Consumer buying habits have successfully shown that people generally tend to buy from people they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker, simpler and cheaper ideas to grow your business online, then one of the things you can do, is help your visitors get to know, like and trust your organization better.
Adding a directory of staff or team members to your website can lead to more trust, boost your credibility online and get interested prospects contacting you.
In this step-by-step tutorial, we explain how to easily add an updatable simple staff directory to a WordPress site.
WordPress Plugin Tutorial: How To Easily Add An Employee List Directory To WordPress
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List)
Simple Staff List lets you easily display information about your staff members on your site.
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into the administration and navigate 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 plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu will show up in your main WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Configuring The Plugin
Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can begin to add new staff details after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place yourstaff into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s set up your directory categories. In your WP dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This brings you to the Groups panel …
(Groups screen)
Note: Setting up directory groups is similar to creating categories in WordPress …
(Groups work just like categories)
Add new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group category name here
- Slug – Type in the slug 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 a category description here (optional)
- Click Add New Group when finished to create the new group name …
(Groups settings screen)
If you work with a business that employs many people, the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for partners, project teams, departments, etc.
Create as many groups and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a directory hierarchy …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering each item …
To edit Groups for individual entries, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
The item’s details will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update when done …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click the Update Group button after making changes …
Add as many categories as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …
You can add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
Once you have finished setting up your directory structure, you can begin adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WordPress admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member screen …
(Add New Staff Member area)
This screen provides you with 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
- Permalink: Change your employees’ permalink URL (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your staff member’s position
- Email: Enter the person’s email address into this field
- Phone Number: Your employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type your company’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type the person’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 employee here. Since this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign your employee to a group (see above to learn how to set up 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 each of your staff member’s details …
(Staff directory settings)
Once you have finished entering details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups box in the sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you have not set up groups before adding staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group link)
A field will appear allowing you to create a new group name, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on Add New Group …
Your new category will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …
(New group added)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing employee details. To edit a group item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).
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After typing in your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your directory …
Click View Post …
You can make changes to the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial about using the admin toolbar here:
Note: If you see ’page not found’ errors like the one shown below, check that you have configured your site’s permalinks correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get a page error)
If you need help setting up permalinks, see this step-by-step tutorial:
Keep adding more details to your employee or faculty directory as shown above until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you are done entering employee or faculty members to your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in the main menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all the directory entries and the details you have added for each entry …
(Staff Members list)
If you need to edit an individual’s entry, simply hover your mouse over their name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to modify the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove an entry from your employee directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Editing Staff Members details)
If you have many employees added to this section, your table can grow quite large.
You can use the Search Staff Members search field to locate a member …
(Search Staff Members search box)
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 …
(Staff Members Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide fields. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when finished to update your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order in which entries display on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order in the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the item to its desired position …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered listings)
Once you have added staff details to the directory, the next step is to add the directory on your site.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order that listings display on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the item to its new location …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you are done adding member details to your directory, the next step is to display your directory to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin allows you to customize the layout and style of your employee directory listings 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 the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(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 the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above example. To display these fields, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your directory page)
Your employee entries will now display as as shown below …
(Employee profiles with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess with editing code or are unsure of 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 lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main admin menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Usage Shortcode section)
This screen displays all the shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.
For example, a useful variation you can add to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales managers”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – Options screen)
Here you can edit some of the labels used in the plugin
You can also export your staff members data by going to the WP admin menu and clicking Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need plugin support, go to the Simple Staff List faq page and contact the plugin author.
Other Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List isn’t the only for creating a directory of your faculty members. Here are some other free plugins you can look at for creating a directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
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)
More info:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory)
This plugin lets you easily display a list of faculty/team/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.
The plugin lets you set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: plugin website)
More info:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
Faculty And Staff Directory provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college or university.
The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
Go here to learn more:
Company Directory
(Company Directory)
With Company Directory, you can easily add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and single views, plus as fields like title, email, phone, photo and member 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 plugin website)
This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just one single person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.
Detailed information about each staff member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)
Go here to learn more:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)
This plugin uses custom post types for staff management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage a staff directory on your website …
(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.
To learn more about this plugin go here:
If the above plugins 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 List
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-manage simple faculty directory to your site without editing code.
Models used to depict fictitious staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"This is AMAZING! I had learnt about how to use WordPress previously, but this covers absolutely everything and more!! Incredible value! Thank you!" - Monique, Warrior Forum