It’s often said in business and marketing that people generally buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.
Are you searching for quicker and simpler ways to sell more products or services online or increase user interaction with your site? Then one of the things you can do, is help prospects get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.
Adding a directory of employees to your website is a great way to let visitors learn more about the team behind your organization.
This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-maintain directory of staff in your WordPress site.
How To Add An Employee 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 – WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List)
Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you create a simple staff directory list for.
The first step is to install and activate this plugin.
Log into your WP admin and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(WordPress Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, you will notice that new menu will appear on the main WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
This menu is where you will configure and manage all of the settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
Configuring Simple Staff List
Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you can just start adding new employee entries after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualmembers into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by configuring your groups. In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
The Groups section …
(Groups settings area)
Note: Configuring groups is very similar to creating categories …
(Groups work just like WordPress categories)
Create new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group name
- Slug – Type in the slug of your group. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – Use this section to set up nested groups
- Description – Enter a category description (optional)
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to create your new directory category …
(Groups screen)
If you are a medium to large organization, having the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for partners, developers, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories and nested categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after creating new items …
To edit or reassign Groups for an entry, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
Your selected item’s details open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click the Update button when done …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and click on Quick Edit …
Click on Update Group when done to save your changes …
Continue adding group names in this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested groups)
Once 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 WordPress admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member section …
(Add New Staff Member settings screen)
This area provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Type your employee’s name
- Slug: You can edit each employees’ slug (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Enter your staff member’s role
- Email: Type the employee’s email address
- Phone Number: Type in the person’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type the person’s Facebook URL into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter 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 employee here. As this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign a staff or team member to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options tab)
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)
After you are done entering details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups box located in the sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up groups before starting to add new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting 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 …
A new group will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(New group added)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to someone’s details. 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 entering your employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can edit your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the WordPress admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If you get a page error like the one shown below, check that you have correctly configured your site permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’page not found’ errors)
If you need help setting up WP permalinks, go here:
Repeat the above process to continue adding more entries to your employee directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff or team members into your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all your staff profiles and their details …
(Staff Members table)
If you need to edit an individual’s entry, hover your mouse over their listing, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to modify the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from the staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Editing Staff Members profile details)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search feature to find items …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields can 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)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide fields. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when finished to update your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order that your employee profiles display on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to its new position …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list)
Once you have added staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order that entries show on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to a new position …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list items)
Once you are done adding employees’ details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin allows you to edit the style and layout of your employee directory items 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 main admin menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory, 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 Template)
The This code displays your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above listing. To make these fields display in your directory, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your directory will now look like …
(Employee profiles with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with editing code or are unsure of 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 menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)
This screen displays all the shortcode variations that you can use.
A useful variation you can choose, 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=”sales reps”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options on the WP admin menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Options settings screen)
Here you can edit some of the labels used in the plugin
You can also export your staff members details by going to the menu and choosing Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need any help with this plugin, go to the Simple Staff List site and contact the plugin developer.
Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Employee Directories
Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to build a staff directory in WordPress. Here are other free WordPress plugins you can look at:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
This 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 go here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
The Staff Directory plugin lets you easily create a directory of team/staff/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: plugin website)
For more details go here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin was developed to provide 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.
Go here to learn more:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and table views, plus as fields like job title, email address, phone, image and staff 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 sourced from Company Directory website)
This plugin uses simple shortcodes.
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders or just one individual member of your team in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
The Employee Spotlight pluginincludes two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each team 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)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP Plugin)
Staffer 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.
For more details, visit the plugin site 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 Directory Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple directory of staff members to your WordPress site, so your site visitors can get to know your organization better.
Images used to depict sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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