Consumer buying habits have successfully shown that people generally buy from people they know, like and trust.
Are you searching for quicker and easier ideas to sell more products online? Then make it easier for visitors to get to know, like and trust your organization better.
If you use WordPress, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to display information about your key people, your business team, or your staff members using a WordPress directory plugin.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to easily add an easy-to-maintain list of employees or team members to your website without coding skills.
WordPress Plugin Tutorial: Adding A Staff List Directory
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a free WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
The Simple Staff List plugin is a free WordPress plugin that lets you easily create a basic staff directory for.
The first step is to install and activate this plugin.
Log into your WP administration and from the admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Click the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, you will notice that new menu entry will be added to your main WP menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your directory, you can begin to add new staff member details at this at this stage, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place yourstaff into.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your directory groups go to your WordPress dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This takes you to the Groups settings …
(Groups settings area)
Note: Configuring groups is similar to working with categories in WordPress …
(Groups work like categories)
Create a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group category name here
- Slug – Type in the slug 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 a directory hierarchy
- Description – Enter a group description
- Click the Add New Group button when done to create the new group name …
(Groups settings screen)
If you manage a business that employs many people, being able to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for partners, project teams, departments, etc.
Create as many categories and nested groups as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a hierarchical structure …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering each item …
To change Groups for a specific entry, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The group details open in the Edit Group page. Select a new category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update when done …
To edit 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 groups as you need to 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, the next step is to start to add your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your WP admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member settings screen …
(Add New Staff Member screen)
This area provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The staff member’s name
- Slug: You can edit the permalink URL for each employee if you want (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your staff member’s role
- Email: Your employee’s email
- Phone Number: The employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Add the person’s Facebook address into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type 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 employee here. Since this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign the individual to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your staff member’s details …
(Add Staff Member fields)
Once you have entered each of you staff member’s details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups feature located in the sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you have not set up directory groups before adding staff member details, you can create a group now by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group)
A field for entering a group name will display, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on the Add New Group button …
The new directory category will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign a person’s entry to the group …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing a staff member’s details. 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 typing in the person’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To update your member profile, click on 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 WordPress admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If you have set up groups and get errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly set up your site permalinks …
(Not found error – Check your permalinks)
To learn more about setting up permalinks, see this tutorial:
Continue adding new entries to your staff directory directory as shown above until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff or faculty members to your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a list with all the staff profiles and all details you have added related to each entry …
(Staff Members details table)
If you need to modify an individual’s entry, simply hover your mouse over their list name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to make changes to the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from the employee 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 grow quite large.
Use the Search Staff Members search feature to find listing items …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields can display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide specific fields. You can also choose 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 lets you specify the order that listings appear on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order in the main admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to the new position …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list items)
After adding your member details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your site visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order that entries show on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on the main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to the new location …
(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
After adding all member details to the directory, the next step is to display your directory to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List lets you edit the layout and style of your employee directory listings 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 menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Simple Staff List Templates screen)
To customize your directory listings, insert any of the allowable template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Staff Loop Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above listing. To display these fields, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your directory should now look like …
(Directory with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with code or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
In addition to being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen lists all the shortcode variations allowed by the 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”])
Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – Options screen)
This section lets you change some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export screen …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need plugin support, visit the Simple Staff List site.
Additional Employee Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only for creating a directory of your faculty. For example, here are other free WordPress plugins you can check out:
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)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
With Staff Directory, you can easily display a list of staff/faculty/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
The plugin lets you create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory website)
More info:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
This plugin provides 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.
Go here to learn more:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)
Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and single views, plus as fields like title, email address, phone, pic and 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 learn more about each employee in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin also uses a simple shortcode system.
Learn more about this plugin here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just one individual member of your team in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
With this plugin, you also get 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 plugin website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Staffer 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 site …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: 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 List
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to add a simple and easy-to-manage directory of employees or faculty members in your website using free plugins.
Images of models used in this tutorial to portray sample staff members 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