Consumer buying habits have successfully shown that people generally buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.
If you are looking for quicker, easier and cost-effective ideas to sell more products online, then something you can do, is make it easier for visitors to get to know you, your team and your business better.
If you are a WordPress user, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to add a directory plugin that lets you display information about your key partners, your team, or your staff members.
This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to add an easy-to-update directory of staff members to your site.
How To Easily Add An Employee List Directory To Your Site
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress
(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List is free and lets you easily staff (you could also use it to display partners, etc.).
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your WP dashboard and go to Plugins > Add New …
(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This should bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu entry will appear on the WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the options and settings for this plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
How To Configure The Plugin
Depending on the size of your team and how you want to structure your directory, you could just start adding new employee entries at this point, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your members.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your directory groups go to your dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This opens up the Groups settings area …
(Groups area)
Note: Setting up directory groups is just like adding categories …
(Groups work just like categories)
Add new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your category name
- Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your category name. 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 – Type in your group description
- Click the Add New Group button when done to set up the new directory group …
(Groups section)
If you manage a medium to large organization, the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for investors, project teams, faculties, etc.
Create as many groups and nested categories as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a directory hierarchy …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering each item …
To change Groups for individual items, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The category details open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click the Update button when done …
To change the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click Update Group after making changes …
Add as many group names as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …
You can add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested categories)
After you have finished setting up your directory structure, you can begin adding staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member settings …
(Add New Staff Member screen)
This section provides an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your employee’s name
- Slug: Change the permalink URL for your staff member if required (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Add the employee’s role
- Email: Enter the person’s email address
- Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type in the employee’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter 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: Enter a profile description for your staff member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatted content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign the person to a specific group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up 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 each employee’s details …
(Add Staff Member fields)
Once you have entered each staff member’s details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups feature located in the sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you have not set up your directory groups before starting to add new staff members, you can create a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group feature)
A field for entering your new group name will appear, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new group and click on Add New Group …
Your new category will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign a person to the group …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or edited. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).
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After filling in your employee’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)
We have created a detailed tutorial on using the admin toolbar here:
Note: If you see a ‘page not found’ error like the one shown below, check that you have correctly set up your site’s permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get errors)
To learn more about setting up permalinks in WordPress, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
Keep adding more details to your directory directory as shown above until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff details to your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on the main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table with all your listing entries and their details …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to edit individual details, simply hover over their list name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to make changes to the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from the staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Editing Staff Members profile information)
If you have many entries, your table can grow quite large.
You can use the Search Staff Members search box to locate member details if necessary …
(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 …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide specific fields. You can also specify how many staff members are listed 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 show on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the entry to the desired location …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
After adding your member listing details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your site visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order that your employees appear on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the entry to a new position …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
After adding your staff details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your site visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin lets you customize the style and layout of your directory listings 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 Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Simple Staff List Templates page)
To customize your directory listings, 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 Plugin Staff Loop Template)
The This code displays your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To display these fields, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template loop, as shown below …
(Use template tags to customize your listings page)
Here is what your staff list should now look like …
(Directory with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with code or are not sure what to do, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
In addition to allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode screen)
This screen displays all different shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to use.
For example, a useful variation you can add to your page to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”technical engineers”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Select Staff Members >Options on your WP admin menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This opens the Options screen …
(Options settings screen)
Here you can modify some of the labels used in the plugin
You can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export screen …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need additional information about this plugin, go to the Simple Staff List plugin site and request help from the plugin author.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List isn’t the only for creating a directory of your employees in WordPress. Here are other free WordPress plugins you can use to add a directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
This 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)
For more details go here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory)
Staff Directory lets you easily display a list of faculty/team/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
The plugin lets you set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory)
The Faculty And Staff Directory 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 profiles in a widget area.
For more details go here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory 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 address, phone, photo and 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: Company Directory website)
This plugin also uses a simple shortcode system.
For more details go here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just an individual person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on 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 viewer’s screen.
Detailed information about each faculty member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin 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 online employee directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer website)
Staffer works immediately with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
Learn more here:
If the above plugins 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 Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to easily add a simple and easily updatable simple employee directory to in WordPress with no coding skills required.
Models used to display sample 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)