Consumer behaviour studies show that people will buy from people they already know, like and trust.
Are you searching for quicker and easier ideas to sell more products online? Then help prospects get to know your business better.
Adding a directory to your site can lead to more trust, boost your online credibility and get more prospects making enquiries.
In this tutorial, you will learn how to add an updatable directory of employees in your web site using free WP plugins.
Tutorial: Adding A Staff List Directory
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
The Simple Staff List plugin is a free plugin that lets you employee.
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into the administration and go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu entry will have been added to your WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
Here is where you will configure and manage all of the settings and options for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.
Configuring Simple Staff List
Depending on how many people are employed in your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can begin to add new employee details at this at this stage, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s configure your directory groups. From your WordPress dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This opens up the Groups settings panel in your browser …
(Groups settings)
Note: Adding directory groups works just like WordPress categories …
(Groups work like WordPress categories)
Add a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group category name here
- Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your group 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 categories
- Description – Enter the group description here
- Click Add New Group when finished to create your new directory category …
(Groups settings)
If you run a business that employs many people, having the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for founders, project teams, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories and nested categories as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating each item …
To change or reassign Groups for specific items, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
Your selected item open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click the Update button to save your changes …
To change your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and select the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click on Update Group to save your changes …
Add as many categories as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
Once you have finished setting up your directory structure, the next step is to start to add staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WP admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member section …
(Add New Staff Member settings area)
This section provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The employee’s name
- Permalink: Here you can edit the permalink URL for your employee if required (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The staff member’s role
- Email: Your employee’s email address
- Phone Number: Enter the person’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Add the person’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type in your company’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your staff member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign the person to a group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options)
You will see options to enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your staff member’s details …
(Staff directory settings)
Once you have entered details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups feature located in your sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you did not set up categories before starting to add new staff members, you can add a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group)
A field for creating a new group name will display, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on Add New Group …
The new group will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign your listing to the group …
(New group added)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing a staff or team member’s 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 entering your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …
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, see this tutorial:
Note: If an error shows up like the one shown in the example below, check that your site’s permalinks have been set up correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get errors)
If you need help setting up WordPress permalinks, go here:
Keep adding new members to your staff directory directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you are done adding staff or team members to your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a list displaying all your staff profiles and the details you have added related to each entry …
(Staff Members list)
If you need to change individual entries, just hover over their list name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to update their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from your directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Editing Staff Members profile info)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can get quite long.
You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to find member details if necessary …
(Search members)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields can display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Placing a tick in the item’s check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when finished to save your settings …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order in which your employees display on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to its new location …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list)
Once you have added employees’ listing 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 allows you to arrange the order that entries show on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order in your WordPress admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to its new position …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list)
After adding all employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to add the directory on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List also 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 staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(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, here is a screenshot of the Default Template …
(Default Simple Staff List Template)
The The code shown above displays your listing as shown below …
(Default Plugin Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above listing. To display these fields, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Your employee entries will now display as as the screenshot below shows …
(Staff profiles with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with template tags or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
As well as allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Usage Shortcode screen)
This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations that you can use with the Simple Staff List plugin.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can add to 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 using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
This section lets you change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
You can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export screen …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need plugin support, go to the plugin faq page and request help from the plugin author.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to create a directory of your staff in WordPress. Here are some other plugins you can check out:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
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)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
With Staff Directory, you can easily create a directory of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.
You can also use custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: Staff Directory plugin website)
For more details go here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory)
The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin was developed to provide 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.
Learn more here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
With Company Directory, you can add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and table views, plus as fields like position title, email, phone number, pic and member bio, allowing visitors to get to know 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 website)
This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just a single person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
Employee Spotlight installs with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each team member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress 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 a staff directory on your site …
(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
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple directory of staff members to your WordPress site, so your site visitors can get to know your company better.
Models used in this tutorial to portray staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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