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No doubt you’ve heard that people tend to buy from people they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for inexpensive ideas to sell more products online and get people to stay longer on your site, then make it easier for prospects to get to know, like and trust you and your business better.
If your site uses the WordPress Content Management System, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to display information about your partners, your faculty, or your staff using a staff list plugin.
This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to add an easy-to-maintain directory of staff members to your site.
WordPress Plugin Tutorial: How To Add A Staff List Directory
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
Simple Staff List is free and lets you easily create a simple staff directory for.
First, let’s install and activate the plugin.
Log into your administration and in your admin menu, click on Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on Install Now …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, you will see that a new menu entry will appear on your WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Configuring Simple Staff List
Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can begin adding new staff entries at this at this stage, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your group members.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your groups go to your dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This opens up the Groups settings area …
(Groups section)
Note: Setting up directory groups is similar to creating categories in WordPress …
(Groups work just like categories)
Add new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group name
- Slug – Enter the slug of your group. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – This section lets you set up a directory hierarchy
- Description – Enter a category description here
- Click Add New Group when finished to set up a new directory category …
(Groups screen)
If you are a business that employs many people, having the ability to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for investors, project teams, faculties, 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 categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To change or reassign Groups for an entry, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The category open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update to save your changes …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and select Quick Edit …
Click on Update Group when done …
Add as many group names as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested categories)
After you are done setting up your directory structure, you can start to add staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This takes you to the Add New Staff Member settings …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This section provides an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Type your employee’s name
- Slug: Modify each employees’ permalink URL (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type in the person’s role here
- Email: Add the person’s email
- Phone Number: Your staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Enter your company’s Facebook URL (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: Enter a profile description for your staff member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign an employee or faculty member to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).
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 your employee’s details …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
After you have entered details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in your sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you did not set up groups before starting to add staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field will appear allowing you to create 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 …
A new group will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign your listing to the group …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee 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’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …
Click View Post …
You can make changes to your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
If you need help using the dashboard admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
Note: If you have set up groups and get errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly configured your permalinks …
(Page error? Check your permalinks)
To learn more about setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:
Continue adding more members to your employee or member directory as shown above until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employee details to your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all your employees and their details …
(Staff Members details)
If you need to make changes to individual details, just hover your mouse over their name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to edit the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove someone from the staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Edit Staff Members details)
If you have many items added to this section, your table can become unwieldy.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to locate a member …
(Search Staff Members search field)
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 at the top of your page …
(Staff Members Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide specific fields. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when done to update your settings …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order that listings appear on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to its desired location …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you are done adding all of your member details to your directory, the next step is to display your directory on your site.
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order in which listings display on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to its new location …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered listings)
Once you have added member listing details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory to your site users.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin lets you edit the layout and style of your employee directory entries 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 WP admin menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory, reorganize any of the allowable template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is the default template used for displaying listings …
(Default Plugin Template)
The This code will display your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above listing. To display these fields, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Your staff listings will now appear with Facebook and Twitter addresses as as shown below …
(Directory listings with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess with code or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
As well as allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Usage Shortcode screen)
This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations that the plugin lets you use.
For example, a useful variation you can add 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”])
Or, you can make your listings display in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)
Here you can edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
You can also export your staff members info by going to the menu and clicking Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need plugin support, visit the Simple Staff List faq page and contact the plugin developer.
Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Staff Directories
Simple Staff List isn’t the only for creating a directory of your faculty members. For example, here are other free plugins you can use:
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)
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin lets you easily create a directory of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
The plugin lets you use custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory)
Faculty And Staff Directory was developed to provide 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 – Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin lets you easily add your employees to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and single views, plus as fields like position title, email, phone number, photo and member bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.
Visitors can click through from your list, grid, and table views to learn more about each staff member in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory website)
This plugin also uses a simple shortcode system.
Learn more about the plugin here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders or just one individual person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
The Employee Spotlight pluginincludes two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus 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 Employee Spotlight website)
To learn more about the plugin go here:
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 an employee directory on your site …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)
Staffer works immediately with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
For more details go here:
If the directory plugins listed above 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 Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-manage simple staff directory in a WordPress site with no coding skills required.
Images used to depict fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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