No doubt you’ve already heard that people will buy from people they already know, like and trust.
Are you searching for quicker, easier and cost-effective ideas to sell more products or services online and get people to interact more with your site? Then something you can do, is help your visitors get to know, like and trust you and your business better.
If your website uses the WordPress CMS platform, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to use a staff list plugin that will let you add a directory containing information about your key people, your faculty, or your staff members.
This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to create a simple and easy-to-manage employee directory in your website.
Adding A Staff List Directory
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress
(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List is free and lets you build a simple staff directory list for.
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your WP admin and in your admin menu section, choose 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 …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Click the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu will display on your main WP admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
The Staff Members menu is where you will configure and manage all of the settings and options for this plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Plugin Configuration
Depending on the size of your team and how you want to structure your directory, you can just start adding new employee entries after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your staff.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your directory groups go to your WP dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This takes you to the Groups section …
(Groups settings)
Note: Setting up groups is very similar to creating categories in WordPress …
(Groups work just like WordPress categories)
Add a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group category name
- Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your category. 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 nested categories
- Description – Enter a category description (optional)
- Click the Add New Group button when done to create a new group name …
(Groups settings)
If you are a larger organization, being able to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for partners, developers, faculties, etc.
Create as many groups and nested categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after creating each item …
To change or reassign Groups for a specific entry, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The group will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button when done …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click Update Group when done …
Continue adding group names to this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested groups)
Once you are done setting up your directory structure, you can start adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WP admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member settings screen …
(Add New Staff Member settings screen)
This area provides an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your employee’s name
- Permalink: Modify the permalink URL associated with each employee if you want (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The staff member’s role
- Email: The employee’s email
- Phone Number: Type in the employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Add your company’s Facebook address into this field (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: Type in a profile description for your staff or team member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign the person to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up groups).
If you 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 employee’s details …
(Staff directory settings)
Once you have entered details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups box located in the sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you have not set up categories before adding staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group link)
A field for creating a group name will display, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new directory category and click on Add New Group …
Your new directory category will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign your staff member to the group …
(New group)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing new employee details. 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 entering your employee or team member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your staff directory …
Click View Post …
You can update the staff member’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
If you need help using the admin toolbar, refer to this tutorial:
Note: If a ‘page not found’ error like the one shown in the screenshot below shows up, check that your site’s permalinks have been set up correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get errors)
If you need help setting up WP permalinks, refer to this tutorial:
Repeat the above process to continue adding new entries to your staff or faculty directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you are done adding employee details into your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in your main menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all your directory entries and their details …
(Staff Members details)
If you need to change an individual’s details, hover your mouse over their name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to make changes to the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove an entry from your employee directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Edit Staff Members details)
If you have added many entries to this section, your table can grow quite large.
You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate a member if necessary …
(Search Staff Members search box)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields to display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide fields. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when finished to save your settings …
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order that entries appear on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order on the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to its new position …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list)
Once you have added all of your employees’ details to the 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 set the order that your employee profiles appear on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to a new position …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list entries)
After adding all member details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin also lets you edit the style and layout of your staff directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your staff directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the main admin menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(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, here is the Default Template …
(Default Staff Loop Template)
The This code displays your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To make these fields appear in your directory, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Your directory details will now display as as shown below …
(Directory with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with code or are not sure what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
In addition to being able 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 provides a list of all the shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.
For example, a useful variation you can insert in your page to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”property managers”])
Or, you can make your listings display in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
In your menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – Options screen)
Here you can change some of the labels used in the plugin
You can also export your staff members details by going to the menu and selecting Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need plugin help or support, go to the plugin support page.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to build an employee directory in WordPress. Here are some other free plugins you can use to create a directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory 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)
Staff Directory lets you 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: plugin website)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin was developed to provide 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.
For more details go here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Plugin)
With Company Directory, you can easily add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and single views, plus as fields like title, email address, phone number, image and member 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 sourced from Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin also uses shortcodes.
Learn more here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just a single 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 this plugin, you also get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, 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 circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staffer
(Staffer)
This plugin 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 online employee directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer plugin website)
Staffer works with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
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 Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-manage list directory of employees in your WordPress site without messing around with code.
Images used to display fictitious staff members in this tutorial 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