Something that is generally well known in business and marketing circles, is that people generally buy from people they already know, like and trust.
If you are looking for quicker and easier ideas to sell more products or services online, then help visitors get to know your organization better.
If your website runs on the WordPress Content Management System, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to display information about your key partners, your faculty, or your staff using a directory plugin.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to add an easy-to-update simple team members directory to your website using free plugins.
Plugin Tutorial: Adding A Staff List Directory To Your Site
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List is free and lets you easily display information to visitors about your staff on your site.
First, let’s install and activate the plugin.
Log into your WP admin and in your admin menu section, select 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 the Install Now button …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, you will see that a new menu will have been added to your WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
Here is where you will manage and configure all of the options and settings for this plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
How To Configure The Plugin
Depending on how many people are employed in your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can just start to add new staff members after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your members.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your categories go to your WordPress dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
The Groups settings …
(Groups section)
Note: Adding directory groups is very similar to working with categories in WordPress …
(Groups work just like categories)
Add new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your category name
- 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 nested groups
- Description – Enter the category description here (optional)
- Click the Add New Group button when done to set up the new group …
(Groups settings screen)
If you work with a business that employs many people, having the ability to create categories 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 assign these to a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering each item …
To edit or reassign Groups for individual items, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The item open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update when done …
To change the 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 groups to this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Add nested groups to your directory)
After 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, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member section …
(Add New Staff Member settings area)
This page provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The staff member’s name
- Permalink: Edit the permalink URL associated with each staff member if you want (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type the person’s role
- Email: Your employee’s email
- Phone Number: Type the person’s phone number here
- Facebook URL: Type in the person’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type your 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: Type in a profile description for your employee here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign the person to a group (see above to learn how to set up your 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 fields)
After you have entered details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups box located in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up directory groups before starting to add new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group)
A field will display allowing you to create a new group name, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on the Add New Group button …
Your new category will be added. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(New group added in Groups feature)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing someone’s 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).
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After filling in your employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can modify the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
For a detailed tutorial on using the admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If ’page not found’ errors like the one shown in the screenshot below shows up, check that your site permalinks have been set up correctly …
(Page error – Check your permalinks)
If you need help setting up WordPress permalinks, see this step-by-step tutorial:
Repeat the above process to continue adding new entries to your employee directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you are done entering staff or faculty members into your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in your main menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all your directory entries and any details you have added related to each entry …
(Staff Members table)
If you need to edit an individual’s entry, just hover over their listing, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to make changes to the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a member from the directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Editing Staff Members details)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can become unwieldy.
Use the Search Staff Members search feature to find member details if required …
(Search Staff Members search feature)
The plugin also lets you specify which fields to display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when done to update your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order that entries show on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to the new position …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered listings)
After adding all member listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your site visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order in which listings display on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on your main menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the entry to the new location …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
After adding your staff details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin allows you to edit the style and layout of your employee directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory, reorganize any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is the default template used for displaying listings …
(Default Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above listing. To make these fields show in the directory, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your directory should now look like …
(Directory with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks but don’t want to mess around with editing code or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
In addition to being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your WP admin menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Usage Shortcode screen)
This screen lists all different shortcode variations you can use with this plugin.
For example, a useful variation you can select to display only members belonging 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 your menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Options settings screen)
Here you can modify some of the labels used in the plugin
You can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export page …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need plugin support, go to the Simple Staff List faq page and request help from the plugin developer.
Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Employee Directories
Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a listing of your staff. For example, here are a few other plugins you can use:
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)
More info:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
With the Staff Directory plugin, you can easily create a directory of staff/faculty/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
You can also create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: 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 or university.
The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
Learn more here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory)
With Company Directory, you can add your employees to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and single views, plus as fields like position title, email address, phone number, 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 staff member in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: plugin website)
This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.
Go here to learn more:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders 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 on plugin activation.
With this plugin, you also get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each faculty member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
The Staffer plugin 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 staff directory …
(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
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple staff directory to your WordPress site, so your site visitors can get to know your team better.
Models used to depict fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now
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