Consumer buying habits show that people generally buy from businesses they know, like and trust.
If you are looking for quicker and simpler ways to sell more products or services online or get people to stay longer on your site, then one of the things you can do, is help your prospects get to know, like and trust you and your business better.
Adding a directory to your website can help boost your credibility online and get interested prospects to request quotes or more information.
This tutorial will show you how to create an easy-to-maintain staff directory in your WordPress site.
Step-By-Step Tutorial: Adding A Staff Directory
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List)
Simple Staff List lets you easily display basic information about your staff on your website.
The first step is to install and activate the plugin.
Log into the administration and go 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 Install Now …
(WordPress Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, you will notice that new menu will show up in the WordPress menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
Here is where you will manage and configure all of the settings and options for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could just begin to add new employee details after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your employees.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by configuring your groups. In your WordPress dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This brings you to the Groups screen …
(Groups section)
Note: Adding directory groups is just like setting up categories …
(Groups work just like categories)
Add a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group category name
- Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your group 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 a directory hierarchy
- Description – Enter the group description in this field
- Click Add New Group when finished to set up a new category …
(Groups section)
If you work with a larger organization, the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for partners, project teams, 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 assign these to a hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after creating new items …
To edit or reassign Groups for an item, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The category will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update to save your changes …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and choose Quick Edit …
Click the Update Group button to save your changes …
Continue adding group names to this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested categories)
After you have finished setting up your directory structure, the next step is to begin adding staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This brings you to the Add New Staff Member screen …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This area 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: Modify the permalink URL for your 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: Enter the staff member’s role
- Email: Your staff member’s email address
- Phone Number: Type the employee’s phone number here
- Facebook URL: Type in the staff member’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type your company’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 employee here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign your staff member to a group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen options tab)
You can enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your employee’s details …
(Add New Staff Member fields)
After you have entered details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups section in the sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you have not set up 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 entering your group name will appear, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new group and click on Add New Group …
Your new directory category will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign the list entry to the group …
(New group added via 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 filling in the person’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 admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using the WordPress admin toolbar here:
Note: If you have set up groups and get ’page not found’ errors like the one shown below, check that you have configured your permalinks correctly …
(Page error? Check your permalinks)
If you need help setting up permalinks, go here:
Repeat the above process to add new details to your directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employees into your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in the main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all the directory entries and their details …
(Staff Members list)
If you need to make changes to an individual’s details, hover over their listing, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to edit the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a member from the staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Edit Staff Members info)
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 locate items if necessary …
(Search Staff Members search box)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields to display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …
(Screen Options)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide fields. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when done to save your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order in which listings show on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to the desired location …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you have added member details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory show on your site.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that listings appear on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to its new position …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list)
After adding all employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory display on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin also 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 staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Templates page)
To customize your directory listings, insert any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is the Default Template …
(Default Simple Staff List Template)
The The code shown above displays your listing as shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. To display these fields, 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)
Your staff profiles will now display as as shown below …
(Employee profiles with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with template tags 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 directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations that the plugin allows you to use.
For example, a useful variation you can add to your page to display a list of individuals 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=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Options settings)
Here you can change some of the labels used in the plugin
You can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export page …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need plugin support, go to the plugin website.
Other Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List isn’t the only WordPress staff directory plugin you can use. Here are other plugins you can check out:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
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)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
Staff Directory lets you easily create a directory of team/faculty/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.
You can also create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
More info:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory)
Faculty And Staff Directory provides 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 the plugin go here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
The Company Directory plugin lets you add your staff, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable 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 read 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 website)
This plugin uses shortcodes.
Go here to learn more:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays staff 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.
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 screen size of the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each staff member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Go here to learn more:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
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 online employee directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer website)
Staffer works immediately with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
Go here to learn more:
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 Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has helped you learn how to add a simple and easy-to-manage staff directory to your WordPress site.
Images of persons used to depict 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