No doubt you’ve heard that people generally will buy from businesses they know, like and trust.
If you are searching for ways to sell more products online and increase user interaction on your site, then something you can do, is make it easier for prospects to get to know, like and trust your organization better.
If you use WordPress, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to add a WordPress staff list plugin that lets you add information about your partners, your faculty, or your employees.
In this step-by-step tutorial, we are going to show you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-maintain directory of staff members in your site using free WordPress plugins.
How To 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 Plugin For WordPress
(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)
The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you easily build a simple staff directory list for.
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into the WordPress dashboard and go to 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)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, you will notice that new menu entry will display on your main WP admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
The Staff Members menu is where you will manage and configure all of the settings and options for this plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
Configuring Simple Staff List
Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could just begin to add new staff details at this at this stage, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your directory categories go to your WordPress dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This brings you to the Groups section …
(Groups settings screen)
Note: Setting up directory groups works just like WordPress categories …
(Groups work like WordPress categories)
Create a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group 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 if you plan to set up nested groups
- Description – Type in the category description (optional)
- Click Add New Group when finished to set up the new directory category …
(Groups area)
If you manage a business that employs many people, being able to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for founders, project teams, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories and nested groups as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after creating new items …
To edit or reassign Groups for individual entries, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The item open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group category from the Parent dropdown 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 on Update Group to save your changes …
Continue adding categories to this section until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested categories as you like …
(Add nested categories your staff directory)
After you are done setting up your groups, you can begin adding staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member area …
(Add New Staff Member screen)
This section 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: The employee’s name
- Slug: Edit the permalink URL for each employee if required (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 employee’s role
- Email: Enter the employee’s email address
- Phone Number: Your employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type your staff member’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Add the 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: Add a profile description for your employee here. As this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can format content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign your staff member to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen options tab)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your staff member’s details …
(Add Staff Member fields)
Once you are done inputting details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up groups before adding new staff members, you can create a new group by clicking on 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 drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …
A new directory category will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign a person to the group …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or modified. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).
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After typing in your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the employee directory …
Click View Post …
You can make changes to the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using the WP admin toolbar here:
Note: If you see errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly configured your site permalinks …
(Page error – Check your permalinks)
If you need help setting up permalinks, go here:
Continue adding more entries to your directory directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff details 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 table displaying all your listing entries and their details …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to modify an individual’s details, simply hover your mouse over their name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to make changes to their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove an entry from your directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Edit Staff Members profile info)
If you have many employees, your table can get quite long.
You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate listing items if required …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields to 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 fields. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order in which your staff details display on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to the new position …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you are done adding staff details to your directory, the next step is to display your directory on your site.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order that entries show on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order in the main menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to its new position …
(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list items)
After adding your employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin also lets you customize the style and layout of your employee 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 opens the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, insert any of the allowable template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is a screenshot of the Default Template …
(Default Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. To make these fields display in your directory, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Your directory listings will now display as as shown below …
(Employee profiles with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize how your staff directory looks but don’t want to mess with template tags or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
As well as being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcodes)
This screen displays all the shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin lets you use.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can decide to use to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”customer representatives”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – Options screen)
Here you can edit some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export page …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need help with the plugin, visit the plugin plugin site and request help from the plugin developer.
Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Employee Directories
Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to create a listing of your faculty members in WordPress. For example, here are some other free plugins you can use for creating a staff directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory)
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)
More info:
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 also lets you insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory plugin website)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP 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 includes a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your employees to your website. Different layouts are available, including grid and single views, plus as fields like job title, email, phone, photo and member 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 staff member in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: plugin website)
This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders or just an individual member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
This plugin includes 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 staff member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
The Staffer 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 an online staff directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)
Staffer works with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
More info:
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
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to easily add a simple staff directory in your website using free plugins.
Images of models used to depict staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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