No doubt you already know that people generally tend to buy from those they already know, like and trust.
Are you searching for simple ways to grow your business online? Then something you can do, is make it easier for prospects to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your organization better.
If you run a WordPress website, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to add a WordPress staff list plugin that will let you add information about your key partners, your team, or your employees.
This step-by-step tutorial explains how to create and add an easy-to-update employee directory in your WordPress site.
Adding A Staff List Directory: Tutorial
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List lets you easily build a simple staff directory for.
First, let’s install and activate the plugin.
Log into the WP admin and in your admin menu section, click on 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 …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, you will notice that new menu entry will show up in your WordPress menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
How To Configure The Plugin
Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can just begin adding new employee details after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualstaff into.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your directory groups go to your WordPress dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This brings up the Groups section …
(Groups area)
Note: Configuring groups works just like categories in WordPress …
(Groups work like categories)
Add new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your category 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 section if you plan to set up nested groups
- Description – Type in your category description in this field (optional)
- Click Add New Group when finished to create the new group …
(Groups area)
If you are a larger organization, being able to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for investors, project teams, departments, etc.
Create as many categories and nested categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after creating new items …
To edit Groups for a specific entry, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
Your selected category will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update when done …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and click on Quick Edit …
Click the Update Group button after making changes …
Continue adding group names in this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Add nested categories your directory)
After you have finished setting up your directory structure, the next step is to begin adding staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This opens up the Add New Staff Member screen in your web browser …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This area provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The staff member’s name
- Slug: Here you can modify the permalink URL associated with each employee if you want (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Add your employee’s position here
- Email: Enter your staff member’s email here
- Phone Number: Type your staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type your staff member’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 in a profile description for your employees here. As this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can format content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign your employee to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options)
You will see options to enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your employee’s details …
(Add Staff Member fields)
After you have entered your staff member’s details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups box in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up categories before adding new staff members, you can create a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
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. Type in the name of your new group and click on the Add New Group button …
The new group will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …
(New group added in Groups feature)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to new employee details. To edit a group 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 typing in your employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can update the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial on using the dashboard admin toolbar here:
Note: If you see ’not found’ page errors like the one shown below, check that your site’s permalinks have been configured correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’not found’ page errors)
To learn more about setting up permalinks, see this step-by-step tutorial:
Repeat the above process to add more members to your staff directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you are done adding employees to your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all the staff profiles and all details you have added for each entry …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to change individual entries, simply hover over their list name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to make changes to their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a list item from the directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Edit Staff Members info)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can become unwieldy.
You can use the Search Staff Members search field to find member details if necessary …
(Search Staff Members search field)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields to display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide specific fields. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when finished to update your settings …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order in which your employees appear on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order on your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the item to its desired location …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list entries)
After adding all staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to display your directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order in which listings show on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to the desired location …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you have added all of your member listing details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory to your site users.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin also lets you edit 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 menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Simple Staff List Templates page)
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 Plugin Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To make these fields show up in your directory, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Your staff listings will now display as as the example below shows …
(Employee profiles with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize your directory 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 assistance.
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 dashboard menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations that you can use with this plugin.
For example, a useful variation you can add to your page to display a list of staff or team members belonging only to 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 using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Select Staff Members >Options on the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)
Here you can edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
Finally, you can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export menu …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need help with the Simple Staff List plugin, visit the Simple Staff List support page and contact the plugin developer.
Other Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use. Here are a few other free plugins you can check out for adding a 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, visit the plugin site here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
With the Staff Directory plugin, you can easily display a list of staff/faculty/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
You can also set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory website)
Learn more about this plugin here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
Faculty And Staff Directory 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 profiles in a widget area.
Learn more about this plugin here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)
The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your employees to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, as well as fields like job title, email address, phone, image and member bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.
Visitors can click through from your list, grid, and table views to learn more about each employee in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: plugin website)
This plugin also uses shortcodes.
Go here to learn more:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
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 on plugin activation.
With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.
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)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer)
The Staffer 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 staff directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Staffer works immediately with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
Learn more about this plugin 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
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-update list directory of employees to a WordPress site with no coding skills required.
Images of models used to depict staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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