Something that’s been proven to work in business, is that people will mostly buy from businesses they know, like and trust.
If you are searching for ways to sell more products or services online, then make it easier for visitors to get to know, like and trust your organization better.
Adding a directory to your website is a great way to humanize your business.
In this step-by-step tutorial, we explain how to create and add a simple and easily updatable simple employee directory in your site using free plugins.
How To Add A Staff Directory: Tutorial
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a free WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
Simple Staff List lets you staff.
First, let’s install and activate the plugin.
Log into your WordPress administration and from the admin menu section, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu will show up in your WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
This menu is where you will configure and manage all of the settings for this plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
Configuring Simple Staff List
Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your directory, you could start to add new entries at this point, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to place yourstaff members into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by configuring your groups. From your WP dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This takes you to the Groups settings panel …
(Groups area)
Note: Setting up groups is just like setting up WordPress categories …
(Groups work like categories)
Add new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group name here
- 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 – This section lets you set up nested categories
- Description – Type in the category description here (optional)
- Click the Add New Group button when done to set up the new group name …
(Groups section)
If you manage a business that employs many people, the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for partners, project teams, faculties, 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 change Groups for an individual entry, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The selected category will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update to save your changes …
To change your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and select Quick Edit …
Click the Update Group button when done …
Add as many categories as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested categories as you like …
(Add nested groups to your directory)
After you have finished setting up your groups, the next step is to start 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 up the Add New Staff Member screen …
(Add New Staff Member screen)
This page provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The employee’s name
- Permalink: You can change your employees’ slug (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your employee’s position
- Email: Type in the person’s email here
- Phone Number: Your employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Enter the person’s Facebook URL here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter your employee’s Twitter username into this field (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. Since this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign a staff or team member to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each staff member’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
After you have entered details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups section located in the sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you have not set up directory groups before adding new staff members, you can create a group now by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field will display allowing you to enter a new group name, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …
A new directory category will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(Groups box)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing an employee or team member’s details. To edit a group item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).
***
After filling in the person’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can edit the employee’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 WordPress admin toolbar here:
Note: If ’page not found’ errors shows up like the one shown in the example below, check that your site’s permalinks have been set up correctly …
(Page error – Check your permalinks)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using permalinks in WordPress here:
Repeat the above process to add new entries to your staff or team directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff members to your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the staff profiles and details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to modify individual details, hover over their listing, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to update the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a list item from the staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members profile details)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to locate entries if required …
(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)
Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when finished to save your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order that listings appear on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to the new location …
(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered listings)
After adding all members’ details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order that your employees display on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to the desired position …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list items)
After adding your employees’ details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory display on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin lets you create the layout and style of your staff list entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your staff directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Simple Staff List Templates page)
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 Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To make these fields show in your directory, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template loop, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your directory will now look like …
(Directory with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with CSS styles and template tags 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 WP admin menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)
This screen displays all different shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.
For example, a useful variation you can select to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Asia Pacific Region”])
Or, you can make your listings display in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Select Staff Members >Options on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
Here you can edit some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members info by going to your menu and selecting Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need plugin support, visit the plugin website.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use. For example, here are some other free plugins you can look at:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory)
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)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
The Staff Directory plugin lets you easily create a directory of team/faculty/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.
This plugin also lets you insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: Staff Directory website)
More info:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin 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 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, plus as fields like job title, email, phone number, image and member 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 employee 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 also uses shortcodes.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders or just one single member of your team 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 which 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 faculty member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight website)
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP 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 a staff directory on your site …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer plugin website)
Staffer works immediately 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 directory plugins listed above 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 List
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple staff directory to your WordPress site, so your site visitors can get to know you and your business better.
Models used to depict fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
***
"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)