink URL for your employee if you want (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type the person’s position
- Email: The employee’s email address
- Phone Number: Add the person’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Add the employee’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter your employee’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your employee or faculty member here. As this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign your staff member to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options)
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 staff member’s details …
(Staff directory settings)
Once you are done inputting your staff member’s details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups section located in the sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you did not set up your directory groups before starting to add staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group link)
A field for creating a group name will appear, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on Add New Group …
The new directory category will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign the entry to the group …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee 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 filling in the person’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To update your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
If you need help using the dashboard admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If ’not found’ page errors like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that you have correctly set up your permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get errors)
If you need help setting up WP permalinks, see this step-by-step tutorial:
Keep adding new members to your directory directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you have finished adding staff details into your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on your main admin menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all the listing entries and the details you have added related to each entry …
(Staff Members table)
If you need to modify an individual’s details, hover over their list name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to modify the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete an entry from the directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Edit Staff Members info)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can become unwieldy.
You can use the Search Staff Members search field to locate a member …
(Search Staff Members search box)
You can specify which fields to display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide fields. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when done to update your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order that listings display on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – 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 directory will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list items)
Once you have added all of your staff details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory on your site.
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order in which your employees show on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to its desired location …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list)
Once you are done adding members’ details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your site users.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin allows you to customize the style and layout of your directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your staff directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)
The The code shown above will display your listing as shown below …
(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To display these fields, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown below …
(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your directory page)
Your directory listings will now display Facebook and Twitter links as as shown below …
(Directory with social media URLs)
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 being able to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcode variations)
This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations that you can use.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can select to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales trainers”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
In the WordPress admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – 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
Finally, you can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export screen …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need specific help with the plugin, go to the plugin website.
Other Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use. For example, here are other free plugins you can check out:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
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 go here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
The Staff Directory plugin lets you easily display a list of faculty/staff/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
The plugin lets you use custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory website)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin was developed to provide 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 profiles in a widget area.
Learn more here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin lets you add your employees to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and customizable single views, plus as fields like position title, email, phone number, photo and member 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 website)
This plugin also uses shortcodes.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just one individual member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
With this plugin, you also get two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.
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)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)
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 a staff directory on your website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)
Staffer works with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
More info:
If the above plugins 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
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple staff directory to your WordPress site, so you can better showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.
Images of persons used to depict staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"I was absolutely amazed at the scope and breadth of these tutorials! The most in-depth training I have ever received on any subject!" - Myke O'Neill, DailyGreenPost.com