Business experts often raise the point that people often tend to buy from those they know, like and trust.
Are you looking for quicker, easier and cost-effective ways to grow your business online? Then something you can do, is help your prospects get to know, like and trust your business better.
If you have a WordPress site, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to use a WordPress staff list plugin that will let you add a directory containing information about your key partners, your faculty, or your staff members.
In this tutorial, we explain how to easily create and add an easy-to-update simple team members directory in your site.
Adding A Staff Directory To Your WordPress Site
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress
(Simple Staff List)
Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you staff.
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into your WP dashboard and in your admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This should bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on Install Now …
(WordPress Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu will appear in your main WP admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the 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 how many people are employed in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you can start to add new staff member details at this point, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual employees.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your groups go to your WordPress dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
The Groups settings screen …
(Groups area)
Note: Configuring directory groups works in the same way as adding WordPress categories …
(Groups are like WordPress categories)
Add new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your category name here
- Slug – Type in the slug of your category name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – Use this drop-down menu if you plan to set up nested groups
- Description – Type in your category description
- Click Add New Group when finished to create a new directory category …
(Groups section)
If you run a business that employs many people, being able to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for partners, developers, faculties, 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 hierarchical structure …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering each new item …
To edit or reassign Groups for specific entries, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
The group details open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update to save your changes …
To change the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and select the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click the Update Group button when done to save your changes …
Continue adding group names to this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
After you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, you can start adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This takes you to the Add New Staff Member settings area …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
This section 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
- Permalink: Edit the permalink URL associated with each staff member if you want (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 position
- Email: Your staff member’s email
- Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type your company’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type in your company’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your employee here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign the individual to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the 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 …
(Add Staff Member settings)
After you have entered your staff member’s details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups section located in the sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you have not set up directory groups before adding new staff members, you can add a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group link)
A field for creating your 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 Add New Group …
A new group will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(New group added in Groups feature)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing someone’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 entering your employee or team member’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To update your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
If you need help using the admin toolbar, refer to this tutorial:
Note: If errors like the one shown in the screenshot below shows up, check that you have configured your permalinks correctly …
(Page error – Check your permalinks)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks here:
Repeat the above process to continue adding new entries to your employee or faculty directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you have entered all staff details into your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on your menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table of all your listing entries and all details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members details table)
If you need to change an individual’s details, simply hover your mouse over their list name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to modify the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete an entry from the directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Editing Staff Members details)
If you have many employees, your table can grow quite large.
You can use the Search Staff Members search box to find a member …
(Search Staff Members search field)
You can specify which fields can display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide fields. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when finished to save your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order in which entries show on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order in your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the entry to the new location …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list entries)
After adding all staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your site users.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which listings appear on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order in your main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the entry to the new location …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
After adding your member details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your site visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List also lets you edit the style and layout of your directory items 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 dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Templates screen)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize 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 Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. To make these fields appear in your directory, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Your employee details will now display as as the example below shows …
(Directory listings with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess around with editing code or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
In addition to 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, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to use.
A useful shortcode variation you can add, for example, to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales reps”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
In the main menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – Options screen)
This section lets you modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
You can also export your staff members data by going to your main menu and clicking Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need plugin help or support, visit the plugin plugin site and contact the plugin developer.
Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Staff Directories
Simple Staff List is not the only adding a listing of your team members in WordPress. For example, here are other free plugins you can look at for adding a staff 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)
Learn more here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory)
With the Staff Directory plugin, you can easily display a list of faculty/staff/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
The plugin lets you create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory plugin website)
Go here to learn more:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory)
This 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 a profile in a widget area.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and customizable single views, as well as fields like title, email address, phone, photo and member bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.
Visitors will be able to click through from your list, grid, and table views to learn 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 plugin website)
This plugin uses shortcodes.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders or just an individual person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
This plugin comes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, 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 circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight website)
Learn more about this plugin here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP 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 a staff directory on your website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin 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 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 Directory Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to easily add a simple employee directory to in WordPress using free WP plugins.
Images of persons used to portray staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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