Consumer behavior studies show that people often tend to buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.
If you are looking for ways to sell more products or services online, then something you can do, is make it easier for prospects to get to know, like and trust you and your business better.
Adding a faculty member directory to your site can lead to increased trust, increase your online credibility and get interested prospects to buy from you.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add an easy-to-manage simple team members directory to your site without messing around with code.
WordPress Plugin Tutorial: How To Easily Add A Staff Directory
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)
The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you easily display basic information about your employee on your website.
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into the administration and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, 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)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new entry will show up in the main WP menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
The Staff Members menu is where you will manage and configure all of the settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration
Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you can just begin adding new employee details at this at this stage, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to place yourmembers into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by setting up your categories. In your WordPress dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
The Groups settings screen …
(Groups area)
Note: Adding groups works just like categories …
(Groups work just like WordPress categories)
Create new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your category name
- Slug – Enter 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 – This section lets you set up a directory hierarchy
- Description – Type in the group description here (optional)
- Click Add New Group when finished to create the new directory category …
(Groups settings)
If you run a medium to large organization, having the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for founders, project teams, departments, etc.
Create as many categories and nested categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To edit Groups for individual items, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
The group will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update to save your changes …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and select Quick Edit …
Click on Update Group after making changes …
Add as many groups as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested categories)
Once you have finished setting up your hierarchical structure, the next step is to start adding staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your WP admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member section …
(Add New Staff Member settings area)
This area provides an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your staff member’s name
- Slug: Here you can edit each staff members’ permalink URL (you will see this section after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your employee’s role
- Email: Your employee’s email
- Phone Number: Your employee’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 person’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. Since this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can format content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign an employee or team member to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options tab)
You will see options to enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each staff member’s details …
(Add Staff Member settings)
Once you have entered details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in your sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you have not set up your directory groups before starting to add staff member details, you can add 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 drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on the Add New Group button …
Your new group will be added. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(Groups section)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or edited. 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 edit the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using the admin toolbar here:
Note: If ’not found’ page errors shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that your site’s permalinks have been configured correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get a ‘page not found’ error)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using WP permalinks here:
Repeat the above process to continue adding new details to your staff directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employees into your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all your directory entries and their details …
(Staff Members details table)
If you need to modify an individual’s details, simply hover your mouse over their listing, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to update their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a member from the employee directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Editing Staff Members profile)
If you have many names to add, your list can become unwieldy.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to locate a member …
(Search Staff Members search feature)
You can specify which fields to 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)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide specific fields. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when finished to update your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order in which your staff profiles appear on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order in the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to the desired location …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list items)
After adding all member listing details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory to your site users.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order that entries display on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order on your main menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to a new location …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you are done adding member listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin lets you create the layout and style of your staff list entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your employee directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory, 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 Simple Staff List Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To make these fields show in the directory, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template loop, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your directory should now look like …
(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 help.
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 main menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen lists all different shortcode variations you can use with the Simple Staff List plugin.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can add to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”technical engineers”])
Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options in the menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Options settings screen)
This section lets you change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
Finally, you can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export section …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need plugin support, go to the plugin site and contact the plugin author.
Other Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only for displaying a directory of your faculty members. Here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can use to add a directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory)
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 – WordPress Plugin)
Staff Directory lets you easily create a directory of faculty/team/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
This plugin lets you use custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory plugin website)
For more details go here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
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 profiles in a widget area.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin lets you easily add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and customizable single views, plus as fields like job title, email address, phone number, pic and staff 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 employee 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 uses simple shortcodes.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just one single person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
With Employee Spotlight, 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 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 employee circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP Plugin)
This 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 online staff directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)
Staffer works immediately with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
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 Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to easily add a simple and easily updatable list directory of employees in your web site without coding skills.
Images of models used to portray fictitious staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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