Consumer behaviour studies show that people will mostly buy from businesses they know, like and trust.
If you are searching for inexpensive ideas to sell more products online and get people to stay longer on your site, then one of the things you can do, is help your visitors get to know your organization better.
Adding a ‘Meet Our Team’ directory to your website can generate greater trust, increase your online credibility and get more prospects buying from your site.
In this tutorial, we show you how to easily add an easy-to-manage simple faculty members directory in your website without coding skills.
How To Easily Add An Employee Directory: Tutorial
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you build a simple staff directory for.
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into the admin and in your admin menu section, select 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 search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, you will see that a new menu will display on your WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
This menu 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.
How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could just start to add new staff members after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place yourmembers into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s set up your groups. In your WordPress dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This takes you to the Groups settings panel …
(Groups settings screen)
Note: Setting up groups is similar to creating categories in WordPress …
(Groups work just like categories)
Create a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group 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 a directory hierarchy
- Description – Enter your category description here (optional)
- Click Add New Group when done to create your new group …
(Groups section)
If you manage a business that employs many people, having the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for founders, 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 groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To change Groups for individual items, hover your mouse button over a category title and click on the Edit link …
Your selected group open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update to save your changes …
To change your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on Quick Edit …
Click the Update Group button after making changes …
Continue adding categories to 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 are done setting up your groups, you can begin to add staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This takes you to the Add New Staff Member settings area …
(Add New Staff Member settings area)
This screen provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your staff member’s name
- Permalink: Here you can modify the permalink URL for each staff member if required (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type the person’s position here
- Email: Enter your staff member’s email here
- Phone Number: Your staff member’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 the staff member’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 employees here. As this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign the individual to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options tab)
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 staff member’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
Once you have entered each staff member’s details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups section located in your sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you have not set up groups before adding new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field for creating your group name will appear, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …
Your new category will be added. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or edited. 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 filling in your staff member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …
Click View Post …
You can make changes to the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
For a detailed step-by-step tutorial on using the WP admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If errors shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that your site’s permalinks have been configured correctly …
(Not found error? Check your permalinks)
If you need help setting up WordPress permalinks, see this step-by-step tutorial:
Keep adding new details to your directory directory as shown above until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employee details into your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on your main admin menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the directory items and their details …
(Staff Members list)
If you need to change an individual’s entry, hover over their name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to make changes to the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a list item from your staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members profile information)
If you have many names to add, your table can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to locate listing items if required …
(Search Staff Members search feature)
You can specify which fields can display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …
(Screen Options tab)
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 done to save your preferences …
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 page.
Select Staff Members > Order on your main menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to the desired location …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list items)
After adding all member listing details to the directory, the next step is to display the directory on your site.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order in which listings display on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the entry to the desired position …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list entries)
After adding all member listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your site visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List lets you edit the style and layout of your employee directory entries 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 menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory, insert any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is the Default Template …
(Default Plugin Template)
The The code shown above displays your listing as shown below …
(Default Plugin 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] template tags, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Your staff details will now display Facebook and Twitter addresses as as the screenshot below shows …
(Staff profiles with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess with code or are not sure what to do, 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 listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your WP admin menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Usage Shortcode screen)
This screen lists all different shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.
A useful shortcode variation you can add, for example, to display a list of staff members belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”senior staff”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
Here you can edit some of the labels used in the plugin
You can also export your staff members data by going to the menu and clicking Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need plugin support, visit the plugin plugin website.
Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Employee Directories
Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a listing of your team members in WordPress. For example, here are a few other free plugins you can check out to create an employee directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory)
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)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
Staff Directory lets you easily display a list of team/staff/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
You can also set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory website)
Learn more about this plugin here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory)
This plugin 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 a profile in a widget area.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
Company Directory lets you easily add your employees to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable single views, plus as fields like title, email address, phone number, pic 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 read more about each staff member in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory website)
This plugin uses shortcodes.
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just one individual member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
The Employee Spotlight plugincomes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each staff 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)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Staffer
(Staffer)
The Staffer 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 onsite employee directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer website)
Staffer works immediately 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 above plugins 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 Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to add an updatable simple faculty directory in your WordPress site without using code.
Images used to portray fictitious staff members 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)