No doubt you’ve already heard that people generally buy from businesses they know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker, easier and cost-effective ideas to sell more products online and get people to stay longer on your site, then make it easier for your prospects to get to know, like and trust your business better.
Adding a directory of staff or team members to your site can help to humanize your organization.
This tutorial explains how to create an easy-to-maintain directory of staff members in your WordPress site.
How To Easily Add An Employee List Directory To Your WordPress Site
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List)
The Simple Staff List plugin is a no cost WordPress plugin that lets you easily create a simple staff directory for.
The first step is to install and activate the plugin.
Log into the administration and go to 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 search results area.
Click on Install Now …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, a new menu will have been added to the main WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
The Staff Members menu is where you will manage and configure all of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
Plugin Configuration
Depending on how many people are in your team and how you want to structure your directory, you could begin adding new employee details after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your members.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by configuring your groups. From your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This opens up the Groups settings …
(Groups settings screen)
Note: Configuring groups is just like configuring categories in WordPress …
(Groups are like WordPress categories)
Add a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group name
- Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your category name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – This section lets you set up nested groups
- Description – Enter the group description here
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up the new directory group …
(Groups settings)
If you manage a business that employs many people, having the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for partners, developers, 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 groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after creating new items …
To change or reassign Groups for an individual entry, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The category open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update to save your changes …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and select the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click Update Group when done …
Add as many categories as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested groups)
Once you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, the next step is to start adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member section …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This page 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: The staff member’s name
- Slug: Edit your employees’ slug (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your staff member’s position
- Email: The staff member’s email address
- Phone Number: The employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Add the person’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter the person’s Twitter username (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your employees here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatted content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign your staff member to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options tab)
You will see options to enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your employee’s details …
(Staff directory settings)
Once you are done entering details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups box located in your sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you have not set up directory groups before adding staff member details, you can create a group now 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. Enter your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …
Your new category will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign a person to the group …
(Groups box)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or modified. To edit a group item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).
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After typing in the person’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can edit your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using the WordPress admin toolbar here:
Note: If ’not found’ page errors shows up like the one shown in the example below, check that you have correctly set up your site’s permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’page not found’ errors)
To learn more about setting up WordPress permalinks, see this tutorial:
Continue adding more details to your directory directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employees into your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all your staff profiles and any details you have added related to each entry …
(Staff Members details table)
If you need to make changes to an individual’s entry, simply hover your mouse over their list name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to make changes to the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete an entry from your staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Edit Staff Members profile)
If you have many entries, your table can grow quite large.
You can use the Search Staff Members search box to locate member details …
(Search Staff Members search field)
You can specify which fields can display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …
(Screen Options tab)
Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when finished to save your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order that entries appear on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the entry to its desired position …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list items)
Once you are done adding all of your members’ details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order in which entries appear on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the item to the desired location …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list)
Once you have added all of your staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List also lets you customize the style and layout of your directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your staff directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, insert any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying listings …
(Default Staff Loop Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To make these fields show up in the directory, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Use template tags to customize your listings page)
Your employee entries will now display with Facebook and Twitter links as as the screenshot below shows …
(Staff profiles with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess with code or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
As well as 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, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen lists all different shortcode variations you can use with the plugin.
A useful shortcode variation you can select, for example, to display a list of persons belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”customer representatives”])
Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
Here you can change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
You can also export your staff members data by going to your dashboard menu and choosing Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need help with the plugin, visit the plugin faq page and contact the plugin developer.
Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Staff Directories
Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use. For example, here are some other free WordPress plugins you can look at for adding a directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
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)
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
Staff Directory lets you easily display a list of faculty/staff/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
You can also insert 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 – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Faculty And Staff Directory 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.
Learn more about this plugin here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin lets you easily add your employees, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable single views, plus as fields like job title, email address, phone number, image and 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 employee in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory website)
This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just an individual member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
Employee Spotlight installs with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each faculty member 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 this plugin go here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
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 online employee directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer plugin website)
Staffer works with many popular 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 Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to add a simple and easily updatable simple faculty directory to your website without editing code.
Images of models used to display sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"This is AMAZING! I had learnt about how to use WordPress previously, but this covers absolutely everything and more!! Incredible value! Thank you!" - Monique, Warrior Forum