Consumer buying habits have successfully shown that people will buy from those they already know, like and trust.
Are you looking for quicker, easier and cost-effective ways to sell more products or services online? Then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for your visitors to get to know your business better.
If you run a WordPress site, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to use a WordPress directory plugin that lets you add a directory listing with information about your partners, your team, or your staff.
In this tutorial, you are going to learn how to create and add a simple and easily updatable list of staff members in WordPress using a free WP plugin.
Adding A Staff Directory
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a 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 easily create a simple staff directory for.
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into your WordPress dashboard and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins panel, 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)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, you will see that a new entry will display on the WordPress menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the options and settings for your plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.
How To Configure The Plugin
Depending on how many people are employed in your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could just begin to add new employee entries after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualmembers into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by configuring your directory groups. In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
The Groups section …
(Groups settings area)
Note: Adding groups is just like adding categories in WordPress …
(Groups are like categories)
Add new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group name
- Slug – Type in the slug of your group category 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 – Type in the group description in this field
- Click Add New Group when finished to create your new group name …
(Groups settings area)
If you are a medium to large organization, the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for founders, project teams, departments, etc.
Create as many groups and nested groups as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering each new item …
To edit Groups for an entry, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
The category open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update when done …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on Quick Edit …
Click the Update Group button when done to save your changes …
Continue adding categories to this section until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested categories)
Once you are done setting up your groups, you can start to add your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This loads the Add New Staff Member screen …
(Add New Staff Member screen)
This page provides an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Add the employee’s name
- Permalink: Here you can edit your staff members’ slug (this section appears 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 staff member’s email address
- Phone Number: Add your staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Enter your company’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter the person’s Twitter username here (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 staff member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign the individual to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen options tab)
You will see options to enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your staff member’s details …
(Add Staff Member settings)
Once you have finished inputting details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature in the sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you did not set up directory groups before adding new staff members, you can create a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field will appear allowing you to enter a new group name, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on the Add New Group button …
A new directory category will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(Groups box)
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 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 your directory …
Click View Post …
To edit the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
If you need help using the WP admin toolbar, see this tutorial:
Note: If you get errors like the one shown below, check that your permalinks have been set up correctly …
(Not found error? Check your permalinks)
If you need help setting up WordPress permalinks, go here:
Repeat the above process to continue adding new details to your employee or partner directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you are done adding employee details to your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in your main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all the directory entries and details you have added related to each entry …
(Staff Members list)
If you need to modify individual details, hover over their 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 remove an entry from your staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Editing Staff Members details)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can get quite long.
You can use the Search Staff Members search box to find a member if required …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields to display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. 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 in which listings display on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order on your main menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the entry to its new location …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered listings)
After adding your member details to the directory, the next step is to display the directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order in which listings show on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on your main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the item to a new location …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list items)
After adding all employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory display on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List allows you to customize the layout and style of your staff directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from the WordPress admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is a screenshot of 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 Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. To make these fields display in your directory, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your directory page)
Your staff listings will now display as shown in the screenshot below …
(Directory listings with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with CSS code and template tags or are not sure what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
As well as being able to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main admin menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcodes)
This screen displays all the shortcode variations that the plugin allows you to use.
A useful shortcode variation you can choose, for example, to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales trainers”])
You can also display listings 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 opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)
Here you can change some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export menu …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need plugin support, go to the Simple Staff List plugin site.
Other Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List is not the only WordPress staff directory plugin you can use. Here are some other plugins you can check out:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
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)
Go here to learn more:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory)
Staff Directory lets you easily display a list of team/staff/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
You can also create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin was developed to provide a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.
The plugin also includes a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
Learn more here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
With Company Directory, you can easily add your employees to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and single views, as well as fields like position title, email, phone number, image 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 learn 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 plugin website)
This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays staff 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.
The Employee Spotlight plugincomes with two sidebar widgets that let you 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)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staffer
(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)
The Staffer 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 website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: 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 the plugin go 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
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to easily add a simple and easy-to-manage directory of staff or team members to your site using a free plugin.
Models used to portray fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"This is an awesome training series. I have a pretty good understanding of WordPress already, but this is helping me to move somewhere from intermediate to advanced user!" - Kim Lednum