No doubt you already know that people will buy from people they already know, like and trust.
Are you searching for inexpensive ways to sell more products or services online or increase user interaction with your site? Then make it easier for your visitors to get to know you and your organization better.
Adding a directory of staff or faculty members to your website can help to let visitors learn more about the team working behind your business.
In this step-by-step tutorial, we explain how to easily create and add a simple and easy-to-manage simple employee directory to your web site.
Step-By-Step Tutorial: How To Easily Add An Employee List Directory
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List)
The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you employee.
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your admin and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(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)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, you will notice that new menu will be added to your main WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the settings and options for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
Plugin Configuration
Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can just start adding new staff member details after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your group members.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your directory groups go to your dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This brings up the Groups settings …
(Groups settings)
Note: Configuring groups works just like categories in WordPress …
(Groups work like categories)
Create new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group name
- Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your group. 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 – Enter your group description here
- Click Add New Group when finished to create a new directory category …
(Groups settings area)
If you run a business that employs many people, being able to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for founders, project teams, departments, etc.
Create as many groups and nested groups 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 on the Add New Group button after entering each item …
To change Groups for individual entries, hover your mouse button over a category title and select the Edit link …
Your selected item open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update when done …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and select Quick Edit …
Click the Update Group button after making changes …
Add as many group names as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
Once you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, the next step is to 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 page provides an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The employee’s name
- Permalink: Change the slug associated with each staff member if you want (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The employee’s role
- Email: Enter your staff member’s email
- Phone Number: Type your employee’s phone number into this field
- Facebook URL: Add your staff member’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type your company’s Twitter username into this field (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 format content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign the person to a specific group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options)
You will see options to enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your staff member’s details …
(Add Staff Member fields)
Once you are done entering details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature in the sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you have not set up groups before adding staff member details, you can create a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field will appear allowing you to enter a new group name, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new group and click on Add New Group …
Your new category will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign the list item to the group …
(New group added via Groups section)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to an employee or team member’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 member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the staff directory …
Click View Post …
You can update the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using the dashboard admin toolbar here:
Note: If ’page not found’ errors like the one shown in the screenshot below shows up, check that you have correctly set up your site’s permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’not found’ page errors)
If you need help setting up WP permalinks, go here:
Keep adding new details to your directory directory as described above.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff or faculty members into your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in your main admin menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table of all the listing entries and details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to make changes to individual details, hover your mouse over their listing, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to modify their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete an entry from the directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Edit Staff Members details)
If you have many employees, your list can become unwieldy.
You can use the Search Staff Members search box to find member details …
(Search Staff Members search field)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields can display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide specific fields. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when done to save your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that your staff members show on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order in your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to the desired position …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list)
Once you are done adding all of your staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory to your site visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order in which entries show on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order on your main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to a desired position …
(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list)
Once you have added all of your employees’ details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin lets you edit the layout and style of your employee directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your employee directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the allowable template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is a screenshot of the Default Template …
(Default Staff Loop 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 listing. To make these fields display in the directory, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template loop, as shown in the example below …
(Use template tags to customize your directory page)
Your employee listings will now display Facebook and Twitter links as as the screenshot below shows …
(Directory listings with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with template tags or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
As well as allowing you to customize your listing 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 Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to use.
A useful variation you can decide to use, 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=”property managers”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In your menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This opens the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
This section lets you change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
Finally, you can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export screen …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need plugin help or support, visit the Simple Staff List faq page and request help from the plugin author.
Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Staff Directories
Simple Staff List is not the only adding a directory of your staff in WordPress. For example, here are other plugins you can use:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress 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)
More info:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
With Staff Directory, you can easily display a list of team/faculty/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
This plugin also lets you set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)
More info:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory)
Faculty And Staff Directory was developed to provide a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college or university.
The plugin also includes a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
With Company Directory, you can easily add your employees to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and table views, as well as fields like position title, email address, phone number, image and member bio, allowing you to present 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 members in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just one single member of your team in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon 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 screen size of the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each faculty member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight website)
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
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 a staff directory on your website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from 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 Directory Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to easily add an easy-to-update list directory of employees or team members in your WordPress site without coding skills.
Models used in this tutorial to display 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