Consumer buying habits show that people generally will buy from people they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for inexpensive ideas to sell more products or services online or get people to stay longer on your site, then make it easier for visitors to get to know, like and trust you and your organization better.
Adding a directory of employees to your website can help boost your credibility online and get more prospects considering using your services.
This tutorial will show you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-update staff directory to your site.
Adding An Employee Directory To Your WordPress Site
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you staff.
First, let’s install and activate the plugin.
Log into the WordPress admin and from the admin menu, click on Plugins > Add New …
(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This should bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu will be added to your main WP admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the settings and options for your plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.
How To Configure The Plugin
Depending on how many people are employed in your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you could just begin adding new staff entries at this at this stage, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to place yourstaff members into.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your categories go to your dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This takes you to the Groups section …
(Groups screen)
Note: Configuring groups is just like configuring WordPress categories …
(Groups work like WordPress categories)
Add a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group name here
- Slug – Type in the slug of your group category name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – This section lets you set up nested categories
- Description – Enter the group description
- Click Add New Group when finished to set up your new directory group …
(Groups settings screen)
If you are a larger organization, having the ability to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for partners, developers, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories and nested groups as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating new items …
To edit or reassign Groups for a particular entry, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The selected group details will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click the Update button when done …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and select the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click the Update Group button to save your changes …
Add as many categories as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested groups)
After you are done setting up your groups, the next step is to start adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your WP admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This takes you to the Add New Staff Member settings area …
(Add New Staff Member screen)
This section provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Enter the staff member’s name
- Slug: You can edit the permalink URL for each staff member if required (you will see this section after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Add the person’s position
- Email: Your staff member’s email
- Phone Number: Enter the employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type your company’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Add the person’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 employee or team member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatted content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign your staff member to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options tab)
You will see options to enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your staff member’s details …
(Staff directory settings)
After you are done inputting each staff member’s details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups box in your sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you did not set up categories before starting to add new staff members, 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 drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new directory category and click on Add New Group …
Your new directory category will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign the person’s details to the group …
(Groups box)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing an employee or faculty member’s details. To edit an item, 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 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 your WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
For a detailed step-by-step tutorial about using the dashboard admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If you get an error like the one shown below, check that you have set up your site permalinks correctly …
(Not found error? Check your permalinks)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using WordPress permalinks here:
Repeat the above process to add more details to your employee directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employee details to your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in the main menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a list of all the directory entries and their details …
(Staff Members list)
If you need to change individual details, just hover over their listing, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to make changes to the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a listing from your staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Edit Staff Members profile info)
If you have many names to add, your list can get quite long.
You can use the Search Staff Members search box to locate a member if necessary …
(Search members)
The plugin also allows you to 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)
Placing a tick in the item’s check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when finished to update your settings …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order that listings appear on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to the desired location …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list)
Once you are done adding employees’ details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order in which your employee profiles show on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to its desired location …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list items)
After adding your employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to display your directory to your site users.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List also lets you customize 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 the WP admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Simple Staff List Template)
The The code shown above displays your listing as shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To display these fields, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Your employee details will now display Facebook and Twitter addresses as as shown below …
(Directory with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with template tags or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
As well as being able to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen lists all the shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.
A useful shortcode variation you can select, 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=”sales trainers”])
Or, you can make your listings display in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options in the menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)
This section lets you change some of the labels used in the plugin
You can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export screen …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need plugin help or support, visit the Simple Staff List faq page and contact the plugin author.
Other Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only adding a listing of your employees. Here are some other free WordPress plugins you can check out to create an employee 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)
More info:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
With the Staff Directory plugin, 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 insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
This plugin was developed to provide 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.
Go here to learn more:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)
The Company Directory plugin lets you add your employees to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and customizable single views, plus as fields like title, email, phone number, pic and bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.
Visitors can click through from your list, grid, and table views to read more about each employee in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
This plugin also uses shortcodes.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just an individual person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
The Employee Spotlight plugincomes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each staff member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Go here to learn more:
Staffer
(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin uses custom post types for employee management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an onsite employee directory …
(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.
To learn more about the plugin go here:
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 Directory Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to add a simple and easily updatable list of employees or team members to a WordPress site without touching code.
Images used to portray sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now