No doubt you’ve already heard that people generally will buy from those they know, like and trust.
If you are looking for quicker and simpler ideas to sell more products online, then something you can do, is help your visitors get to know you and your business better.
If your website runs on the WordPress Content Management System, a simple way to help visitors get to know you better is to display information about your key people, your team, or your staff members using a staff list plugin.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to easily add an easy-to-maintain simple faculty members directory to your website using a free plugin.
How To Easily Add An Employee List Directory To Your Site
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List is free and lets you build a simple staff directory list for.
The first step is to install and activate this plugin.
Log into the WordPress administration and from the admin menu section, choose Plugins > Add New …
(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, a new menu will appear in your main WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the settings and options for this plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Plugin Configuration
Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can just start to add new staff entries at this point, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to assign yourstaff into.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your directory categories go to your WordPress dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This brings you to the Groups section …
(Groups area)
Note: Configuring directory groups is just like setting up WordPress categories …
(Groups work just like WordPress categories)
Add new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group category name
- Slug – Enter 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 – Use this section if you plan to set up a directory hierarchy
- Description – Enter your group description here
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to create the new category …
(Groups settings)
If you work with a business that employs many people, having the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for investors, 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 hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering each new item …
To change Groups for an entry, hover your mouse button over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The selected item open in the Edit Group page. Select a new group category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click the Update button when done …
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 after making changes …
Add as many categories as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested categories)
After you are done setting up your directory structure, the next step is to begin adding staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member settings area …
(Add New Staff Member settings screen)
This screen provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The staff member’s name
- Slug: Here you can edit your employees’ permalink URL (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Add the person’s position here
- Email: Your employee’s email address
- Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Enter the employee’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter your company’s Twitter username here (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 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 your staff member to a group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options tab)
You will see options to enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each staff member’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
After you have entered your staff member’s details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups section in your sidebar …
(Groups feature)
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 clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group)
A field for entering a group name will appear, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter 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 added)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to employee details. To edit an item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).
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After typing in your staff or faculty member’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can edit the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using the dashboard admin toolbar here:
Note: If ’not found’ page errors like the one shown in the screenshot below shows up, check that you have correctly set up your site’s permalinks …
(Page error – Check your permalinks)
If you need help setting up permalinks, go here:
Repeat the above process to add more entries to your employee or team directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you are done entering employee or faculty members to your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all your directory items and their details …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to edit individual details, just hover your mouse over their list name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to modify the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a listing from the employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Edit Staff Members details)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can grow quite large.
You can use the Search Staff Members search box to locate a member if required …
(Search Staff Members search field)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields to display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …
(Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide fields. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order that entries display on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to its desired location …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list items)
After adding all member details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory show on your site.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order that listings appear on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on your WordPress admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the item to the new location …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered listings)
Once you are done adding employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your site users.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin lets you create the layout and style of your directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from the main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Simple Staff List Templates page)
To customize your directory, insert any of the permitted 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 above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above example. To display these fields, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Use template tags to customize your directory page)
Your employee entries will now display with Facebook and Twitter links as as shown below …
(Directory listings with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks but don’t want to mess around with CSS styles and template tags or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, 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, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Usage Shortcode section)
This screen lists all different shortcode variations that you can use with this plugin.
A useful shortcode variation you can choose, for example, to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales managers”])
Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options in your main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – Options screen)
This section lets you edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
Finally, you can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export page …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need plugin help or support, visit the plugin faq page.
Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Staff Directories
Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to create an employee directory in WordPress. Here are a few other free plugins you can use:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress 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)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory)
Staff Directory lets you easily display a list of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
This plugin also lets you insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: plugin website)
Go here to learn more:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
Faculty And Staff Directory provides 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 go here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
With Company Directory, you can easily add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable single views, plus as fields like title, email address, phone, image and staff bio, allowing visitors to get to know 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 in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
This plugin uses shortcodes.
Learn more here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just a single 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 pluginincludes two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.
Detailed information about each faculty member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
Staffer 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 staff directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)
Staffer works immediately with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
More info:
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 List
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-maintain list directory of staff members to your site using free WP plugins.
Images of persons used to display sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"This is AMAZING! I had learnt about how to use WordPress previously, but this covers absolutely everything and more!! Incredible value! Thank you!" - Monique, Warrior Forum