Consumer behavior studies show that people often tend to buy from people they know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker, simpler and cheaper ways to sell more products online or increase user interaction on your site, then help your prospects get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.
If you are a WordPress user, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to use a WordPress staff list plugin that lets you add a directory containing information about your key people, your team, or your staff members.
In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to create and add an easy-to-maintain directory of staff members in a WordPress site using free WP plugins.
Step-By-Step Tutorial: Adding A Staff Directory
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress
(Simple Staff List)
The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you easily employee (you could also use it to display faculty members, etc.).
The first step is to install and activate the plugin.
Log into your WP admin and go to Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This should bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on Install Now …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, you will notice that new menu will appear on the WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
Here is where you will manage and configure all of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration
Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you can begin to add new staff details after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff members.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s set up your groups. From your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
The Groups panel …
(Groups screen)
Note: Setting up groups works in the same way as configuring categories …
(Groups are like categories)
Add a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group name here
- Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your group 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 nested groups
- Description – Type in your group description in this field (optional)
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up your new directory group …
(Groups settings screen)
If you run a medium to large organization, being able to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for founders, developers, faculties, etc.
Create as many groups and nested groups as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering each item …
To edit Groups for individual items, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
Your selected item will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new group category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update when done …
To change the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose Quick Edit …
Click the Update Group button when done …
Continue adding group names to this section until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Add nested categories your staff directory)
Once you are done setting up your groups, the next step is to start to add your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your WordPress admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member screen …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This screen provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Add the employee’s name
- Permalink: Here you can change your staff members’ permalink URL (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type in the employee’s position here
- Email: The employee’s email address
- Phone Number: Your staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Add your employee’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type the person’s Twitter username (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. As this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can format content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign a staff or team member to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options tab)
You can 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 Staff Member settings)
After you have entered your staff member’s details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups section located in the sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you did not set up directory groups before adding new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field for entering a new group name will display, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new category and click on the Add New Group button …
The new category will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign your listing to the group …
(New group added via Groups box)
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 above for details).
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After entering your staff member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the employee directory …
Click View Post …
You can edit the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the WordPress admin toolbar, see this step-by-step tutorial:
Note: If ’page not found’ errors like the one shown in the screenshot below shows up, check that you have configured your site’s permalinks correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get an error)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks in WordPress here:
Continue adding more entries to your employee or partner directory as described above.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you have added staff details into your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a list of all the directory entries and their details …
(Staff Members details)
If you need to change individual details, just hover over their list name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to edit the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a listing from the employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Editing Staff Members details)
If you have many names to add, your list can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to locate listing items …
(Search Staff Members search box)
The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …
(Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide fields. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when finished to update your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order in which listings display on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to its new location …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
Once you are done adding staff details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show on your site.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order in which entries show on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order in the main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the item to its new location …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list items)
Once you have added all of your employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin allows you to edit the style and layout of your employee directory listings 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 menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Templates screen)
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 used for displaying listings …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Plugin Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. To display these fields, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your staff list will now look like …
(Directory with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with template tags or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
As well as being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)
This screen displays all the shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin lets you use.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can select to display a list of individuals belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”partners”])
Or, you can make your listings display in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Select Staff Members >Options on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Options settings)
This section lets you change some of the labels used in the plugin
You can also export your staff members info by going to the menu and selecting Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need additional information about the Simple Staff List plugin, visit the Simple Staff List plugin site.
Other Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to display a staff directory in WordPress. Here are some other free plugins you can use to create an employee directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
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)
Learn more about this plugin here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
The Staff Directory plugin lets you easily create a directory of staff/faculty/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
You can also insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)
Learn more here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
This 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.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)
This plugin lets you add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and single views, as well as fields like position title, email, phone number, pic 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 staff member in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: plugin website)
This plugin also uses a simple shortcode system.
Go here to learn more:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, 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 on plugin activation.
With this plugin, you also get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, and 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 source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)
Go here to learn more:
Staffer
(Staffer)
Staffer uses custom post types for 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 plugin website)
Staffer works immediately with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
To learn more about the plugin go here:
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 Directory Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple employee directory to your WordPress site, so your web visitors can get to know you and the people in your team better.
Images of models 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)