It’s often said in business and marketing circles that people generally tend to buy from businesses they know, like and trust.
Are you looking for quicker, simpler and cost-effective ways to sell more products or services online and get people to stay longer on your site? Then make it easier for prospects to get to know, like and trust your business better.
If you run a WordPress-powered site, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to add a WordPress directory plugin that lets you add a directory listing with information about your key people, your faculty, or your staff members.
This tutorial will show you how to create an easy-to-maintain directory of staff in WordPress.
Plugin Tutorial: Adding 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)
The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you display basic information to visitors about your staff members on your website.
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into the WordPress admin and in your admin menu section, select Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on Install Now …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu will show up in the WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the settings and options for your plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you could just begin adding new employee details after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to place yourmembers into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by configuring your directory categories. In your WP dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
The Groups settings panel …
(Groups settings area)
Note: Setting up directory groups is similar to working with WordPress categories …
(Groups work like WordPress categories)
Create a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group name
- Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your category name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – Use this section to set up a directory hierarchy
- Description – Type in a group description here (optional)
- Click the Add New Group button when done to set up the new directory category …
(Groups settings screen)
If you manage a business that employs many people, the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for investors, project teams, departments, etc.
Create as many categories and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To change or reassign Groups for an individual item, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The selected category details will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update to save your changes …
To change your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and select the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click on Update Group when done to save your changes …
Add as many categories as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested groups)
Once you have finished setting up your groups, you can start adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WP admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This takes you to the Add New Staff Member area …
(Add New Staff Member settings screen)
This area provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Add the staff member’s name
- Slug: Edit each employees’ permalink URL (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type in the staff member’s role
- Email: Type your staff member’s email address
- Phone Number: Enter the person’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type the person’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Add your company’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 staff members here. As this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can format content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign the individual 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 can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your employee’s details …
(Add Staff Member settings)
Once you are done inputting details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups box located in the sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up directory 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 display 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 group and click on Add New Group …
A new group will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …
(Groups feature)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing new employee details. 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 your employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can edit the staff member’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
If you need help using the admin toolbar, see this tutorial:
Note: If you see ’page not found’ errors like the one shown below, check that you have configured your site’s permalinks correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’page not found’ errors)
To learn more about setting up permalinks, go here:
Repeat the above process to continue adding new members to your staff or faculty directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you are done adding staff members to your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all your staff members and their details …
(Staff Members details table)
If you need to edit an individual’s entry, simply hover your mouse over their name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to modify the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a listing from your directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members details)
If you have many entries, your list can become unwieldy.
You can use the Search Staff Members search field to find items if required …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields to display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options tab)
Placing a tick in the item’s check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when finished to save your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order in which entries display on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order on the main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to the desired position …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list items)
Once you are done adding all of your staff listing details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your site users.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order in which listings show on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order on your WP admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the entry to its desired position …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
After adding your member listing details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List also lets you customize the layout and style of your employee directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your staff directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the WP admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Templates screen)
To customize your directory, insert any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop 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 listing. To make these fields appear in the directory, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your directory will now look like …
(Directory with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess with CSS styles and template tags or are not sure 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 staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main admin menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations that you can use with the plugin.
A useful shortcode variation you can decide to use, for example, to display a list of employees or faculty members belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Asia Pacific Region”])
Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Choose Staff Members >Options on your WP admin menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)
Here you can modify some of the labels used in the plugin
You can also export your staff members info by going to the menu and choosing Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need plugin help or support, visit the plugin support page.
Additional Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List is not the only WordPress staff directory plugin you can use. For example, here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can look at to add a staff directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP 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)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
Staff Directory lets you easily create a directory of team/staff/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
The plugin lets you use custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory)
The Faculty And Staff Directory 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.
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and single views, plus as fields like position title, email, phone number, photo and 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: plugin website)
This plugin uses shortcodes.
Learn more here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just one 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 selected in the editor, and 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 plugin website)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Staffer
(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin uses custom post types for staff/employee 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 plugin website)
Staffer works immediately 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, just go online or visit the WordPress plugin directory and search for:
- Add Staff Directory To WordPress
- WordPress Staff List
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has shown you how to create a simple and easy-to-maintain employee directory in your web site.
Images of persons used in this tutorial to display sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)