No doubt you’ve already heard that people generally buy from people they know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker and simpler ways to grow your business online and get people to stay longer on your site, then make it easier for prospects to get to know you and your business better.
Adding a directory of staff to your site can help boost your online credibility and get more prospects contacting you.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to create and add an updatable directory of employees in WordPress with no coding skills required.
WordPress Plugin Tutorial: Adding A Staff List Directory
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 easily create a simple staff directory for.
The first step is to install and activate this plugin.
Log into the admin and from the admin menu, choose Plugins > Add New …
(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 Install Now …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Click the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu entry will show up in your main WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the settings for this plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Configuring The Plugin
Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could just begin to add new staff details after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your directory groups go to your WordPress dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This brings up the Groups settings screen in your browser …
(Groups screen)
Note: Adding directory groups works just like WordPress categories …
(Groups work just like WordPress categories)
Add new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group name here
- Slug – Enter the slug 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 a directory hierarchy
- Description – Type in the category description in this field (optional)
- Click Add New Group when finished to set up a new group name …
(Groups settings)
If you are a business that employs many people, having the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for investors, developers, departments, etc.
Create as many groups and nested categories as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a hierarchical structure …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating new items …
To edit or reassign Groups for an item, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The category open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button to save your changes …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click Update Group after making changes …
Add as many groups as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Add nested groups to your directory)
After you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, you can start adding staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your WordPress admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This brings you to the Add New Staff Member settings …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This page provides you with 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 your employees’ slug (you will see this section after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type in the employee’s position
- Email: The employee’s email
- Phone Number: Add the person’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Enter the staff member’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type in your staff member’s Twitter username (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your staff member here. As this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatted content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign your employee to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options)
You can enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your employee’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
Once you have finished inputting details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups box located in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you have not set up directory groups before starting to add new staff members, you can add a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group feature)
A field for creating a group name will appear, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …
The new category will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …
(New group added in Groups section)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or modified. 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 entering the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your employee directory …
Click View Post …
You can update your staff member’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the WP admin toolbar, see this tutorial:
Note: If you see ’not found’ page errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly set up your site’s permalinks …
(Page error – Check your permalinks)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks in WordPress here:
Repeat the above process to continue adding more details to your employee directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you have finished adding employee or faculty members into your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on your main admin menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all your staff profiles and their details …
(Staff Members details)
If you need to modify an individual’s details, hover your mouse over their listing, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to edit the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a member from your employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members profile)
If you have many names to add, your table can become unwieldy.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to locate items if necessary …
(Search Staff Members search box)
You can specify which fields to display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options tab)
Selecting a check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when done to save your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order in which your employees display on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the item to its desired location …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list items)
Once you are done adding employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to display your directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order that entries appear on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order in the main menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to its new location …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list items)
After adding your members’ details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin lets you create the layout and style of your employee directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your employee directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the main menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory, insert any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Plugin Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above listing. To make these fields show up in the directory, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your listings page will now look like …
(Employee profiles with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with editing code or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
In addition to allowing you to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcodes)
This screen lists all different shortcode variations that you can use with the Simple Staff List plugin.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can add to 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=”senior staff”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Options screen)
This section lets you change some of the labels used in the plugin
You can also export your staff members data by going to the main admin menu and selecting Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need additional information about the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the Simple Staff List faq page and contact the plugin author.
Other Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List is not the only adding a directory of your faculty in WordPress. Here are other free plugins you can check out for adding a directory on your website:
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)
More info:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
This plugin lets you easily display a list of team/faculty/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
You can also insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory plugin website)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory)
The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin was developed to provide 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 go here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
With Company Directory, you can easily add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, plus as fields like title, email address, phone number, image and staff bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.
Visitors can 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 members in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory website)
This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners 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 includes two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.
Detailed information about each team member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer)
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 website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin website)
Staffer works with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
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 Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple directory of staff members to your WordPress site with no coding skills required, so your web visitors can get to know you and your business better.
Images of persons used to depict fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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