Business experts have successfully shown that people generally tend to buy from businesses they know, like and trust.
Are you looking for simple ways to sell more products online? Then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for prospects to get to know you and your business better.
If your web presence is built using the WordPress CMS, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to display information about your key people, your team, or your staff using a WordPress staff list plugin.
This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to create a simple and easy-to-maintain directory of staff members in your site.
Adding An Employee List Directory
In this tutorial, you will learn how to 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 is a free plugin that lets you display basic information about your staff on your site.
First, let’s install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into the admin and in your admin menu section, choose 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 plugin search results.
Click on Install Now …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu entry will be added to your main WP admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
How To Configure The Plugin
Depending on how many people are in your team and how you want to structure your directory, you could start to add new staff details at this at this stage, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by setting up your groups. In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This loads the Groups settings area …
(Groups settings area)
Note: Adding directory groups is just like configuring WordPress categories …
(Groups work just like categories)
Create new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group name
- Slug – Enter the slug of your category. 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 your group description here (optional)
- Click Add New Group when done to set up the new category …
(Groups area)
If you are a business that employs many people, having the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for partners, project teams, departments, 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 hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering each item …
To edit Groups for an item, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
The selected item’s details open in the Edit Group page. Select a new category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button when done …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and click on Quick Edit …
Click Update Group after making changes …
Continue adding categories to this section until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested categories)
Once you have finished setting up your directory structure, the next step is to begin adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This loads the Add New Staff Member settings screen …
(Add New Staff Member settings screen)
This section provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Add the staff member’s name
- Slug: Here you can modify the permalink URL for each 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: Your staff member’s role
- Email: Your employee’s email
- Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Enter the person’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Add 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: Add a profile description for your staff members here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign the person to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen options)
You will see options to enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your staff member’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
Once you have finished inputting details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups section located in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you have not set up categories before adding new staff members, you can create a group now by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group feature)
A field will appear allowing you to enter a new group name, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new directory category and click on Add New Group …
The new directory category will be added. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …
(New group)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to a staff member’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 filling in your employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To update your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
If you need help using the dashboard admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If you get a page error like the one shown below, check that your permalinks have been configured correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’not found’ page errors)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using permalinks in WordPress here:
Repeat the above process to add new details to your employee or team directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employee or team members into your directory, you can view and edit their 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 directory entries and their details …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to make changes to an individual’s details, just hover over their list name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to edit their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a listing from the directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Editing Staff Members profile)
If you have many entries, your table can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to locate listing items if necessary …
(Search Staff Members search feature)
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 specify the order that entries appear on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the item to the new location …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list items)
Once you have added all of your employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your site users.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order in which listings display on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to the desired location …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list items)
Once you are done adding all of your members’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin lets you create 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 employee directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(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 the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Template)
The This code displays your listing as shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To make these fields appear in the directory, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your directory should now look like …
(Directory listings with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with template tags or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
In addition to being able to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your WordPress admin menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List shortcodes)
This screen lists all the shortcode variations that you can use.
A useful variation you can choose, 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=”partners”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
In the dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
Here you can modify some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members details by going to your WordPress admin menu and choosing Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need plugin help or support, visit the plugin support page and contact the plugin developer.
Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Staff Directories
Simple Staff List isn’t the only for displaying a directory of your faculty. Here are some other free WordPress plugins you can look at:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP 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)
Learn more here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Staff Directory lets you easily display a list of team/staff/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
The plugin also lets you add custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin 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)
With Company Directory, you can add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and single views, plus as fields like title, email address, phone, pic and staff 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 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 uses a simple shortcode system.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just one individual member of your team in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
This plugin includes 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 employee can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Staffer
(Staffer)
This 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 source: Staffer website)
Staffer works immediately with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
For more details, visit the plugin site 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 Directory Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-update list of staff or team members in in WordPress without coding skills.
Images of persons used to portray staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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