Consumer behavior studies show that people generally will buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.
Are you looking for simple ideas to grow your business online or increase user interaction with your site? Then make it easier for prospects to get to know you, your team and your organization better.
If your website is powered by WordPress, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to display information about your key partners, your team, or your staff members using a directory plugin.
In this step-by-step tutorial, we are going to show you how to create and add an easy-to-maintain list of employees in your site.
Tutorial: How To Add An Employee List Directory In WordPress
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List)
Simple Staff List lets you easily build a basic staff directory list for.
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your WP admin and go to Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu will have been added to your WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.
Configuring Simple Staff List
Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could begin adding new staff entries after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your staff.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your directory groups go to your WordPress dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This takes you to the Groups screen …
(Groups area)
Note: Setting up groups is similar to creating WordPress categories …
(Groups are like WordPress categories)
Add a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group category name
- Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your group 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 your group description (optional)
- Click the Add New Group button when done to create the new directory group …
(Groups area)
If you are a business that employs many people, being able to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for partners, developers, departments, etc.
Create as many categories and nested categories as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering each new item …
To change Groups for a particular item, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The category details will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new group category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click the Update button when done …
To change your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and select Quick Edit …
Click Update Group after making changes …
Add as many groups as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
Once you have finished setting up your hierarchical structure, you can start adding your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WordPress admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This opens up the Add New Staff Member screen in your web browser …
(Add New Staff Member settings area)
This page provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your employee’s name
- Permalink: Here you can change the slug for each employee if you want (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type in the staff member’s position
- Email: Your employee’s email address
- Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Add the person’s Facebook address here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Add the person’s Twitter username (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 employees here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign an employee or team member to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).
If you 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 each of your staff member’s details …
(Add Staff Member settings)
After you have entered each of you staff member’s details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in the sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you did not set up directory groups before starting to add new staff members, you can create a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field for entering your group name will appear, with a dropdown 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 …
Your new group will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign an individual to the group …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or edited. 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 the person’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To update your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
For a detailed tutorial about using the dashboard admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If you have set up groups and get ’page not found’ errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly set up your site’s permalinks …
(Not found error – Check your permalinks)
To learn more about setting up permalinks, go here:
Continue adding new entries to your employee directory directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employees to your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on the menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the staff profiles and the details you have added related to each entry …
(Staff Members list)
If you need to edit an individual’s entry, hover over their name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to update their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete an entry from the staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Editing Staff Members profile details)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can get quite long.
You can use the Search Staff Members search field to find member details …
(Search Staff Members search feature)
The plugin also lets you specify which fields to display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide fields. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when done to update your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order that listings show 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 entry to its desired position …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list entries)
After adding your staff details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory display on your site.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order in which listings display on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to a desired position …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered listings)
Once you have added all of your members’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin also lets you create the style and layout of your staff 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 your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Templates screen)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Staff Loop Template)
The This code will display your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To display these fields, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your listings page)
Your directory details will now display as as shown below …
(Staff profiles with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with template tags or are not sure what to do, 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 menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Usage Shortcode section)
This screen displays all the shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to use.
For example, a useful variation you can insert in your page to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales trainers”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options in your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)
This section lets you edit some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export page …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need plugin support, visit the plugin website and request help from the plugin developer.
Other Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only for displaying a directory of your faculty. Here are some other free WordPress plugins you can look at for adding a directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
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)
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
The Staff Directory plugin lets you easily display a list of faculty/team/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
This plugin lets you use custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
For more details go here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
This plugin 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 a profile in a widget area.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and single views, as well as fields like title, email address, phone, image and member bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.
Visitors can 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 source: Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just an individual person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
This plugin includes two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and 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 source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP 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 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.
Go here to learn more:
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
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to easily add a list directory of employees in your web site with no coding skills required.
Images used to display sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"I was absolutely amazed at the scope and breadth of these tutorials! The most in-depth training I have ever received on any subject!" - Myke O'Neill, DailyGreenPost.com