Consumer behaviour studies show that people generally tend to buy from businesses they know, like and trust.
If you are searching for cost-effective ideas to grow your business online or get people to stay longer on your site, then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for visitors to get to know you, your team and your organization better.
If you use WordPress, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to add a WordPress staff list plugin that will let you add a directory listing with information about your key partners, your team, or your staff.
In this tutorial, we show you how to easily add an updatable simple employee directory in your WordPress site using free WP plugins.
How To Easily Add A Staff List Directory: WordPress Plugin 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)
The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you easily employee.
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into the WP dashboard and go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on Install Now …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu will display on the WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
Here is where you will manage and configure all of the settings for your plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
Plugin Configuration
Depending on how many people are in your team and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can start to add new staff entries at this point, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualmembers into.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your groups go to your WordPress dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This brings up the Groups settings area …
(Groups settings screen)
Note: Adding directory groups works in the same way as adding categories in WordPress …
(Groups work like WordPress categories)
Add new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group name
- Slug – Enter the slug of your category name. 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 – Enter a group description here (optional)
- Click Add New Group when finished to create your new directory group …
(Groups screen)
If you run a larger organization, having the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for founders, project teams, departments, etc.
Create as many groups and nested groups as you want 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 entering each new item …
To change or reassign Groups for specific items, hover your mouse over a category title and select the Edit link …
The category details open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click the Update button 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 …
Continue adding categories to this section until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested categories)
After you are done setting up your groups, the next step is to begin adding staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member settings …
(Add New Staff Member settings area)
This section provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Type the employee’s name
- Permalink: Edit the slug associated with your employee if required (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: The employee’s role
- Email: Type the person’s email address into this field
- Phone Number: Type the person’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Add your staff member’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type in the person’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 employee here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign the individual to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen options)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your staff member’s details …
(Add Staff Member settings)
After you have entered details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups section in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you have not set up directory groups before starting to add staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field for entering your group name will appear, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on the Add New Group button …
A new group will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …
(New group added)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or modified. 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 employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can update the staff member’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial on using the WordPress admin toolbar here:
Note: If you have set up groups and get an error like the one shown below, check that you have configured your site permalinks correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get an error)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using permalinks in WordPress here:
Repeat the above process to continue adding new entries to your directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you have added staff details into your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all the staff profiles and their details …
(Staff Members details table)
If you need to modify individual details, just hover your mouse over their listing, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to update the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a listing from the staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Edit Staff Members info)
If you have many employees, your list can become unwieldy.
Use the Search Staff Members search feature to find items …
(Search members)
The plugin also lets you specify which fields can 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 fields. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when finished to update your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order that your staff details display on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the entry to the new location …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered listings)
After adding your members’ details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order that entries appear on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the entry to a new position …
(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered listings)
After adding your members’ 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 lets you create the layout and style of your staff list 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 menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Simple Staff List Templates page)
To customize your directory, reorganize any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)
The This code will display your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above listing. To display these fields, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Use template tags to customize your listings page)
Your staff details will now display with Facebook and Twitter links as as the screenshot below shows …
(Employee profiles with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with code or are unsure of 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 lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcode variations)
This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.
For example, a useful variation you can add to your page to display a list of staff members belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”technical engineers”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In the WP admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This opens 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 dashboard menu and clicking Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need help with the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the Simple Staff List support page.
Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Staff Directories
Simple Staff List is not the only for displaying a directory of your faculty. For example, here are other plugins you can look at:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory)
The Modern Team Staff Directory 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 the plugin:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
The Staff Directory plugin lets you easily create a directory of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
You can also use custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)
For more details go here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Faculty And Staff Directory provides 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.
Go here to learn more:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Plugin)
With the Company Directory plugin, you can add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and customizable single views, as well as fields like title, email, phone number, pic 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 members in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.
Learn more here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just a single person 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, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of 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: Employee Spotlight website)
Go here to learn more:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
Staffer 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 online staff directory …
(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.
Go here to learn more:
If the directory plugins listed above 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 List
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to easily add an easy-to-update list of employees to your site using free plugins.
Images of persons used to display fictitious staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)