Something that’s been proven to work in business, is that people will buy from those they know, like and trust.
Are you looking for ideas to sell more products or services online or get people to interact more with your site? Then make it easier for visitors to get to know, like and trust you and your business better.
Adding an employee directory to your website can generate increased trust, boost your credibility online and get more prospects getting in touch with you.
In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to create and add an easy-to-maintain simple faculty members directory in your web site.
Adding An Employee List Directory
In this tutorial, we will 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 easily employee.
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into the WordPress administration and go to Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on Install Now …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, you will notice that new entry will appear on your WordPress menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the settings and options for this plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can just begin to add new entries after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualemployees into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s configure your groups. From your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
The Groups settings panel …
(Groups screen)
Note: Setting up groups works just like WordPress categories …
(Groups are like WordPress categories)
Add new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group category name here
- 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 section if you plan to set up nested categories
- Description – Enter a category description in this field
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up a new category …
(Groups section)
If you are a business that employs many people, the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for investors, project teams, faculties, etc.
Create as many groups and nested categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To change or reassign Groups for specific entries, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
The selected category details open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update to save your changes …
To change the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on Quick Edit …
Click Update Group when done …
Continue adding group names to this section until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested categories)
Once you have finished setting up your directory structure, the next step is to start to add staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This opens up the Add New Staff Member screen …
(Add New Staff Member area)
This area provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Type the staff member’s name
- Permalink: Change each staff members’ permalink URL (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type in the staff member’s role
- Email: Type in your employee’s email address
- Phone Number: Enter the person’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Enter your company’s Facebook URL here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type the person’s Twitter username here (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 employee or team member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign the individual to a 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 Staff Member settings)
Once you have entered each of you staff member’s details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in your sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you have not set up categories 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 feature)
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 category and click on the Add New Group button …
A new category will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign the entry to the group …
(New group added in Groups feature)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing a person’s details. To edit an item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).
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After entering your employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can make changes to the staff member’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
If you need help using the admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If you get ’page not found’ errors like the one shown below, check that your permalinks have been configured correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get a ‘page not found’ error)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks in WordPress here:
Keep adding new details to your directory directory as described above.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employee details into your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a list displaying all your employees and their details …
(Staff Members list)
If you need to edit an individual’s details, just hover your mouse over their list name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to edit their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from your directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Editing Staff Members profile information)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can get quite long.
You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to find items …
(Search Staff Members search box)
The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …
(Screen Options)
Selecting a check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which entries display on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to the desired position …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list entries)
After adding all employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory show on your site.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which your employee profiles show on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to a new position …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list items)
Once you have added all of your staff details to the directory, the next step is to display the directory to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin also lets you customize 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 staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from the main admin menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Templates screen)
To customize your directory listings, insert 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 listings …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)
The This code will display your listing as shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To make these fields show up in your directory, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template loop, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your listings page)
Your employee listings will now display as shown in the example below …
(Directory listings with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with template tags or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
As well as allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations you can 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=”sales trainers”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options in your main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
This section lets you change some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members details by going to your menu and selecting Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need plugin support, visit the Simple Staff List support page.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only for displaying a directory of your employees in WordPress. For example, here are other free plugins you can use for adding a staff directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
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)
For more details go 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, schools, etc.
The plugin also lets you create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
This plugin 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.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
The Company Directory plugin lets you add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, plus as fields like job title, email, phone, pic and member bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.
Visitors will be able to 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 sourced from plugin website)
This plugin also uses a simple shortcode system.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders or just a single person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
With Employee Spotlight, you also get two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, and 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 sourced from Employee Spotlight website)
For more details go here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP Plugin)
Staffer uses custom post types for employee management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage a staff directory on your website …
(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.
For more details go 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 List
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple employee directory to your WordPress site, so your web visitors can get to know you and your team better.
Models used to portray staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now
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