Business experts often raise the point that people generally buy from people they already know, like and trust.
Are you looking for quicker and simpler ideas to sell more products online or get people to interact more with your site? Then something you can do, is make it easier for your prospects to get to know you and your business better.
If you have a WordPress-powered site, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to display information about your key partners, your faculty, or your employees using a WordPress directory plugin.
In this tutorial, we show you how to easily create and add an easy-to-update list directory of staff members in your WordPress site without messing with code.
Adding An Employee List Directory To Your Site
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List)
Simple Staff List lets you easily create a simple staff directory list for.
The first step is to install and activate the plugin.
Log into the WP admin and from the admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, you will see that a new menu will appear in the WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the settings and options for this plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.
How To Configure The Plugin
Depending on the size of your team and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can start to add new staff member details at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to place yourgroup members into.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your groups go to your WP dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
The Groups settings …
(Groups screen)
Note: Setting up directory groups is just like configuring categories in WordPress …
(Groups are like WordPress categories)
Create new groups 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 groups
- Description – Enter the group description in this field
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up the new group name …
(Groups settings area)
If you work with a larger organization, the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for investors, developers, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories and nested categories 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 the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To change Groups for specific items, hover your mouse button 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 from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update when done …
To change the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and select Quick Edit …
Click the Update Group button when done …
Continue adding categories to this section until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested categories)
Once you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, the next step is to start to add staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This loads the Add New Staff Member settings area …
(Add New Staff Member settings area)
This page provides 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
- Slug: Here you can change your employees’ slug (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The employee’s role
- Email: Your employee’s email
- Phone Number: Your employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Enter your company’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter the person’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your employees here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign an employee or faculty member to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options)
You will see options to enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your staff member’s details …
(Add New Staff Member fields)
After you have entered details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups feature in your sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you did not set up groups before adding staff member details, you can add a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group)
A field will display allowing you to enter a new group name, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new group and click on the Add New Group button …
The new group will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …
(New group added in Groups box)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or edited. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).
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After entering your staff member’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can modify the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial on using the admin toolbar here:
Note: If you have set up groups and get ’not found’ page errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly set up your site’s permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’page not found’ errors)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using permalinks here:
Repeat the above process to continue adding new details to your directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you are done entering staff members into 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 the directory items and details you have added for each entry …
(Staff Members list)
If you need to change an individual’s entry, simply hover over their list name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to modify their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete an entry from the directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Edit Staff Members details)
If you have many items added to this section, your table can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to locate listing items if necessary …
(Search members)
The plugin also lets you 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 …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide specific fields. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when done to save your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order that entries appear on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to the new location …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list entries)
After adding your members’ details to the directory, the next step is to add the directory to your site users.
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that entries appear on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the entry to the desired location …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
Once you have added employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin also 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 staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from the 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, here is the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Template)
The This code will display your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above example. To make these fields display in the directory, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Your staff details will now display with Facebook and Twitter links as shown in the screenshot below …
(Staff profiles with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings 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
As well as allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen displays all different shortcode variations that you can use with the plugin.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can add to your page to display a list of staff members belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Gold Level associates”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Options settings)
This section lets you change some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export page …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need plugin help or support, visit the plugin plugin website.
Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Employee Directories
Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a listing of your staff in WordPress. For example, here are some other free plugins you can look at:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
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)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
The Staff Directory plugin lets you easily create a directory of faculty/team/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
You can also insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: plugin website)
More info:
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.
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
With Company Directory, you can add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and single views, plus as fields like title, email, phone, image and staff 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 staff member 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 simple shortcodes.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, 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 on plugin activation.
Employee Spotlight includes two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, 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 employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight plugin website)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Staffer
(Staffer)
This plugin uses custom post types for staff 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.
Learn more about the plugin here:
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 List
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to easily add an easy-to-manage list directory of employees or team members in your site using free WordPress plugins.
Images of persons used in this tutorial to display 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