Consumer buying habits have successfully shown that people generally will buy from people they know, like and trust.
Are you looking for cost-effective ideas to sell more products online or get people to engage more on your site? Then help your visitors get to know, like and trust you, your team and your business better.
Adding a directory of staff to your site can help to let visitors learn more about the team working behind the scenes in your business.
In this tutorial, we explain how to add an easy-to-maintain simple employee directory to your site with no coding skills required.
Tutorial: How To Add An Employee Directory To Your WordPress Site
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List lets you employee.
The first step is to install and activate this plugin.
Log into your administration and in your admin menu section, click on Plugins > Add New …
(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(WordPress Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu entry will appear in your main WP menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
This menu is where you will manage and configure all of the settings and options for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from this 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 can just start to add new staff entries at this at this stage, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualemployees into.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your directory categories go to your WordPress dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This loads the Groups section …
(Groups settings)
Note: Configuring groups works in the same way as adding WordPress categories …
(Groups work like WordPress categories)
Create a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group category name
- Slug – Enter 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 nested categories
- Description – Enter the category description here
- Click Add New Group when finished to set up a new category …
(Groups settings screen)
If you run a larger organization, the ability to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for founders, project teams, departments, etc.
Create as many categories and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a directory hierarchy …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To edit Groups for specific items, hover your mouse button over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The selected item will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update to save your changes …
To change your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click on Update Group after making changes …
Continue adding categories to this section until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
After you have finished setting up your groups, you can begin to add your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member area …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
This page provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your staff member’s name
- Slug: Modify each employees’ slug (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your staff member’s position
- Email: Type the employee’s email address
- Phone Number: The employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type in the person’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter your employee’s Twitter username (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. Since this uses the WordPress Text Editor, 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).
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 employee’s details …
(Add Staff Member fields)
Once you have entered details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups feature in your sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you have not set up groups before adding new staff members, you can create a group now by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group link)
A field for creating your new group name will appear, with a drop-down 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 group will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign a person to the group …
(New group)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to new employee 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 entering your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …
Click View Post …
To edit the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using the admin toolbar here:
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 …
(Not found error – Check your permalinks)
If you need help setting up WordPress permalinks, go here:
Repeat the above process to add new members to your staff directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff members to your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on your menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a list with all your employees and their details …
(Staff Members details)
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 edit the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a listing from your employee directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Edit Staff Members profile information)
If you have added many names to this section, your table can grow quite large.
You can use the Search Staff Members search field to locate member details if required …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields to display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …
(Screen Options tab)
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 done to save your settings …
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order in which your employees show on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on your WP admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to its new position …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered listings)
Once you have added all of your staff listing details to the directory, the next step is to display the directory to your visitors.
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 pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to a new position …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list items)
Once you are done adding member details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory to your site users.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List also lets you customize the style and layout of your staff list entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the main admin menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Templates screen)
To customize your directory, insert any of the allowable template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is the Default Template …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)
The This code will display your listing as shown below …
(Default Plugin Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above example. To make these fields show up in the directory, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown in the example below …
(Use template tags to customize your directory page)
Here is what your listings page will now look like …
(Directory listings with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with editing code 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 staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcode variations)
This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to use.
For example, a useful variation you can choose to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Gold Level associates”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In the WP admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Options screen)
This section lets you modify some of the labels used in the plugin
You can also export your staff members details by going to your menu and selecting Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need plugin help or support, go to the plugin plugin site and contact the plugin author.
Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Staff Directories
Simple Staff List isn’t the only for displaying a directory of your employees in WordPress. For example, here are other free plugins you can look at for adding an employee directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
The Modern Team Staff Directory 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)
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory)
This plugin lets you easily display a list of team/faculty/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.
The plugin lets you use custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
This plugin was developed to provide a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.
The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.
Learn more here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
With the Company Directory plugin, you can add your staff, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, as well as fields like position title, email address, phone, image and staff 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 members in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory website)
This plugin also uses shortcodes.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders or just one single member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
This plugin includes 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 staff member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight website)
More info:
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 sourced from Staffer website)
Staffer works with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
Go here to learn more:
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 List
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to easily add a simple and easily updatable simple staff directory to your website using a free WordPress plugin.
Models used to display staff members in this tutorial 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