It’s often said in business circles that people will buy from those they know, like and trust.
Are you looking for cost-effective ideas to grow your business online? Then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for visitors to get to know, like and trust your business better.
Adding a directory of staff to your site is a great way to let visitors learn more about the people working behind your organization.
This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to add an easy-to-update directory of staff members to your site.
How To Add A Staff Directory To WordPress: Plugin Tutorial
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List lets you easily create a basic staff directory for.
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your 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 plugin search results.
Click on Install Now …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu will have been added to the main WP menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
Here is where you will manage and configure all of the settings and options for your plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration
Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you can just begin to add new staff details after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to assign youremployees into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s configure your categories. From your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
The Groups screen …
(Groups settings)
Note: Setting up groups is just like setting up WordPress categories …
(Groups work like categories)
Create new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group name
- Slug – Type in the slug of your category name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – Use this section if you plan to set up nested groups
- Description – Enter a category description
- Click Add New Group when done to set up a new group name …
(Groups settings area)
If you manage a larger organization, having the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for partners, 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 organize these into a directory hierarchy …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating each item …
To edit or reassign Groups for an individual entry, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The category details will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
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 to save your changes …
Continue adding categories in this section until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
Once you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, the next step is to begin adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WP admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This loads the Add New Staff Member settings screen …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
This section provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The employee’s name
- Permalink: Here you can modify each staff members’ slug (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The staff member’s role
- Email: Type the person’s email here
- Phone Number: Your 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: Add your company’s Twitter username (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 members here. Since this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign an employee or faculty member to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options tab)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your employee’s details …
(Add Staff Member settings)
Once you have finished entering details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups box located in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up groups before starting to add new staff members, you can add a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field will display allowing you to enter a new group name, 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 …
The new category will be added. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or modified. 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 filling in the person’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can update the staff member’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
For a detailed tutorial about using the WP admin toolbar , go 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 set up correctly …
(Not found error – Check your permalinks)
To learn more about setting up permalinks in WordPress, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
Repeat the above process to add new details to your staff or team directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you have finished adding employee details into your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the staff profiles and their details …
(Staff Members details table)
If you need to modify individual entries, hover your mouse over their listing, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to make changes to their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a member from the directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members details)
If you have many employees, your table can get quite long.
You can use the Search Staff Members search box to locate items …
(Search Staff Members search box)
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)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide fields. You can also choose how many staff members are listed 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 that your employees show on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order on your main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to its desired location …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list items)
Once you have added all of your member details to your directory, the next step is to display your directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order in which listings show on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the entry to its new location …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list)
Once you have added members’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin lets you create the layout and style of your directory items 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 your menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up 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, here is a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Staff Loop Template)
The This code will display your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Plugin 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, as shown below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Your employee profiles will now display with Facebook and Twitter links as as the screenshot below shows …
(Employee profiles with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with template tags or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
In addition to allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode screen)
This screen lists all the shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to use.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can decide to use to display a list of staff members belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”property managers”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
In the WP admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This opens the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)
Here you can edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
Finally, you can also export your staff members info by going to the menu and selecting Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need plugin support, go to the plugin plugin site and request help from the plugin author.
Other Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a directory of your team members. For example, here are other free plugins you can use:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
Modern Team Staff Directory 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 the plugin here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
Staff Directory lets you easily create a directory of team/staff/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
You can also use custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: plugin website)
Go here to learn more:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
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 profiles in a widget area.
Go here to learn more:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Plugin)
Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your employees, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and single views, plus as fields like title, email, phone number, pic and bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.
Visitors can 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 source: Company Directory website)
This plugin uses shortcodes.
Go here to learn more:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just a single member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
The Employee Spotlight plugincomes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen in 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 source: 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 sourced from plugin website)
Staffer works immediately with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
Learn more about this plugin here:
If the directory plugins listed above aren’t what you’re looking for, just go online or visit the WordPress plugin directory and search for:
- Add Staff Directory To WordPress
- WordPress Staff Directory Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this tutorial has explained how to add a simple and easy-to-update directory of staff to your site.
Models used to display fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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