You have no doubt heard that people generally tend to buy from people they know, like and trust.
Are you searching for quicker, simpler and cost-effective ways to sell more products or services online? Then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for your prospects to get to know your organization better.
Adding a directory of employees to your website can generate greater trust, increase your credibility online and get interested prospects buying from your site.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to easily create and add an easy-to-maintain list directory of employees or team members in WordPress using free plugins.
How To Easily Add An Employee List Directory: WordPress Plugin Tutorial
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)
The Simple Staff List plugin is a free WordPress plugin that lets you staff.
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your admin and from the admin menu section, select Plugins > Add New …
(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, you will notice that new entry will be added to your main WP admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
This menu is where you will configure and manage all of the options and settings for your plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.
Configuring Simple Staff List
Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can begin to add new employee details after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual employees.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by setting up your groups. From your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This loads the Groups screen …
(Groups settings area)
Note: Configuring directory groups is very similar to working with WordPress categories …
(Groups work like WordPress categories)
Add new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your category name
- Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your group 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 groups
- Description – Type in your group description
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to create the new category …
(Groups screen)
If you are a medium to large organization, being able to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for founders, project teams, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories and nested categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a directory hierarchy …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering each new item …
To change Groups for a particular entry, hover your mouse button over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The selected item’s details will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button to save your changes …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and select the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click on Update Group to save your changes …
Add as many group names as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested categories)
Once you are done setting up your groups, you can begin to add names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WP admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This takes you to the Add New Staff Member settings …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This page provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The staff member’s name
- Permalink: Edit the permalink URL associated with 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: Enter the person’s position here
- Email: Add the person’s email address
- Phone Number: Type the person’s phone number into this field
- Facebook URL: Type in your staff member’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter your company’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 add formatting to the content entered into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign the individual to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen options tab)
You will see options to enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each staff member’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
Once you have entered details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups box in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you have not set up groups before starting to add new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field for entering your group name will appear, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …
A new group will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(Groups section)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to 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 filling in your staff or team member’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To edit the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using the admin toolbar here:
Note: If errors like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that you have configured your permalinks correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get an error)
If you need help setting up permalinks, see this tutorial:
Continue adding new entries to your employee directory directory as shown above until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff details into your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in the WordPress admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the staff members and details you have added related to each entry …
(Staff Members table)
If you need to make changes to an individual’s entry, just hover your mouse over their listing, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to modify their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove an entry from the directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Edit Staff Members profile details)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate a member if necessary …
(Search Staff Members search box)
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 specific fields. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order that entries show on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order on the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to its new position …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list items)
Once you have added employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display on your site.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order in which entries appear on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on the WordPress admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to its new location …
(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
After adding all staff details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin lets you edit the layout and style 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 your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory, reorganize any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Plugin Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. To make these fields show up in your directory, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown below …
(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your directory page)
Your employee entries will now display as as shown below …
(Employee profiles with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with code or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
In addition to allowing you to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen lists all different shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to use.
A useful variation you can select, 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 make your listings display in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Choose Staff Members >Options in the main admin menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Options settings)
This section lets you modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
Finally, you can also export your staff members data by going to your dashboard menu and selecting Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need plugin support, go to the Simple Staff List support page.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a directory of your employees in WordPress. Here are other free WordPress plugins you can check out for adding a directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
Modern Team Staff Directory 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)
Staff Directory lets you easily display a list of team/faculty/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
You can also insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: Staff Directory website)
Go here to learn more:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin was developed to provide 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 profiles in a widget area.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your employees to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and single views, plus as fields like title, email, phone, pic and staff 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 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 uses simple shortcodes.
For more details go here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just an individual member of your team in a four-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, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each employee can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Staffer
(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin uses custom post types for staff/employee management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an onsite employee directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Staffer works with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
For more details, visit the plugin site 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
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple employee or team member directory to your WordPress site, so you can better showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.
Models used in this tutorial to portray fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"I was absolutely amazed at the scope and breadth of these tutorials! The most in-depth training I have ever received on any subject!" - Myke O'Neill, DailyGreenPost.com