It’s often said in marketing circles that people often tend to buy from people they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker and easier ideas to grow your business online or get people to stay longer on your site, then something you can do, is make it easier for visitors to get to know you, your team and your organization better.
Adding a directory of employees to your website can help increase your credibility online and get more prospects to contact you.
This tutorial shows you how to create an easy-to-update directory of staff members in WordPress.
How To Add 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 lets you easily employee.
The first step is to install and activate the plugin.
Log into the dashboard and from the admin menu, click on Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, 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)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu will have been added to the WordPress menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the settings and options for this plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on how many people are in your team and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could begin adding new staff member details at this at this stage, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign yourmembers into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by setting up your categories. From your WordPress dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
The Groups panel …
(Groups section)
Note: Configuring groups works in the same way as adding WordPress categories …
(Groups are like categories)
Add a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group category name
- Slug – Type in the slug of your group. 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 – Enter the category description in this field
- Click Add New Group when done to create the new directory group …
(Groups settings)
If you run a larger organization, the ability to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for partners, developers, departments, etc.
Create as many categories and nested categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To change or reassign Groups for an item, hover your mouse button over a category title and select the Edit link …
The item’s details open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button to save your changes …
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 when done …
Continue adding groups in this section until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested categories)
After you have finished setting up your directory structure, the next step is to begin to add your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WP admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member section in your browser …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This area provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The employee’s name
- Permalink: You can change the slug associated with each employee if you want (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Add the person’s role
- Email: Your employee’s email
- Phone Number: Enter the employee’s phone number here
- Facebook URL: Add the employee’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Add your company’s Twitter username (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your staff or faculty member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign a staff or team member to a specific 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 tab)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each staff member’s details …
(Add Staff Member settings)
After you are done inputting your staff member’s details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in the sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you did not set up 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 entering a group name will appear, with a dropdown 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 added. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …
(Groups feature)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing an employee’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 typing in your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the staff directory …
Click View Post …
To make changes to the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
For a detailed tutorial about using the admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If ’page not found’ errors like the one shown in the screenshot below shows up, check that your site’s permalinks have been configured correctly …
(Not found error – Check your permalinks)
If you need help setting up WP permalinks, go here:
Repeat the above process to add new members to your staff or member directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you are done entering staff members into your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on the main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the directory items and details you have added related to each entry …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to make changes to an individual’s entry, hover your mouse over their list name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to modify their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from the employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Editing Staff Members info)
If you have many employees added to this section, your list can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate member details if required …
(Search members)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields to display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options tab)
Selecting a check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when finished to save your settings …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order in which entries show on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order on the main admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to the new position …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list items)
Once you are done adding staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show on your site.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order in which your staff details show on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the item to a desired position …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list items)
Once you have added employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your site users.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List also lets you create the style and layout of your directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(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 directory listings …
(Default Plugin Template)
The The code shown above displays 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 …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Your directory profiles will now appear with Facebook and Twitter addresses as as the example below shows …
(Directory listings with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with CSS styles and template tags or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
In addition to 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 dashboard menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Usage Shortcode screen)
This screen lists all different shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.
For example, a useful variation you can decide to use to display a list of employees belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”partners”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options on your main menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This opens the Options screen …
(Options settings)
This section lets you edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
You can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export page …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need plugin support, go to the plugin plugin website.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to build a faculty directory in WordPress. For example, here are some other plugins you can use:
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)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
With the Staff Directory plugin, you can easily create a directory of staff/faculty/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
The plugin lets you insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory website)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college or university.
The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory)
With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your employees to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and customizable single views, as well as fields like position title, email address, phone number, 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 – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
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.
With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.
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 plugin website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer)
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 site …
(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.
To learn more about this plugin go here:
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 Directory Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple employee directory to your WordPress site without editing code, so your web visitors can get to know your team better.
Images 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