Many business and marketing experts have successfully demonstrated over the years that people generally will buy from people they know, like and trust.
If you are searching for simple ways to grow your business online or increase user interaction on your site, then one of the things you can do, is help your visitors get to know you, your team and your organization better.
If you use WordPress, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to display information about your key people, your team, or your employees using a directory plugin.
This step-by-step tutorial explains how to add an easy-to-maintain staff directory to your website.
Tutorial: How To Add An Employee Directory
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you easily build a simple staff directory list for.
First, let’s install and activate the plugin.
Log into your administration and go to Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This should bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu entry will be added to the main WordPress menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the settings for this plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.
Configuring The Plugin
Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you can begin to add new staff entries at this at this stage, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your group members.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s configure your groups. From your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This brings you to the Groups settings screen …
(Groups section)
Note: Configuring groups works in the same way as adding categories …
(Groups work just like categories)
Create a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group name
- Slug – Type in the slug of your category. 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 – Enter the category description
- Click Add New Group when done to create the new category …
(Groups area)
If you are a larger organization, the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for investors, 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 organize these into a directory hierarchy …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering each item …
To edit Groups for a particular entry, hover your mouse over a category title and select the Edit link …
The category details open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button to save your changes …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and choose Quick Edit …
Click the Update Group button when done to save your changes …
Add as many categories as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested categories)
Once you have finished setting up your hierarchical structure, the next step is to start to add staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WP admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member settings screen …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
This screen provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your staff member’s name
- Permalink: You can change each staff members’ slug (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your staff member’s role
- Email: The employee’s email
- Phone Number: The employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type your company’s Facebook URL into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter the person’s Twitter username (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your employee or team member here. As this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign the individual to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options)
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 …
(Staff directory settings)
Once you have entered details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups box in your sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you have not set up directory groups before adding staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group)
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. Type in the name of your new category and click on the Add New Group button …
A new group will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(New group)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing a staff member’s details. 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 filling in the person’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can modify the staff member’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial about using the admin toolbar here:
Note: If a page error shows up like the one shown in the example below, check that your site permalinks have been configured correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get errors)
For a detailed tutorial on setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:
Repeat the above process to continue adding new members to your directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you are done entering staff members into your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on your main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all your employees and all details you have added for each entry …
(Staff Members table)
If you need to change an individual’s entry, just hover your mouse over their name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to update the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a listing from your staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members profile details)
If you have many entries, your table can grow quite large.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to locate listing items if required …
(Search members)
The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide fields. You can also specify how many staff members are shown 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 lets you set the order in which listings appear on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to the new position …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list items)
After adding your employees’ 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 set the order in which entries display on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the entry to the desired position …
(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list)
Once you are done adding all of your staff details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin also lets you create the style and layout of your staff list listings 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 main admin menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, insert any of the allowable template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Staff Loop Template)
The The code shown above will display your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To display these fields, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown in the example below …
(Use template tags to customize your listings page)
Your staff profiles will now display as shown in the example below …
(Directory with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings 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
In addition to allowing you to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode section)
This screen lists all the shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.
For example, a useful variation you can choose 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 using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In your menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)
Here you can change some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members data by going to the main menu and clicking Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need help with the Simple Staff List plugin, visit the plugin website.
Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Staff Directories
Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use. Here are other free plugins you can use:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory)
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)
More info:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
This plugin lets you easily display a list of team/staff/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
This plugin also lets you set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
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)
The Company Directory plugin lets you add your employees to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and single views, plus as fields like job title, email, phone number, image 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 read more about each staff member in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: plugin website)
This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders or just one 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 which display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.
Detailed information about each staff 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)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP Plugin)
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 staff directory …
(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 go here:
If the above plugins 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 Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple staff or faculty directory to your WordPress site, so you can better showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.
Models used in this tutorial to depict sample 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