Consumer buying habits have successfully shown that people generally tend to buy from businesses they know, like and trust.
If you are searching for cost-effective ideas to sell more products online, then help visitors get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.
Adding a directory of staff or faculty members to your site can lead to greater trust, increase your online credibility and get interested prospects to consider using your services.
In this tutorial, we explain how to create and add an updatable list directory of employees or faculty members in your WordPress site using free plugins.
Plugin Tutorial: How To Add 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)
The Simple Staff List plugin is a free WordPress plugin that lets you employee.
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into your dashboard and from the admin menu, choose 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 the Install Now button …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, you will see that a new menu entry will have been added to your main WordPress menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the settings for your plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
Configuring Simple Staff List
Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can just start adding new employee details at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual employees.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by configuring your directory categories. From your WordPress dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This loads the Groups settings screen …
(Groups settings)
Note: Adding directory groups is just like setting up WordPress categories …
(Groups work just 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 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 group description
- Click Add New Group when done to create a new group …
(Groups settings screen)
If you work with a business that employs many people, being able to create categories 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 build a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating each item …
To change or reassign Groups for individual items, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
The selected group details open in the Edit Group page. Select a new group category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click the Update button to save your changes …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and choose the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click the Update Group button when done to save your changes …
Add as many categories as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested categories)
Once you have finished setting up your directory structure, you can start adding your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This brings you to the Add New Staff Member settings area …
(Add New Staff Member area)
This screen provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Type the staff member’s name
- Slug: You can edit the permalink URL for each employee if required (you will see this section after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Enter your staff member’s role
- Email: Your staff member’s email address
- Phone Number: Type the person’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type in the employee’s Facebook address here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type in the person’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 staff members here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: 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 tab)
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 employee’s details …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
After you have finished entering details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups section in the sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you did not set up categories before starting to add new staff members, you can create a group now by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group link)
A field for entering a group name will display, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …
A new category will be added. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(New group added in Groups box)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or edited. 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 typing in your team member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your directory …
Click View Post …
To edit the staff member’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial about using the admin toolbar here:
Note: If you see a page error like the one shown below, check that you have correctly set up your permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get errors)
If you need help setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:
Repeat the above process to add more details to your directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employees into your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all the listing entries and their details …
(Staff Members details)
If you need to change an individual’s details, hover over their list name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to make changes to the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a list item from your employee directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Editing Staff Members profile information)
If you have many employees, your list can become unwieldy.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to locate entries if required …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields to display in this screen. 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 choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when finished to update your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order in which your employee listings display on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to its desired position …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list)
Once you are done adding all of your member details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory on your site.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order that listings display on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to its new location …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
Once you have added all of your member details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory display on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List allows you to customize the style and layout of your employee directory entries 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 dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Templates page)
To customize your directory, reorganize any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is the Default Template …
(Default Staff Loop Template)
The This code displays 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, as shown in the example below …
(Use template tags to customize your directory page)
Your staff profiles will now display as as the screenshot below shows …
(Directory listings with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with code or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
As well as being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main admin menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen displays all different shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.
A useful shortcode variation you can add to your page, 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=”sales trainers”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Select Staff Members >Options on your menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
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 information)
If you need plugin support, go to the plugin website.
Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Employee Directories
Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to display an employee directory in WordPress. For example, here are some other free plugins you can use:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory)
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)
More info:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin lets you easily display a list of team/faculty/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
The plugin lets you insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory plugin website)
Learn more about this plugin here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory)
This plugin was developed to provide a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college or university.
The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.
Learn more here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
With Company Directory, you can easily add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, as well as fields like job title, email, phone number, photo and member bio, allowing you to present 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 plugin website)
This plugin uses simple shortcodes.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just one individual person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
This plugin comes with 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 team member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot source: plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staffer
(Staffer)
This plugin uses custom post types for staff management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an onsite employee directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer plugin 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, 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, now you know how to add an easy-to-update simple employee directory to your website using free WordPress plugins.
Images of models used to depict sample staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group