Consumer buying habits have successfully shown that people generally will buy from those they already know, like and trust.
If you are looking for ways to grow your business online or increase user interaction with your site, then something you can do, is help your prospects get to know you and your organization better.
If your web presence is driven by the WordPress CMS, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to display information about your partners, your business team, or your staff using a WordPress directory plugin.
In this tutorial, you are going to learn how to create and add a simple and easily updatable simple staff directory to WordPress.
Step-By-Step Tutorial: How To Easily Add A Staff List Directory
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)
The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you easily build a simple staff directory for.
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into the dashboard and from the admin menu, click on Plugins > Add New …
(WP 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 …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, a new entry will have been added to the WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
The Staff Members menu is where you will manage and configure all of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on how many people are employed in your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can just start to add new employee details at this at this stage, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your members.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your groups go to your WordPress dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
The Groups panel …
(Groups screen)
Note: Setting up directory groups is just like configuring WordPress categories …
(Groups work like WordPress categories)
Create a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group name
- Slug – Enter the slug of your group name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – Use this drop-down menu if you plan to set up nested groups
- Description – Enter your group description in this field (optional)
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to create the new directory group …
(Groups area)
If you manage a medium to large organization, being able to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for investors, developers, departments, etc.
Create as many categories and nested categories as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering each item …
To change Groups for specific items, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The category will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new group category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update when done …
To change your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose Quick Edit …
Click the Update Group button when done …
Continue adding groups in this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
After you have finished setting up your groups, you can begin to add staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WP admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This takes you to the Add New Staff Member area …
(Add New Staff Member settings area)
This screen provides an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your staff member’s name
- Slug: Change your staff members’ permalink URL (you will see this section after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Add the person’s position here
- Email: Your staff member’s email address
- Phone Number: Type in the person’s phone number into this field
- Facebook URL: Type in your staff member’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type in 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 member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatted content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign the person to a group (see above to learn how to set up groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options tab)
You can enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each staff member’s details …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
Once you are done entering details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups section 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)
A field for entering a new group name will display, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on Add New Group …
The new directory category will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign the employee’s details to the group …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to a person’s details. To edit an 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 entering the person’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can make changes to the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
If you need help using the admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If a ‘page not found’ error shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that you have correctly configured your permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’page not found’ errors)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks in WordPress here:
Repeat the above process to add more details to your employee or member directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you have entered all staff or team members into your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on the main menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the staff profiles and their details …
(Staff Members details)
If you need to change an individual’s details, hover your mouse over their listing, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to update the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove someone from the employee directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members details)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can become unwieldy.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to find items if required …
(Search members)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields can display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide fields. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to update your settings …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order in which entries appear on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to the new location …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered listings)
After adding all member details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order in which listings display on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to its desired location …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list)
Once you are done adding members’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to display your directory on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin also lets you customize the layout and style of your directory listings 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 menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Simple Staff List Templates page)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Plugin Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To display these fields, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your listings page)
Here is what your staff list should now look like …
(Directory listings with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings 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 listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Usage Shortcode screen)
This screen lists all different shortcode variations that you can use with this plugin.
For example, a useful variation you can add to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales reps”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In your menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)
This section lets you edit 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 information)
If you need help with the plugin, go to the plugin faq page.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List isn’t the only WordPress staff directory plugin you can use. Here are other free WordPress plugins you can check out for adding a staff directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory)
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 about this plugin here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
Staff Directory lets you easily display a list of faculty/staff/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.
The plugin also lets you create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: Staff Directory website)
Learn more here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
Faculty And Staff Directory 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 a profile in a widget area.
Learn more here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory)
The Company Directory plugin lets you add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and table views, plus as fields like position title, email, phone, photo and staff 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 members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin also uses a simple shortcode system.
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just an individual member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
This plugin includes two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each staff member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
The Staffer plugin uses custom post types for staff/employee management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage a staff directory on your site …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer plugin website)
Staffer works immediately with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
Go here to learn more:
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 Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple employee directory to your WordPress site, 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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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)