You have no doubt heard that people will buy from those they know, like and trust.
If you are looking for simple ways to sell more products or services online or increase user interaction with your site, then help visitors get to know, like and trust you and your business better.
If you use WordPress, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to add a directory plugin that lets you display information about your partners, your team, or your staff members.
This step-by-step tutorial explains how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of staff members to your WordPress site.
Tutorial: Adding An Employee List Directory To Your WordPress Site
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a free WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List is free and lets you display basic information to visitors about your staff members on your website.
First, let’s install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into the WordPress administration and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new entry will appear on your main WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
The Staff Members menu is where you will configure and manage all of the settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
Configuring The Plugin
Depending on how many people are employed in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you could just begin adding new employee details after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff members.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by configuring your categories. In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This takes you to the Groups section …
(Groups screen)
Note: Configuring directory groups works just like WordPress categories …
(Groups are like WordPress categories)
Add a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your category name here
- Slug – Type in the slug of your category name. 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 – Type in a category description here (optional)
- Click Add New Group when finished to create the new group name …
(Groups settings)
If you run a business that employs many people, the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for investors, developers, departments, 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 hierarchical structure …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To change Groups for specific items, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The group details will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button when done …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click the Update Group button when done …
Continue adding groups to this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Add nested groups to your staff directory)
Once you are done setting up your groups, you can start to add names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member section opens on your web browser …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
This area provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The staff member’s name
- Permalink: Change the slug for your staff member if you want (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: The employee’s position
- Email: Your employee’s email
- Phone Number: Type your staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Enter the person’s Facebook URL here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type the person’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 staff member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign your staff member 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 tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your employee’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
Once you have entered details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups feature in the sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you did not set up directory groups before starting to add new staff members, 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 enter 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 category and click on Add New Group …
The new directory category will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign an individual to the group …
(Groups section)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to a staff 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 the person’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To modify your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
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 permalinks …
(Not found error – Check your permalinks)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using WP permalinks here:
Repeat the above process to add more entries to your directory 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 on your menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the directory items and details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members list)
If you need to edit an individual’s details, hover over their name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to update the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a list item from your directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Edit Staff Members profile)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can grow quite large.
You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate entries if necessary …
(Search members)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields to display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …
(Screen Options)
Placing a tick in the item’s check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when finished to save your settings …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order in which your employees display on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order in your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to its desired location …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
After adding all member details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order that your staff details appear on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the entry to a new location …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
After adding all members’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to add the directory to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin also lets you customize the layout and style of your employee directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Templates screen)
To customize your directory, reorganize any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)
The This code will display your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. To display these fields, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown in the example below …
(Use template tags to customize your directory page)
Your directory listings will now display as as the screenshot below shows …
(Directory listings with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess with code or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
In addition to being able to customize your directory 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 opens the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcodes)
This screen lists all the shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can add to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”technical engineers”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Select Staff Members >Options on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
This section lets you edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
You can also export your staff members data by going to your main admin menu and choosing Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need plugin help or support, visit the Simple Staff List support page and request help from the plugin developer.
Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Employee Directories
Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use. Here are a few other plugins you can check out:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory 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)
Learn more about this plugin here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
With the Staff Directory plugin, you can easily display a list of faculty/staff/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
The plugin lets you create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory plugin website)
For more details go here:
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.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory)
The Company Directory plugin lets you add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and single views, plus as fields like title, email, phone number, image and bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.
Visitors can click through from your list, grid, and table views to learn 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 uses shortcodes.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders or just one individual person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
Employee Spotlight includes two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.
Detailed information about each employee can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight plugin website)
Learn more here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP Plugin)
The Staffer 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 online staff directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer plugin website)
Staffer works immediately with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
More info:
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
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple employee or team member directory to your WordPress site with no coding skills required, so your site visitors can get to know you and your business better.
Images of persons used to display fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now