Business experts often raise the point that people tend to buy from those they already know, like and trust.
Are you looking for quicker, simpler and cheaper ideas to sell more products or services online or get people to stay longer on your site? Then make it easier for prospects to get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.
If your website runs on the WordPress CMS, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to display information about your key partners, your team, or your employees using a directory 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 to your WordPress site without coding skills.
WordPress Plugin Tutorial: How To Add A Staff List Directory
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)
Simple Staff List lets you easily display information to visitors about your employee on your website.
The first step is to install and activate this plugin.
Log into the WordPress dashboard and in your admin menu, click on Plugins > Add New …
(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This should bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on Install Now …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, a new entry will appear on the WordPress menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the options and settings for this plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you can just begin to add new employee entries at this point, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualemployees into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s configure your groups. In your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This opens up the Groups area …
(Groups settings area)
Note: Setting up directory groups is very similar to creating WordPress categories …
(Groups work like WordPress categories)
Create new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group category name
- Slug – Type in the slug 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 categories
- Description – Type in the category description here
- Click the Add New Group button when done to set up a new directory category …
(Groups settings area)
If you are a larger organization, having the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for partners, project teams, departments, etc.
Create as many categories and nested groups as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a hierarchical structure …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering each item …
To edit Groups for specific items, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The selected item’s details will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group 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 Quick Edit …
Click Update Group when done to save your changes …
Add as many groups as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Add nested categories your directory)
After you have finished setting up your groups, the next step is to start adding your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member screen …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This area provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Enter your employee’s name
- Slug: Change your employees’ slug (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your staff member’s position
- Email: Add the employee’s email here
- Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type in the employee’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter your company’s Twitter username into this field (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your staff member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign your staff member to a specific group (see above 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 each of your staff member’s details …
(Add Staff Member settings)
Once you have entered details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups box located in your sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you have not set up categories before starting to add staff member details, you can create a group now by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group feature)
A field for creating a new group name will appear, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new group and click on Add New Group …
Your new directory category will be added. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(Groups feature)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing a staff member’s details. 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 your employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To update the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using the dashboard admin toolbar here:
Note: If you see errors like the one shown below, check that your site permalinks have been configured correctly …
(Not found error – Check your permalinks)
To learn more about setting up permalinks in WordPress, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
Continue adding more entries to your staff directory directory as shown above until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employee or team members to your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in your main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all the staff profiles and details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members table)
If you need to make changes to an individual’s entry, just hover over their list name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to edit their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a member from your employee directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Edit Staff Members info)
If you have many employees, your list can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate a member if required …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields to display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Selecting a check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when finished to save your settings …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order that your employees display on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to the desired location …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list)
Once you are done adding employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory show on your site.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order that listings display on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the entry to its new location …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list)
Once you are done adding all of your employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to add the directory to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin also lets you 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 directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Templates screen)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the allowable template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Simple Staff List Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To make these fields appear in your directory, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template, as shown below …
(Use template tags to customize your listings page)
Your directory entries will now display with Facebook and Twitter addresses as as shown below …
(Directory listings with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks but don’t want to mess with CSS styles and template tags or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.
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 dashboard menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Usage Shortcode screen)
This screen lists all the shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.
A useful shortcode variation you can select, for example, to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”property managers”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In the dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – Options settings)
Here you can modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
You can also export your staff members info by going to your main admin menu and selecting Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need plugin help or support, visit the Simple Staff List support page and request help from the plugin author.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to create an employee directory in WordPress. For example, here are a few other plugins you can look at:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
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)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
With the Staff Directory plugin, you can easily create a directory of team/staff/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
The plugin also lets you create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
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.
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your staff to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and single views, plus as fields like position title, email address, phone, pic 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 read more about each staff member 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 a simple shortcode system.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders 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 which display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each employee can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staffer
(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)
This 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 an employee directory on your website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Staffer works with many popular 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, search the WordPress plugin directory or go online and search for:
- Add Staff Directory To WordPress
- WordPress Staff List
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Employee Directory 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 of models used to portray sample staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"I am beyond impressed with what you have put together. I can tell that you put a ton of hard work into building what you have. You have the absolute best content on WordPress I have ever seen!" - Robert T. Jillie