You have no doubt heard that people generally buy from businesses they know, like and trust.
If you are looking for cost-effective ideas to grow your business online, then make it easier for your visitors to get to know you, your team and your business better.
Adding a directory of staff to your site can help boost your credibility online and get more prospects considering using your services.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you will learn how to add an easy-to-manage list of employees to a WordPress site using a free plugin.
Step-By-Step Tutorial: Adding An Employee List Directory To Your WordPress Site
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List lets you easily display information to visitors about your employee on your site.
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into the dashboard and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on Install Now …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, you will see that a new entry will be added to the main WP admin menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
This menu is where you will manage and configure all of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
How To Configure The Plugin
Depending on how many people are employed in your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could just start adding new employee entries at this at this stage, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualgroup members into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s configure your groups. In your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
The Groups section …
(Groups settings area)
Note: Configuring directory groups works in the same way as adding categories …
(Groups work just like WordPress categories)
Create 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 – Use this section if you plan to set up nested categories
- Description – Type in a category description in this field
- Click Add New Group when done to set up the new group …
(Groups settings screen)
If you work with a business that employs many people, being able to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for founders, project teams, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories and nested categories as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a directory hierarchy …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To change Groups for individual items, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
The category details will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update to save your changes …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and choose the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click on Update Group when done to save your changes …
Continue adding group names in this section until you have created 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 staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This takes you to the Add New Staff Member settings area …
(Add New Staff Member settings area)
This screen provides an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your employee’s name
- Permalink: Here you can change the permalink URL for each employee if you want (you will see this section after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type in your staff member’s position here
- Email: Your staff member’s email address
- Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Add your company’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type in the employee’s Twitter username (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Type in a profile description for your employee here. As this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign the person to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen options)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each staff member’s details …
(Add Staff Member fields)
Once you have entered each of you staff member’s details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups feature located in the sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you have not set up directory groups before starting to add new staff members, you can create 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 dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new directory category and click on Add New Group …
The new group will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign a person to the group …
(New group added via Groups feature)
Note: You cannot edit groups 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 of the tutorial above for details).
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After entering 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 WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the WordPress admin toolbar, refer to this tutorial:
Note: If a page error shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that you have correctly set up your permalinks …
(Page error? Check your permalinks)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using WordPress permalinks here:
Keep adding new members to your employee or faculty directory as shown above until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employee or team members into your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on the menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a list displaying all your employees and all details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members details)
If you need to modify individual details, hover over their listing, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to make changes to the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a member from your directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Edit Staff Members info)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can grow quite large.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to locate a member if necessary …
(Search members)
You can 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 tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide specific fields. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when done to update your settings …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order that entries show on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order in your WP admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to its new position …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered listings)
After adding your staff details to your directory, the next step is to display your directory to your site users.
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order in which entries show on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order in the main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to its new location …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list)
Once you have added member details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List allows you to customize the layout and style of your employee directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your employee directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – 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 a screenshot of the default template used for displaying listings …
(Default Plugin 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 display these fields, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your listings page)
Your directory entries will now display as shown in the screenshot below …
(Directory with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with editing code or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
In addition to being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)
This screen lists all the shortcode variations you can use.
For example, a useful 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=”customer representatives”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options on the menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Options settings)
This section lets you modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
You can also export your staff members data by going to your menu and choosing Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need plugin help or support, go to the Simple Staff List faq page.
Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Employee Directories
Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a listing of your employees. For example, here are other free plugins you can use for adding a directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
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)
More info:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
Staff Directory lets you easily create a directory of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
You can also insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
This plugin was developed to provide 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.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory)
Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and single views, as well as fields like position title, email, phone number, pic and 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 in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin uses simple shortcodes.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just one single person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
With Employee Spotlight, you also get 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 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 the plugin:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP Staff Directory 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 employee directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer website)
Staffer works with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
Learn more 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 Directory Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple employee directory to your WordPress site, so you can better showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.
Images used to depict sample staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)