No doubt you already know that people often tend to buy from people they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for simple ways to grow your business online and get people to interact more on your site, then help visitors get to know you, your team and your organization better.
If you own a WordPress-powered site, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to add a directory plugin that will let you display a directory containing information about your key people, your business team, or your staff.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to add a simple and easily updatable list directory of staff or team members to your web site using a free plugin.
Adding An Employee Directory
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress
(Simple Staff List)
The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you easily staff members.
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into your admin and go to Plugins > Add New …
(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, 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)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, you will see that a new menu will show up in the main WP admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the options and settings for your plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
How To Configure The Plugin
Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you can begin adding new entries at this at this stage, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualstaff into.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your categories go to your WordPress dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
The Groups screen …
(Groups settings)
Note: Configuring groups is just like configuring WordPress categories …
(Groups work like categories)
Create a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your category name here
- 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 section to set up a directory hierarchy
- Description – Type in your category description here
- Click the Add New Group button when done to create the new directory group …
(Groups settings screen)
If you run a medium to large organization, having the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for investors, project teams, 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 build a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering each item …
To edit Groups for an entry, hover your mouse button over a category title and select the Edit link …
The selected category details open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button to save your changes …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click the Update Group button when done …
Continue adding group names in this section until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
After you have finished setting up your directory structure, you can start to add your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member screen in your web browser …
(Add New Staff Member screen)
This area provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Add your employee’s name
- Permalink: Here you can edit your employees’ permalink URL (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Add your employee’s role
- Email: Enter the person’s email here
- Phone Number: Add your staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type your employee’s Facebook URL here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Add the employee’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 staff or team member here. Since this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign an employee or faculty member to a group (see above to learn how to set up groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen options)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your staff member’s details …
(Add Staff Member fields)
After you have entered your staff member’s details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups box in the sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you did not set up directory groups before adding staff member details, you can add a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group link)
A field for entering your new group name will display, with a dropdown 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 …
A new group will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign the employee’s details to the group …
(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 of the tutorial above for details).
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After entering your team member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the employee directory …
Click View Post …
You can make changes to the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the dashboard admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If you get ’page not found’ errors like the one shown below, check that you have set up your permalinks correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’not found’ page errors)
If you need help setting up permalinks, go here:
Repeat the above process to add new members to your employee directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff or team members into your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all the employees and the details you have added related to each entry …
(Staff Members list)
If you need to make changes to individual details, hover over their list name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to make changes to their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove someone from the employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Edit Staff Members info)
If you have many entries, your list can become unwieldy.
Use the Search Staff Members search field to locate a member if required …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields can display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide specific fields. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order that entries appear on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to its desired position …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered listings)
Once you have added all of your members’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory display on your site.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that entries show on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on the WordPress admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to its new position …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list)
Once you have added all of your members’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory show on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin lets you create the layout and style of your staff directory listings 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 the main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Simple Staff List Templates page)
To customize your directory, insert any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is the default template used for displaying listings …
(Default Template)
The This code displays your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above listing. To display these fields, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your listings page should now look like …
(Directory with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with template tags or are unsure of what to do, 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 menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List shortcodes)
This screen displays all different shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to use.
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=”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 your main menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Options screen)
Here you can modify some of the labels used in the plugin
You can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export menu …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need help with this plugin, go to the plugin faq page.
Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Employee Directories
Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to create a directory of your faculty members in WordPress. Here are other plugins you can check out:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
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)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory)
This plugin lets you easily create a directory of faculty/team/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
You can also add custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory website)
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
Faculty And Staff Directory provides 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.
Learn more about this plugin here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
Company Directory lets you easily add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and table views, as well as fields like job title, email address, phone number, image and member bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.
Visitors will be able to 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 also uses simple shortcodes.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress 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 upon plugin activation.
The Employee Spotlight pluginincludes two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.
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: Employee Spotlight plugin website)
For more details go here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP Plugin)
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 an employee directory on your website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)
Staffer works immediately 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 Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has shown you how to add a simple and easy-to-update directory of staff to your website.
Models used to depict fictitious 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)