Something that’s been proven to work in business, is that people tend to buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.
Are you looking for quicker, simpler and cost-effective ways to grow your business online or get people to stay longer on your site? Then help your prospects get to know, like and trust your organization better.
Adding a directory of employees to your site is a great way to let visitors learn more about the team working behind your organization.
In this tutorial, you are going to learn how to easily create and add a directory of staff members to your web site with no coding skills required.
How To Easily Add A Staff Directory
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)
Simple Staff List lets you easily employee (you could also use it to display board of directors, etc.).
The first step is to install and activate this plugin.
Log into the admin and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(WordPress Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, a new entry will appear on the main WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
This menu is where you will configure and manage all of the settings for your plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration
Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could begin to add new staff entries at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your staff members.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your groups go to your WordPress dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
The Groups settings …
(Groups settings screen)
Note: Adding groups is just like configuring categories in WordPress …
(Groups work just like categories)
Create new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your category name here
- Slug – Enter 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 a directory hierarchy
- Description – Type in your group description
- Click Add New Group when finished to create the new directory group …
(Groups settings screen)
If you work with a medium to large organization, having the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for investors, 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 directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering each new item …
To change Groups for an item, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …
Your selected group open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button when done …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and select Quick Edit …
Click the Update Group button after making changes …
Continue adding groups in this section until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested groups)
After you have finished setting up your directory structure, you can start adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This brings you to the Add New Staff Member settings area …
(Add New Staff Member screen)
This screen provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The staff member’s name
- Slug: You can change the slug for each employee if you want (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your staff member’s role
- Email: Type in the person’s email address
- Phone Number: Type the person’s phone number here
- Facebook URL: Type in your company’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type the person’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your staff member here. Since this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign your employee to a group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen options)
You will see options to enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of 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 box located in your sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you did not set up groups before adding new staff members, you can add a new group by clicking on 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 dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on the Add New Group button …
The new directory category will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign a person to the group …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing a person’s details. To edit an item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).
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After entering the person’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can edit your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial on using the admin toolbar here:
Note: If you get errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly set up your site’s permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’page not found’ errors)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks here:
Keep adding more entries to your employee or team directory as shown above until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employees to your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all your staff members and their details …
(Staff Members table)
If you need to change individual details, hover your mouse over their list name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to edit the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a list item from the directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Edit Staff Members profile information)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can get quite long.
You can use the Search Staff Members search field to find member details …
(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 …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide specific fields. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when done to save your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order in which entries display on your directory page.
Select 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 …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list)
After adding your member details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order that your employees show on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on your main menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to the new position …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered listings)
Once you are done adding employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin also lets you customize the style and layout of your employee directory listings 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 – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Simple Staff List Templates screen)
To customize your directory, insert any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Plugin Template)
The The code shown above will display your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Plugin Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. To make these fields display in your directory, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your staff list will now look like …
(Directory listings with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess around with CSS styles and template tags or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
As well as allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main admin menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations you can use.
A useful variation you can insert in your page, for example, to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales reps”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
In your main admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This opens the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
This section lets you change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
You can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export menu …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need help with the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the Simple Staff List plugin website.
Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Staff Directories
Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a directory of your staff in WordPress. For example, here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can look at to create an employee directory on your site:
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)
Learn more here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
With the Staff Directory plugin, you can easily create a directory of staff/faculty/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
You can also insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)
Go here to learn more:
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 includes a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your employees to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and single views, plus as fields like title, email, phone number, photo and staff bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.
Visitors will be able to 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 also uses a simple shortcode system.
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just a single person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
Employee Spotlight includes two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each employee can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)
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 employee directory on your website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin 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, just go online or visit the WordPress plugin directory and search for:
- Add Staff Directory To WordPress
- WordPress Staff List
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has shown you how to add a simple and easy-to-maintain directory of staff members to your website.
Models used to depict fictitious staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)