Something that’s been proven to work in business, is that people will mostly buy from people they already know, like and trust.
If you are looking for quicker, simpler and cheaper ideas to grow your business online or increase user interaction on your site, then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for your prospects to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your business better.
Adding a directory of staff to your website can help boost your credibility online and get more prospects to request quotes or more information.
In this step-by-step tutorial, we explain how to add an easy-to-update simple faculty members directory to WordPress using a free plugin.
Adding A Staff List Directory To Your Site
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List is free and lets you easily employee (you could also use it to display faculty, etc.).
The first step is to install and activate this plugin.
Log into the WordPress admin and in your admin menu section, select Plugins > Add New …
(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on Install Now …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new entry will appear in your main WP menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the settings for your plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
Configuring The Plugin
Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could just begin to add new staff entries after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your staff members.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s configure your groups. From your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This opens up the Groups section …
(Groups screen)
Note: Setting up directory groups is similar to working with WordPress categories …
(Groups work just like categories)
Add a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your category name
- Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your group. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – This section lets you set up nested categories
- Description – Enter your category description (optional)
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to create a new group …
(Groups screen)
If you are a medium to large organization, having the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for investors, developers, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories and nested groups 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 the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To edit or reassign Groups for an entry, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The selected group open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
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 the Update Group button after making changes …
Continue adding groups to this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested groups)
Once you are done setting up your groups, you can begin to add names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your WP admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This brings you to the Add New Staff Member settings …
(Add New Staff Member screen)
This area provides an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The staff member’s name
- Slug: Modify the slug associated with your employee if required (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type in the person’s position here
- Email: Enter the person’s email address
- Phone Number: Add your employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type in the staff member’s Facebook URL into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter the staff member’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your employees here. Since this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign an employee or faculty member to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen options tab)
You will see options to enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your staff member’s details …
(Add New Staff Member fields)
Once you are done entering details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups section in the sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up your directory groups before adding staff member details, you can create a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group link)
A field for creating your new group name will appear, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on Add New Group …
The new group will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign an employee’s details to the group …
(New group added via Groups section)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or edited. 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 the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the staff directory …
Click View Post …
To make changes to your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
For a detailed step-by-step tutorial on using the dashboard admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If errors shows up like the one shown in the example below, check that you have correctly set up your site permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’page not found’ errors)
For a detailed step-by-step tutorial about setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:
Keep adding more details to your directory directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you are done adding employees to your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all the employees and their details …
(Staff Members table)
If you need to modify an individual’s details, hover your mouse over their list name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to modify their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a member from your staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Editing Staff Members profile information)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can grow quite large.
Use the Search Staff Members search feature to find entries …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields to display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …
(Staff Members Screen Options tab)
Placing a tick in the item’s checkbox displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when finished to save your settings …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that entries display on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the entry to the desired location …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list)
Once you are done adding employees’ details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your site visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order that entries show on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the entry to the new position …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered listings)
After adding your employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin lets you customize the style and layout of your employee directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your employee directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)
The above code displays the listing 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 make these fields show in the directory, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your listings page should now look like …
(Employee profiles with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks but don’t want to mess with CSS code and template tags or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
In addition to allowing you to customize your listing 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 Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Usage Shortcode section)
This screen lists all the shortcode variations that you can use.
For example, a useful shortcode 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=”Gold Level associates”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In the main menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – Options screen)
This section lets you modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
Finally, you can also export your staff members info by going to the menu and choosing Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need additional information about the plugin, visit the plugin plugin site.
Additional Employee Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to create a staff directory in WordPress. For example, here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can check out to add a staff directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
This 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)
Learn more here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
The Staff Directory plugin lets you easily display a list of faculty/staff/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.
This plugin also lets you add custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin 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 a profile in a widget area.
For more details go here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your staff, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and table views, plus as fields like position title, email, 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 staff member 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.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just a single member of your team in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
Employee Spotlight includes two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.
Detailed information about each staff 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 go here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP Plugin)
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 employee directory on your website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)
Staffer works with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
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
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has explained how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of staff members to your site.
Images of persons used to depict sample 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)