No doubt you already know that people will buy from people they know, like and trust.
If you are looking for quicker, simpler and cost-effective ideas to grow your business online, then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for prospects to get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.
If you use WordPress, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to display information about your key partners, your team, or your staff members using a WordPress staff list plugin.
In this step-by-step tutorial, we explain how to easily create and add an easy-to-manage list directory of staff members in your site.
Adding A Staff Directory: Tutorial
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a free WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you create a basic staff directory for.
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into your dashboard and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(WordPress Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new entry will appear in the WordPress menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the settings for your plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.
Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could start adding new staff entries at this at this stage, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualgroup members into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s set up your directory categories. From your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This brings you to the Groups section …
(Groups screen)
Note: Configuring directory groups is just like setting up categories …
(Groups are like categories)
Create a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group category name
- Slug – Type in the slug 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 a directory hierarchy
- Description – Type in the category description in this field
- Click Add New Group when done to create your new directory category …
(Groups settings screen)
If you run a business that employs many people, being able to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for investors, developers, 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 build a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating each item …
To edit or reassign Groups for a particular item, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
The selected item’s details open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update when done …
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 after making changes …
Continue adding group names 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 groups, the next step is to start adding your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WordPress admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This takes you to the Add New Staff Member area …
(Add New Staff Member area)
This screen provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your employee’s name
- Permalink: Edit the permalink URL for your staff member if required (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The staff member’s role
- Email: The staff member’s email
- Phone Number: The employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Enter the person’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: Enter a profile description for your employee 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 employee to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options)
You will see options to enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your staff member’s details …
(Add Staff Member fields)
Once you have entered your staff member’s details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups feature in your sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you have not set up categories before starting to add staff member details, you can add a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field will display allowing you to create a new group name, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new directory category and click on Add New Group …
A new category will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(New group added)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to a staff member’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 filling in the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your staff directory …
Click View Post …
To make changes to the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
Note: If ’page not found’ errors shows up like the one shown in the example below, check that your site’s permalinks have been set up correctly …
(Page error? Check your permalinks)
If you need help setting up permalinks in WordPress, see this step-by-step tutorial:
Continue adding more entries to your staff or partner directory as described above.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you have finished entering employee or team members into your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the employees and details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members table)
If you need to modify individual entries, hover your mouse over their list name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to edit the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a list item from the staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Editing Staff Members profile)
If you have many employees, your table can grow quite large.
Use the Search Staff Members search field to find entries if required …
(Search Staff Members search feature)
The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide specific fields. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when done to save your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order in which entries display on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the item to its desired location …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list)
Once you are done adding member details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order that listings show on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the entry to a desired location …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you have added all of your members’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory to your site users.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin allows you to create the layout and style of your staff directory entries 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 your main menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Template)
The This code displays your listing as shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above example. To display these fields, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown below …
(Use template tags to customize your directory page)
Here is what your listings page will 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 around with editing code or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
In addition to 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 menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Usage Shortcode section)
This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin lets you use.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can add to display a list of employees belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Asia Pacific Region”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
In the main admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
Here you can modify some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members info by going to your WP admin menu and selecting Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need plugin support, visit the plugin plugin website.
Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Employee Directories
Simple Staff List isn’t the only for displaying a directory of your staff. Here are other free plugins you can use to add an employee directory on your website:
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:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
Staff Directory lets you easily create a directory of staff/faculty/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
You can also add custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory website)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin 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 profiles in a widget area.
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory)
This plugin lets you add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and customizable single views, plus as fields like title, email address, 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 staff member in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.
Learn more about this plugin here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, 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.
Employee Spotlight installs with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.
Detailed information about each employee 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 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 an online employee directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer plugin website)
Staffer works immediately 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 Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple staff directory to your WordPress site without messing around with code, so you can showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.
Images used in this tutorial to display fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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