Consumer behaviour research shows that people generally will buy from those they know, like and trust.
Are you looking for simple ideas to sell more products or services online? Then make it easier for your visitors to get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.
If you own a WordPress-driven site, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to add a staff list plugin that will let you add a directory containing information about your key partners, your faculty, or your employees.
In this step-by-step tutorial, we are going to show you how to create and add an easy-to-manage list of employees or team members to your web site.
How To Add An Employee Directory
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
Simple Staff List is free and lets you build a basic staff directory for.
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your administration 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 plugin search results.
Click on Install Now …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Click the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu will appear on the WordPress menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
This menu is where you will manage and configure all of the settings and options for this plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
Plugin Configuration
Depending on how many people are employed in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you can start to add new employee entries at this point, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualemployees into.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your directory categories go to your WP dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
The Groups section …
(Groups settings area)
Note: Setting up groups works just like WordPress categories …
(Groups work like categories)
Create a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group 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 drop-down menu if you plan to set up a directory hierarchy
- Description – Enter a category description here (optional)
- Click Add New Group when finished to set up a new group name …
(Groups screen)
If you are a medium to large organization, having the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for partners, developers, departments, etc.
Create as many groups and nested groups as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering each new item …
To edit Groups for individual entries, hover your mouse button over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The item open in the Edit Group page. Select a new group from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button when done …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click the Update Group button when done …
Continue adding group names in this section until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Add nested groups to your staff directory)
After you have finished setting up your groups, the next step is to start adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WP admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member section …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
This screen provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Enter your employee’s name
- Slug: Change the permalink URL for each staff member if required (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Enter the person’s position
- Email: Your staff member’s email address
- Phone Number: Type the staff member’s phone number here
- Facebook URL: Type 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 into this field (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 staff members here. As this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign your staff member to a specific group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up your groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options tab)
You can enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your staff member’s details …
(Add Staff Member fields)
After you have entered details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups box in the sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you did not set up categories before adding staff member details, 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 create a new group name, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new category and click on Add New Group …
The new category will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign a staff member to the group …
(Groups feature)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing a staff member’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 typing in your employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can modify your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If a ‘page not found’ error shows up like the one shown in the example below, check that your permalinks have been configured correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get errors)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using WP permalinks here:
Continue adding new details to your directory directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you have added employee details into your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on your menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the directory entries and their details …
(Staff Members details)
If you need to modify individual entries, just hover your mouse over their name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to modify the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a list item from the directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Editing Staff Members profile info)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search feature to find entries if required …
(Search Staff Members search box)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields can display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options tab)
Placing a tick in the item’s check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when finished to update your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order in which listings display on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order on the main admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to its new position …
(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list)
Once you have added employees’ details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your site users.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that your staff details display on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to a new position …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list)
Once you are done adding staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List allows you to edit the layout and style of your employee 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 the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Simple Staff List Templates screen)
To customize your directory, reorganize any of the allowable template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is the default template used for displaying listings …
(Default Simple Staff List 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 example. To display these fields, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Your employee profiles will now display Facebook and Twitter addresses as as the screenshot below shows …
(Directory listings with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess with code or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
As well as being able to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations that the plugin allows you to use.
A useful variation you can add, 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=”partners”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Choose Staff Members >Options on your main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Options settings)
This section lets you edit some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members details by going to the menu and clicking Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need plugin help or support, visit the plugin plugin website and request help from the plugin developer.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only adding a directory of your faculty in WordPress. Here are some other free plugins you can look at:
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)
More info:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory)
Staff Directory lets you easily display a list of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.
You can also set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory)
The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college or university.
The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory)
With the Company Directory plugin, you can add your employees to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and single views, plus as fields like 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: plugin website)
This plugin also uses shortcodes.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners 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.
With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.
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 plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)
Staffer uses custom post types for staff/employee management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an employee directory on your website …
(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.
More info:
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 Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to easily add an easy-to-maintain simple staff directory in your web site without messing with code.
Images of models used to depict fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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