Consumer buying habits have successfully shown that people generally will buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for simple ideas to sell more products online and get people to stay longer on your site, then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for your visitors to get to know you and your organization better.
Adding an employee directory to your site can lead to increased trust, boost your credibility online and get more prospects to consider using your services.
In this tutorial, we show you how to easily create and add an easy-to-update simple team members directory to your site using a free WP plugin.
WordPress Plugin Tutorial: How To Easily Add A Staff Directory To Your Site
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
Simple Staff List lets you easily staff members.
The first step is to install and activate the plugin.
Log into your administration and go to Plugins > Add New …
(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This should bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu entry will be added to your main WP menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on how many people are employed in your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can begin to add new staff member details at this point, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual group members.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your groups go to your WordPress dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This brings up the Groups screen in your web browser …
(Groups section)
Note: Adding groups works in the same way as configuring WordPress categories …
(Groups are like categories)
Add new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group name here
- Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your group category 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 categories
- Description – Enter your category description
- Click the Add New Group button when done to set up a new directory category …
(Groups section)
If you run a medium to large organization, being able to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for founders, project teams, departments, etc.
Create as many categories and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a hierarchical structure …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after creating new items …
To edit Groups for individual entries, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The group details open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new 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 over the group name and choose Quick Edit …
Click Update Group when done to save your changes …
Continue adding groups in this section until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
Once you have finished setting up your hierarchical structure, the next step is to start to add your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WordPress admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This loads the Add New Staff Member settings …
(Add New Staff Member screen)
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: Modify the permalink URL associated with your employee if you want (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type in the person’s role
- Email: Enter your staff member’s email
- Phone Number: Type in the person’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type your staff member’s Facebook address into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter the person’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 in a profile description for your staff members here. As this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content in 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 at the top of the screen …
(Screen options tab)
You can enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your staff member’s details …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
Once you have entered details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups section in the sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you have not set up your directory groups before starting to add new staff members, you can create a group now by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field for entering your new 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 category and click on Add New Group …
Your new group will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign a person to the group …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing an employee or faculty 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 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)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using the admin toolbar here:
Note: If ’not found’ page errors shows up like the one shown in the example below, check that your site permalinks have been set up correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’not found’ page errors)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks in WordPress here:
Repeat the above process to continue adding new details to your employee or team directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employee details into your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the employees and their details …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to edit an individual’s entry, hover your mouse over their listing, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to make changes to their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from the directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Editing Staff Members profile details)
If you have many employees, your table can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search feature to find member details …
(Search members)
The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide specific fields. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when done to save your settings …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order in which entries display on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the entry to the desired position …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list)
Once you have added all of your employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your site visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that entries show on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to the new position …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list items)
Once you have added members’ details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List allows you to create 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 staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from the WordPress admin menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Customize your directory template)
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 …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)
The This code displays your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To display these fields, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template loop, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Your staff entries will now display as as shown below …
(Directory listings with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess with editing code or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
In addition to allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your dashboard menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcodes)
This screen displays all different shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.
For example, a useful variation you can insert in your page 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”])
Or, you can make your listings display in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
Here you can edit some of the labels used in the plugin
You can also export your staff members details by going to the dashboard menu and choosing Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need plugin help or support, go to the plugin website and contact the plugin developer.
Additional Employee Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only adding a directory of your faculty. For example, here are a few other free plugins you can look at:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
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)
Learn more about this plugin here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory)
With the Staff Directory plugin, you can 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 add custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Go here to learn more:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin provides 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 a profile in a widget area.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Plugin)
With Company Directory, you can add your employees to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and customizable single views, as well as fields like job title, email address, phone number, photo and 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 employee in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.
For more details go here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders or just one single member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
With this plugin, you also get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus 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 Plugin)
Staffer uses custom post types for employee management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an employee directory on your site …
(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, search the WordPress plugin directory or go online and search for:
- Add Staff Directory To WordPress
- WordPress Staff Directory Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this tutorial has explained how to create an easy-to-manage directory of employees in your website.
Images used in this tutorial to display sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)