It’s often said in business that people generally tend to buy from people they know, like and trust.
If you are looking for inexpensive ideas to grow your business online or increase user interaction with your site, then one of the things you can do, is help prospects get to know your business better.
If you use WordPress, a simple way to help visitors get to know you better is to add a WordPress staff list plugin that lets you display information about your key people, your faculty, or your staff members.
This tutorial will show you how to create a simple and easy-to-manage directory of employees in your website.
Tutorial: Adding A Staff List Directory To Your WordPress Site
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
The Simple Staff List plugin is a no cost plugin that lets you employee.
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into your administration and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, you will notice that new menu entry will appear in your WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
The Staff Members menu is where you will configure and manage all of the settings for this plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
How To Configure The Plugin
Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can start adding new staff entries at this at this stage, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualgroup members into.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your directory categories go to your WordPress dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This brings you to the Groups section …
(Groups section)
Note: Adding directory groups is just like adding categories …
(Groups work like WordPress categories)
Add 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 here
- Click Add New Group when finished to create a new group …
(Groups settings)
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 a category for founders, project teams, departments, etc.
Create as many groups and nested groups as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering each new item …
To change Groups for individual items, hover your mouse button over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The item open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update when done …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click on Update Group when done to save your changes …
Continue adding group names to this section until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
After you are done setting up your groups, the next step is to begin adding your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This brings you to the Add New Staff Member settings …
(Add New Staff Member settings screen)
This section provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The employee’s name
- Permalink: Here you can edit your staff members’ permalink URL (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your employee’s position
- Email: Enter your employee’s email here
- Phone Number: Type in your employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Enter your company’s Facebook URL here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type in your company’s Twitter username (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your staff or faculty member here. As this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can format content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign an employee or team member to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen options tab)
You will see options to enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each employee’s details …
(Add Staff Member settings)
After you have finished entering details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups box in the sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you did not set up groups before adding staff member details, you can create a group now by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field for entering your new group name will appear, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new category and click on the Add New Group button …
The new directory category will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign an entry to the group …
(New group added)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or modified. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).
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After entering your employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To make changes to the staff member’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
If you need help using the admin toolbar, see this tutorial:
Note: If ’not found’ page errors shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that you have correctly set up your site permalinks …
(Not found error – Check your permalinks)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using WordPress permalinks here:
Keep adding more details to your employee directory directory as described above.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employees into your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in your main menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all the directory items and details you have added related to each entry …
(Staff Members details table)
If you need to make changes to an individual’s entry, hover your mouse over their listing, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to modify their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a list item from the employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members details)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate listing items if necessary …
(Search Staff Members search field)
You can specify which fields can display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide specific fields. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when finished to update your settings …
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order that entries show on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the item to its desired location …
(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list items)
Once you have added all of your employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order that listings appear 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 item to its new position …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list items)
Once you are done adding members’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin also lets you edit the layout and style of your staff directory entries 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 Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)
The This code displays your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Plugin Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To display these fields, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template loop, as shown below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Your employee listings will now display with Facebook and Twitter links as shown in the example below …
(Directory with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with code or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
As well as being able 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 page …
(Usage Shortcode screen)
This screen lists all different shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.
A useful shortcode variation you can insert in your page, for example, to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”customer representatives”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
In the main admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – Options screen)
Here you can change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
Finally, you can also export your staff members details by going to your menu and clicking Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need plugin help or support, go to the Simple Staff List faq page.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List is not the only adding a listing of your faculty members in WordPress. For example, here are other free WordPress plugins you can look at to add a directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
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)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
With Staff Directory, you can easily display a list of team/staff/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
This plugin also lets you create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory website)
Go here to learn more:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
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.
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
With Company Directory, you can easily add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and single views, as well as fields like job 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 staff member in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin uses simple shortcodes.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders or just a single member of your team in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
Employee Spotlight installs with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.
Detailed information about each faculty member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight plugin website)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Staffer
(Staffer)
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 employee directory on your website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer plugin website)
Staffer works immediately with almost all 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
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to add a simple and easy-to-manage list of employees in your WordPress site without coding skills.
Images of models used in this tutorial to display fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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