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Something that’s been proven to work in business, is that people will mostly buy from people they know, like and trust.
Are you looking for simple ideas to sell more products or services online and get people to stay longer on your site? Then make it easier for visitors to get to know you, your team and your organization better.
Adding a ‘Meet Our Team’ directory to your site can help increase your online credibility and get more prospects to get in touch with you.
In this step-by-step tutorial, we are going to show you how to easily create and add a simple and easy-to-manage simple faculty directory in your website using a free plugin.
Step-By-Step Tutorial: How To Add An Employee Directory In WordPress
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 – WordPress Plugin)
The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you employee (you could also use it to display faculty members, etc.).
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into your WordPress admin and in your admin menu, click on Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on Install Now …
(WordPress Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new entry will show up in the WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
Plugin Configuration
Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could just start adding new employee details after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualstaff into.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your directory categories go to your WordPress dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This takes you to the Groups section …
(Groups settings)
Note: Adding directory groups is very similar to working with categories …
(Groups work like categories)
Create a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group category name here
- Slug – Type in 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 if you plan to set up nested groups
- Description – Type in your group description in this field (optional)
- Click Add New Group when finished to set up your new category …
(Groups settings)
If you work with a larger organization, being able to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for founders, 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 directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating new items …
To edit Groups for individual entries, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The selected group will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new group category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button to save your changes …
To change the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click on Update Group when done …
Continue adding groups in this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested groups)
After you have finished setting up your directory structure, you can start adding staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This brings you to the Add New Staff Member section …
(Add New Staff Member settings screen)
This section 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: The staff member’s name
- Permalink: Modify the slug associated with your staff member if you want (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your employee’s position
- Email: The staff member’s email address
- Phone Number: Enter the employee’s phone number here
- Facebook URL: Type in your employee’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type your company’s Twitter username here (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 or faculty member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign the person to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options)
You can enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your staff member’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
After you are done inputting your staff member’s details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups section located in the sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you have not set up categories before starting to add new staff members, you can add a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field will appear allowing you to enter a new group name, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new directory category and click on Add New Group …
Your new category will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to a staff or faculty 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 entering your staff member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your directory …
Click View Post …
To edit your employee’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using the dashboard admin toolbar here:
Note: If you see ’page not found’ errors like the one shown below, check that you have set up your permalinks correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get errors)
To learn more about setting up permalinks, see this tutorial:
Continue adding more members to your staff directory directory as shown above until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employees to 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 displaying all the employees and details you have added for each entry …
(Staff Members table)
If you need to change an individual’s entry, simply hover over their name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to modify their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a listing from your employee directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Editing Staff Members profile details)
If you have added many entries to this section, your list can grow quite large.
You can use the Search Staff Members search box to find member details if necessary …
(Search Staff Members search box)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields can display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide specific fields. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when done to save your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order in which entries display on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to its desired location …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list items)
Once you are done adding employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to display your directory on your site.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order in which listings show on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to the desired location …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered listings)
After adding your member listing details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory show 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 style and layout of your employee directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Simple Staff List Templates screen)
To customize your directory, reorganize any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Template)
The This code displays your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. To make these fields show up in your directory, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the example below …
(Use template tags to customize your directory page)
Here is what your listings page will now look like …
(Staff profiles with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize how your 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
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 …
(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin lets you use.
A useful 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=”Gold Level associates”])
Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
In your menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – Options settings screen)
This section lets you edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
Finally, you can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export screen …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need plugin support, visit the Simple Staff List plugin website and contact the plugin author.
Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Employee Directories
Simple Staff List isn’t the only for creating a directory of your team members in WordPress. Here are other free WordPress plugins you can use:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory 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)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
This plugin lets you easily create a directory of team/staff/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
This plugin lets you add custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory plugin website)
Learn more here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin was developed to provide 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.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
With Company Directory, you can easily add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and table views, plus as fields like title, email, phone, image and 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 members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just a single member of your team in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.
Detailed information about each employee can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight website)
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Staffer 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 site …
(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 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 Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple employee directory to your WordPress site, so your web visitors can get to know your organization better.
Images used to display fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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