Many business and marketing experts have successfully proven over time that people will buy from those they already know, like and trust.
Are you looking for quicker, simpler and cost-effective ideas to sell more products or services online or get people to stay longer on your site? Then help visitors get to know you and your organization better.
If you use WordPress, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to display information about your partners, your business team, or your staff members using a WordPress staff list plugin.
In this step-by-step tutorial, we are going to show you how to add an easy-to-update simple team members directory in your site using free WP plugins.
How To Easily Add A Staff Directory
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a free WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
Simple Staff List lets you easily create a basic staff directory for.
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your administration and from the admin menu section, choose Plugins > Add New …
(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on Install Now …
(WordPress Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu entry will have been added to your main WP admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
This menu is where you will manage and configure all of the settings and options for your plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.
How To Configure The Plugin
Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could begin to add new staff member details at this point, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your staff.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your directory categories go to your dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This brings you to the Groups settings panel …
(Groups settings)
Note: Configuring directory groups is similar to creating categories …
(Groups are like WordPress categories)
Add new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your category name here
- Slug – Enter 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 section to set up nested categories
- Description – Type in a category description in this field
- Click Add New Group when finished to create the new directory category …
(Groups settings area)
If you are a business that employs many people, having the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for investors, project teams, departments, etc.
Create as many categories and nested categories as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering each item …
To edit Groups for a particular item, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
Your selected group open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click the Update button to save your changes …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click on Update Group to save your changes …
Continue adding group names in this section until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested categories)
Once you have finished setting up your groups, you can start adding staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WP admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This opens up the Add New Staff Member settings …
(Add New Staff Member screen)
This screen 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: Enter your employee’s name
- Slug: Change the slug for each employee if you want (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your staff member’s position
- Email: Your employee’s email
- Phone Number: Add the staff member’s phone number into this field
- Facebook URL: Type your employee’s Facebook address here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter the 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. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign the individual to a group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …
(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 …
(Staff directory settings)
Once you have entered your staff member’s details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups feature located in your sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you did not set up categories before starting to add staff member details, you can create a group now by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group feature)
A field for creating a group name will appear, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on the Add New Group button …
A new category will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(New group added via Groups box)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or edited. To edit a group item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).
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After entering your employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can make changes to your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using the WP admin toolbar here:
Note: If you get ’not found’ page errors like the one shown below, check that you have set up your site’s permalinks correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’not found’ page errors)
To learn more about setting up permalinks, go here:
Repeat the above process to add more entries to your staff or faculty directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you are done entering staff members into your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all your directory items and all details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members details)
If you need to change individual entries, just hover over their listing, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to update the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a list item from the directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Edit Staff Members details)
If you have many names to add, your table can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search field to locate member details if necessary …
(Search Staff Members search box)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields to display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Placing a tick in the item’s checkbox displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. 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 set the order that your staff profiles display on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the entry to the desired location …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list)
Once you have added staff listing 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 that allows you to set the order in which entries display on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the entry to its desired location …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list)
Once you are done adding member listing details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin allows you to customize the style and layout of your directory entries 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 screen …
(Templates screen)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is the Default Template …
(Default Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above listing. To make these fields show in your directory, you 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 Staff Loop Template)
Your employee entries will now display as as the example below shows …
(Directory with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks 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 listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your dashboard menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)
This screen displays all the shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can select to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales managers”])
Or, you can make your listings display in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In your main admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Options settings)
Here you can edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
Finally, you can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export page …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need plugin support, visit the plugin faq page and request help from the plugin author.
Other Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only adding a directory of your faculty. For example, here are some other plugins you can use to add a directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
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)
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
With the Staff Directory plugin, you can easily create a directory of faculty/team/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
You can also add custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory)
This plugin provides 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.
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
With Company Directory, you can add your employees to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and table views, as well as fields like job title, email, phone number, photo and staff bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.
Visitors can 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 website)
This plugin also uses shortcodes.
Learn more here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just one individual person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
Employee Spotlight comes 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 team member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer)
This 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 an onsite staff directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer plugin website)
Staffer works immediately with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
Go here to learn more:
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 Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple directory of staff members to your WordPress site, so you can better showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.
Images of persons used to display staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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