No doubt you already know that people generally buy from people they already know, like and trust.
If you are looking for ways to sell more products online and get people to engage more on your site, then make it easier for your prospects to get to know, like and trust you and your business better.
If you are a WordPress user, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to add a WordPress staff list plugin that lets you add a directory containing information about your key people, your business team, or your staff members.
In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to easily create and add a simple and easy-to-maintain simple team members directory in WordPress using a free WP plugin.
Tutorial: Adding An Employee List Directory To Your WordPress Site
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List lets you easily display information to visitors about your staff members on your site.
The first step is to install and activate this plugin.
Log into the dashboard and from the admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(WordPress Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, you will notice that new entry will appear in the main WP admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
This menu is where you will configure and manage all of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could begin to add new staff members at this point, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by configuring your groups. From your WordPress dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This brings you to the Groups section …
(Groups settings area)
Note: Configuring directory groups works in the same way as configuring categories in WordPress …
(Groups are like categories)
Create new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your category name here
- Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your category. 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 categories
- Description – Enter your category description (optional)
- Click Add New Group when finished to set up the new directory category …
(Groups area)
If you manage a business that employs many people, the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for partners, developers, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a directory hierarchy …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To edit or reassign Groups for individual entries, hover your mouse button 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 parent category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update when done …
To change the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and select Quick Edit …
Click the Update Group button when done to save your changes …
Add as many groups as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested categories)
Once you have finished setting up your directory structure, you can start to add your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This loads the Add New Staff Member settings …
(Add New Staff Member screen)
This section provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The employee’s name
- Slug: Here you can change each staff members’ permalink URL (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The employee’s position
- Email: Your staff member’s email
- Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type in your company’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter your company’s Twitter username (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your employee here. Since this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign the individual to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up your groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …
(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 settings)
After you have entered each of you staff member’s details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups section located in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you have not set up groups before adding staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group link)
A field will appear 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 created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to someone’s details. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).
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After typing in your staff member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the employee directory …
Click View Post …
You can update your employee’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
If you need help using the dashboard admin toolbar, see this tutorial:
Note: If ’page not found’ errors like the one shown in the screenshot below shows up, check that your site’s permalinks have been configured correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’not found’ page errors)
For a detailed tutorial about setting up permalinks, go here:
Continue adding new entries to your staff or member directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff details into your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in your WP admin menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the directory entries and their details …
(Staff Members list)
If you need to modify individual details, hover your mouse over their listing, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to modify the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from the directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members profile information)
If you have many names to add, your list can become unwieldy.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to locate member details if required …
(Search Staff Members search field)
You can specify which fields to display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …
(Screen Options)
Placing a tick in the item’s check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your settings …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that listings appear on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order on your main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to the new location …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered listings)
Once you have added all of your employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your site users.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order in which entries show on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the entry to a new location …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered listings)
Once you have added employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your site visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin lets you edit the layout and style of your directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the allowed 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 Staff Loop Template)
The The code shown above will display your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To display these fields, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template loop, 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 …
(Employee profiles with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with editing code 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 lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Usage Shortcode screen)
This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.
A useful variation you can choose, for example, to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Gold Level associates”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by adding 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 – customizable fields)
Here you can edit some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export section …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need plugin help or support, visit the Simple Staff List plugin website.
Other Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List is not the only WordPress staff directory plugin you can use. Here are some other free plugins you can look at:
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 about the plugin:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
With the Staff Directory plugin, you can easily create a directory of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.
This plugin also lets you add custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: plugin website)
More info:
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 includes a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.
Learn more here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and single views, as well as fields like title, email, phone, photo and bio, allowing you to present 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 simple shortcodes.
Learn more here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just a single person in a four-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, plus two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.
Detailed information about each team 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)
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 online staff directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer website)
Staffer works with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
To learn more about this plugin go 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 Directory Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this tutorial has explained how to create an easy-to-update employee directory in WordPress.
Models used in this tutorial to display sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"This is AMAZING! I had learnt about how to use WordPress previously, but this covers absolutely everything and more!! Incredible value! Thank you!" - Monique, Warrior Forum