You have no doubt heard that people will mostly buy from people they know, like and trust.
If you are searching for simple ways to grow your business online and get people to stay longer on your site, then make it easier for your prospects to get to know, like and trust your organization better.
If you are a WordPress user, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to use a WordPress directory plugin that will let you add information about your key people, your faculty, or your employees.
This step-by-step tutorial explains how to create and add a simple and easy-to-maintain staff directory in your site.
Step-By-Step Tutorial: Adding A Staff List Directory
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you build a basic staff directory list for.
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into your WordPress dashboard and go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on Install Now …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, a new menu will have been added to the main WP admin menu section 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.
Configuring The Plugin
Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could begin adding new staff members at this point, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to assign yourstaff into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by setting up your directory groups. From your WP dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This brings you to the Groups settings …
(Groups settings area)
Note: Setting up directory groups works just like categories …
(Groups work just like categories)
Create a new group 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 – This section lets you set up nested groups
- Description – Type in a category description in this field (optional)
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to create a new directory category …
(Groups settings)
If you work with a medium to large organization, the ability to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for founders, developers, departments, etc.
Create as many categories and nested groups as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating new items …
To edit or reassign Groups for a particular entry, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
The category details will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update when done …
To change your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click Update Group to save your changes …
Add as many groups as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested categories)
Once you have finished setting up your groups, you can begin to add names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This loads the Add New Staff Member section …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This screen provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your employee’s name
- Permalink: Change your staff members’ slug (you will see this section after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your staff member’s position
- Email: Type the person’s email address
- Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type your staff member’s Facebook address here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type in your staff member’s Twitter username into this field (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 faculty member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign the individual to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each employee’s details …
(Add Staff Member settings)
Once you have finished entering your staff member’s details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups section in your sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you did not set up categories before adding staff member details, you can add a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field will appear allowing you to create a new group name, with a drop-down menu that lets you 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 checkbox to assign the person’s details to the group …
(New group added)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing a person’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 your employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To make changes to your employee’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the WordPress admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If you get errors like the one shown below, check that you have configured your site permalinks correctly …
(Not found error? Check your permalinks)
To learn more about setting up permalinks, go here:
Repeat the above process to add new entries to your employee or team directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employee or team members to your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table of all the employees and details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members list)
If you need to change an individual’s details, hover over their list name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to edit their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove an entry from your directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Editing Staff Members profile information)
If you have many entries, your list can become unwieldy.
You can use the Search Staff Members search box to locate entries if necessary …
(Search members)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields can display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options)
Placing a tick in the item’s checkbox displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when finished 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 in which listings appear on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the item to the new location …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered listings)
After adding all employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your site visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order in which entries show on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to a desired location …
(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list items)
After adding your employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to display your directory to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin allows you to customize the layout and style of your directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your 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, 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 Staff Loop Template)
The This code will display your listing as shown below …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above example. To make these fields show in your directory, we 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 profiles will now display with Facebook and Twitter addresses as as the example below shows …
(Staff profiles with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess around with CSS code and template tags or are not sure 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 main menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Usage Shortcode screen)
This screen displays all the shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.
A useful variation you can decide to use, 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 trainers”])
Or, you can make your listings display in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In your menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)
This section lets you modify some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export section …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need plugin help or support, visit the Simple Staff List support page and request help from the plugin author.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List is not the only adding a directory of your faculty in WordPress. Here are other free WordPress plugins you can check out to create a directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory)
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)
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin lets you easily create a directory of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.
The plugin lets you insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)
Learn more here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
This plugin provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.
The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
Learn more here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory)
This plugin lets you easily add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and table views, plus as fields like job title, email address, phone number, pic and member 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 staff member 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 shortcodes.
Go here to learn more:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, 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 upon plugin activation.
Employee Spotlight installs with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each team member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight website)
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)
This plugin 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 onsite employee directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer 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 directory plugins listed above 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 List
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to add a simple team members directory in a WordPress site with no coding skills required.
Images used to portray sample staff members in this tutorial 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