Many business experts have successfully proven that people will mostly buy from businesses they know, like and trust.
Are you searching for simple ways to sell more products online and get people to stay longer on your site? Then help your prospects get to know, like and trust your business better.
Adding a faculty directory to your site can generate more trust, boost your credibility online and get more prospects buying from you.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to easily add an easy-to-maintain simple staff directory in WordPress using a free WordPress plugin.
Adding A Staff List Directory: Tutorial
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
The Simple Staff List plugin is a free WordPress plugin that lets you easily employee.
First, let’s install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your WordPress admin and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(WP 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 Install Now …
(WordPress Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, you will see that a new menu will show up in the main WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the options and settings for your plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
Plugin Configuration
Depending on how many people are employed in your organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can just begin to add new staff member details at this point, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual members.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s configure your categories. From your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This brings you to the Groups panel …
(Groups screen)
Note: Configuring directory groups works in the same way as adding categories …
(Groups work like WordPress categories)
Add new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group name here
- Slug – Type in the slug of your group. 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 – Enter the group description here
- Click Add New Group when finished to set up the new group …
(Groups area)
If you work with a business that employs many people, the ability to set up different categories 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 want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after creating new items …
To change Groups for a particular item, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
The selected group details will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update when done …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on Quick Edit …
Click Update Group after making changes …
Add as many groups as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
Once you are done setting up your groups, the next step is to start adding your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WP admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This brings you to the Add New Staff Member settings …
(Add New Staff Member settings screen)
This page provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your employee’s name
- Slug: You can edit each employees’ permalink URL (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Add the person’s position
- Email: The staff member’s email
- Phone Number: Add the person’s phone number here
- Facebook URL: Enter your staff member’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type 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 staff or team member here. Since this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign the individual to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up your groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen options)
You will see options to enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your employee’s details …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
Once you are done entering your staff member’s details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups box located in your sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you have not set up directory groups before starting to add 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 display allowing you to create a new group name, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on Add New Group …
Your new group will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign your listing to the group …
(Groups feature)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing employee details. To edit an item, 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 employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your directory …
Click View Post …
To make changes to your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the WP admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If errors like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that you have set up your permalinks correctly …
(Not found error? Check your permalinks)
If you need help setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:
Keep adding new members to your employee or team directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you are done adding employee details to your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all your directory entries and their details …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to make changes to an individual’s entry, hover your mouse over their name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to edit their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a list item from your staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Editing Staff Members profile information)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can grow quite large.
You can use the Search Staff Members search field to find entries …
(Search Staff Members search box)
The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide specific fields. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when finished to update your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order in which your employees appear on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to the new position …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list)
Once you are done adding all of your staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order in which entries display on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to the new position …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list items)
Once you are done adding all of your staff 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 allows you to create the style and layout of your 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 the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Simple Staff List Templates screen)
To customize your directory listings, insert any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is a screenshot of the Default Template …
(Default Staff Loop Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To make these fields display in your directory, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Your staff profiles will now display as as shown below …
(Directory listings with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around 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 staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your WP admin menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen lists all the shortcode variations that the plugin allows you to use.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can select 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 inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Choose Staff Members >Options on the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)
This section lets you edit some of the labels used in the plugin
You can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export screen …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need plugin support, visit the Simple Staff List site.
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 check out to create a directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory)
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 – WP Plugin)
Staff Directory lets you easily create a directory of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
The plugin lets you use custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory website)
Learn more about this plugin here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
Faculty And Staff Directory was developed to provide 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.
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin lets you easily add your staff to your website. Different layouts are available, including grid and customizable single views, plus as fields like title, email, phone, image and 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 learn more about each employee in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory website)
This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.
Learn more here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just a single person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
The Employee Spotlight plugincomes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, 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 circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight website)
Go here to learn more:
Staffer
(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin uses custom post types for staff/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 sourced from Staffer plugin website)
Staffer works with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
For more details go 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 Directory Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple staff directory to your WordPress site, so you can better showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.
Models used to portray 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