No doubt you already know that people generally will buy from businesses they know, like and trust.
If you are looking for inexpensive ideas to sell more products online, then something you can do, is help your prospects get to know, like and trust your organization better.
If your site is driven by the WordPress Content Management System, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to use a WordPress staff list plugin that lets you add information about your key people, your faculty, or your employees.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to add an easy-to-manage simple team members directory in your WordPress site using free plugins.
Plugin Tutorial: How To Add An Employee Directory To Your Site
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you easily staff (you could also use it to display faculty members, etc.).
The first step is to install and activate this plugin.
Log into your admin and go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on Install Now …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu entry will appear in the WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
The Staff Members menu is where you will manage and configure all of the settings and options for this plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration
Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could start to add new employee details at this at this stage, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by configuring your categories. In your WordPress dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This takes you to the Groups panel …
(Groups settings)
Note: Setting up directory groups is very similar to creating WordPress categories …
(Groups are like WordPress categories)
Add a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group category name here
- 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 – Use this drop-down menu if you plan to set up a directory hierarchy
- Description – Type in a category description here (optional)
- Click Add New Group when done to create the new directory group …
(Groups section)
If you run a business that employs many people, having the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for founders, project teams, departments, etc.
Create as many categories and nested categories 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 creating new items …
To edit Groups for a specific item, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
Your selected group details will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update to save your changes …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click Update Group after making changes …
Add as many group names as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested groups)
Once you are done setting up your groups, you can start to add staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WP admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This brings you to the Add New Staff Member area …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
This page provides an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Enter your staff member’s name
- Slug: Edit your employees’ slug (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type in the person’s position here
- Email: The employee’s email
- Phone Number: Type in your employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type in the staff member’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter your company’s Twitter username here (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 member here. Since this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign a staff or team member to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen options)
You will see options to enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each staff member’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
After you have entered details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups box in the sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you have not set up groups before adding staff member details, you can create a group now by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group feature)
A field for entering a group name will appear, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on Add New Group …
The new directory category will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign an individual to the group …
(New group added via Groups box)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or modified. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).
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After typing in the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …
Click View Post …
To make changes to the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
If you need help using the dashboard admin toolbar, see this tutorial:
Note: If ’page not found’ errors like the one shown in the screenshot below shows up, check that you have correctly set up your site’s permalinks …
(Page error? Check your permalinks)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using permalinks here:
Continue adding more details to your staff directory directory as described above.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you are done adding employee or team members to your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on your WP admin menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the directory entries and details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to make changes to individual entries, just hover your mouse over their name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to modify their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove an entry from the staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members profile information)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can get quite long.
You can use the Search Staff Members search box to find a member if necessary …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields can display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide fields. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when finished to update your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order in which your staff members appear on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to its new position …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list items)
Once you have added all of your member details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order in which entries show on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to a desired position …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you have added all of your employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your site users.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin allows you to edit the style and layout of your employee directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your employee directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Simple Staff List Templates screen)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default 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 listing. To make these fields appear in your directory, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template loop, as shown in the example below …
(Use template tags to customize your directory page)
Your directory profiles will now display Facebook and Twitter addresses as shown in the example below …
(Staff profiles with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess around with code or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
In addition to allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your WP admin menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcode variations)
This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations you can use.
A useful shortcode variation you can add to 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=”property managers”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
In the dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Options screen)
This section lets you edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
You can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export section …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need any help with the Simple Staff List plugin, go to the plugin plugin website.
Additional Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use. Here are some other free WordPress plugins you can look at to add a staff directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress 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)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
With Staff Directory, you can easily create a directory of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
You can also add custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)
Learn more here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
Faculty And Staff Directory provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.
The plugin also includes a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
Learn more about this plugin here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your staff to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and table views, plus as fields like title, email, phone, image and staff 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 learn more about each staff member in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin also uses shortcodes.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just one single person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
This plugin includes 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 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 – 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 employee directory on your site …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer website)
Staffer works with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
Learn more about the plugin 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
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple staff directory to your WordPress site, so you can showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.
Images of persons used to depict sample 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)