Consumer behaviour research shows that people will mostly buy from people they already know, like and trust.
Are you looking for quicker, easier and cost-effective ways to sell more products online? Then one of the things you can do, is help prospects get to know your business better.
If you use WordPress, a simple way to help visitors get to know you better is to use a staff list plugin that will let you add a directory listing with information about your key people, your faculty, or your employees.
In this step-by-step tutorial, we are going to show you how to easily create and add a simple faculty members directory to WordPress with no coding skills required.
Step-By-Step Tutorial: Adding A Staff List Directory To Your Site
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you easily create a simple staff directory for.
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into your administration and go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, a new entry will have been added to your WordPress menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the settings and options for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.
How To Configure The Plugin
Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can start adding new employee entries at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualmembers into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s set up your directory categories. From your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This brings up the Groups screen in your web browser …
(Groups settings area)
Note: Configuring groups is just like configuring WordPress 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 URL-friendly version of your group name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – Use this section to set up nested groups
- Description – Enter your category description
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to create your new directory group …
(Groups settings)
If you run a medium to large organization, having the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for founders, project teams, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories and nested categories as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a hierarchical structure …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating each item …
To change Groups for specific entries, hover your mouse over a category title and select the Edit link …
The group will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new group from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update to save your changes …
To change your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose Quick Edit …
Click Update Group to save your changes …
Add as many group names as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
After you have finished setting up your groups, you can begin to add your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member settings screen in your browser …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
This page provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your employee’s name
- Permalink: Modify your employees’ permalink URL (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type the person’s position
- Email: Your employee’s email address
- Phone Number: Enter the person’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Enter your company’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter your employee’s Twitter username into this field (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your employees here. Since this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can format content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign a staff or team member to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen options)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each staff member’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
Once you have finished inputting your staff member’s details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups box located in the sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you have not set up categories before adding staff member details, you can create a group now by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group link)
A field will display allowing you to enter a new group name, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on Add New Group …
The new directory category will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign a person to the group …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing a staff or team member’s details. To edit a group entry, 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 update the employee’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial on using the admin toolbar here:
Note: If you see ’page not found’ errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly set up your site permalinks …
(Not found error? Check your permalinks)
If you need help setting up permalinks in WordPress, see this tutorial:
Keep adding new details to your staff directory directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff details to your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the listing entries and their details …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to make changes to individual entries, hover over their name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to update the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove 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 names added to this section, your table can grow quite large.
You can use the Search Staff Members search box to locate a member if required …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields can display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when finished to update your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order that your employee listings appear on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on your main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the item to its desired position …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered listings)
Once you are done adding all of your member details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order that listings show on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the item to its desired position …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list items)
After adding your employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory show on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin also lets you create the layout and style of your staff directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Simple Staff List Templates page)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Plugin Template)
The The code shown above displays your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To display these fields, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Your staff details 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 with editing code or are not sure what to do, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
In addition to allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can select 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”])
Or, you can make your listings display in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Choose Staff Members >Options on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
This section lets you modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
You can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export section …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need plugin help or support, visit the plugin faq page and request help from the plugin developer.
Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Employee Directories
Simple Staff List isn’t the only for displaying a directory of your staff in WordPress. Here are some other plugins you can use:
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 about this plugin:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory)
This plugin lets you easily display a list of faculty/staff/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
This plugin also lets you create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory website)
More info:
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 includes a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.
Learn more here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
With the Company Directory plugin, you can add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and single views, as well as fields like job title, email address, phone number, image and staff bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.
Visitors will be able to click through from your list, grid, and table views to read more about each employee 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.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just an individual person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
The Employee Spotlight pluginincludes two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.
Detailed information about each faculty member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight website)
Learn more about this plugin here:
Staffer
(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)
This 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 onsite employee directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Staffer works with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
For more details 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
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this tutorial has helped you learn how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of employees to your site.
Images used to depict sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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