No doubt you’ve already heard that people generally tend to buy from people they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker and easier ways to grow your business online or increase user interaction on your site, then make it easier for prospects to get to know, like and trust your organization better.
If your website is driven by the WordPress CMS, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to use a directory plugin that lets you add a directory containing information about your key people, your team, or your employees.
In this tutorial, we explain how to add a simple staff directory to your website using free plugins.
WordPress Plugin Tutorial: Adding A Staff Directory To Your WordPress Site
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
The Simple Staff List plugin is a no cost plugin that lets you easily staff members.
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into the administration and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(WP 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 the Install Now button …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu will be added to the WordPress menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
This menu is where you will manage and configure all of the options and settings for your plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
Plugin Configuration
Depending on how many people are employed in your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could just begin adding new employee details after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to place yourmembers into.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your directory groups go to your dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This brings up the Groups area …
(Groups section)
Note: Adding groups is just like configuring categories in WordPress …
(Groups are like WordPress categories)
Create new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your category name
- Slug – Type in the slug of your category 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 groups
- Description – Enter your group description here (optional)
- Click Add New Group when finished to set up your new directory category …
(Groups section)
If you are a business that employs many people, having the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for partners, project teams, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering each item …
To edit Groups for a particular entry, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The selected group will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new group category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button to save your changes …
To change your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and click on Quick Edit …
Click Update Group to save your 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 …
(Add nested categories your directory)
After you are done setting up your groups, the next step is to start to add your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your WP admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This opens up the Add New Staff Member settings screen …
(Add New Staff Member settings screen)
This screen provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your staff member’s name
- Permalink: Modify the permalink URL associated with your employee if you want (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Enter the person’s position
- Email: Add the person’s email address
- Phone Number: Your employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type in the employee’s Facebook URL into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type your company’s Twitter username here (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. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign the individual to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options tab)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your staff member’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
Once you are done inputting each staff member’s details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups feature in the sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you have not set up categories before starting to add staff member details, 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 enter a new group name, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on the Add New Group button …
The new group will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or modified. 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 or faculty member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your employee directory …
Click View Post …
To modify the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using the dashboard admin toolbar here:
Note: If you get ’not found’ page errors like the one shown below, check that you have set up your site permalinks correctly …
(Page error? Check your permalinks)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using WordPress permalinks here:
Repeat the above process to continue adding more entries to your employee or faculty directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employee details into your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in the main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the staff profiles and details you have added related to each entry …
(Staff Members table)
If you need to make changes to an individual’s details, hover your mouse over their listing, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to edit their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a member from the directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members profile details)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can grow quite large.
You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate a member if required …
(Search members)
The plugin also lets you specify which fields to display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …
(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 finished to save your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order in which your employees appear on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order on the WordPress admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to the desired location …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list items)
Once you have added all of your member details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that listings appear on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to its new location …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
Once you are done adding all of your employees’ details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin lets you create the layout and style of your staff directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Simple Staff List Templates page)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above example. To make these fields appear in the directory, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template loop, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your directory will now look like …
(Directory listings with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with CSS code and template tags or are not sure what to do, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
As well as allowing you 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 Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)
This screen displays all the shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.
A useful variation you can insert in your page, for example, to display a list of members belonging only to 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 adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
In the WP admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
Here you can edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
Finally, you can also export your staff members details by going to your WP admin menu and clicking Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need plugin support, visit the plugin plugin site.
Other Employee Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List isn’t the only for displaying a directory of your faculty members. Here are some other plugins you can look at:
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)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory 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, teams, etc.
You can also add custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: Staff Directory website)
Go here to learn more:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
Faculty And Staff Directory provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.
The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Plugin)
Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and table views, as well as fields like title, email, phone, pic 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 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 website)
This plugin also uses a simple shortcode system.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just a single person in a 4-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 which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.
Detailed information about each employee can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight website)
Learn more about this plugin here:
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 onsite employee directory …
(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.
Learn more 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 Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple staff directory to your WordPress site, so you can showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.
Models used to depict staff members 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)