Something that is often quoted in business circles, is that people often tend to buy from those they know, like and trust.
Are you looking for quicker and easier ways to sell more products online? Then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for prospects to get to know, like and trust your business better.
Adding a directory of staff to your website can help let visitors learn more about the team behind your organization.
This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to add an easy-to-update employee directory to your WordPress site.
Adding An Employee Directory
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List)
Simple Staff List is free and lets you easily staff members (you could also use it to display board of directors, etc.).
The first step is to install and activate the plugin.
Log into your WP dashboard and in your admin menu, click on 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 – Add Plugins screen)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, you will notice that new menu entry will be added to your WordPress menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the settings for this plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
How To Configure The Plugin
Depending on how many people are in your team and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could just begin to add new entries after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your members.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your groups go to your dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
The Groups section …
(Groups section)
Note: Setting up groups works in the same way as adding categories in WordPress …
(Groups are like categories)
Add a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group category name here
- Slug – Enter the slug of your category. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – This section lets you set up nested groups
- Description – Enter the category description in this field (optional)
- Click Add New Group when finished to set up your new category …
(Groups settings screen)
If you are a larger organization, having the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for partners, developers, faculties, etc.
Create as many groups 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 categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after creating each new item …
To edit Groups for individual entries, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …
Your selected item will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new group from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update when done …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click the Update Group button after making changes …
Continue adding groups in this section until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Add nested categories your staff directory)
After you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, you can begin adding staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This takes you to the Add New Staff Member area …
(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: The staff member’s name
- Slug: Modify the permalink URL associated with your staff member if you want (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your employee’s role
- Email: Add your employee’s email
- Phone Number: The employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Add the person’s Facebook address here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Add your company’s Twitter username into this field (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 staff members here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign your staff member to a group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options)
You will see options to enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your staff member’s details …
(Add New Staff Member fields)
Once you have entered details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups feature in your sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you have not set up your directory groups before adding 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 display allowing you to enter a new group name, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …
Your new directory category will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …
(Groups section)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or edited. 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 typing in your staff member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …
Click View Post …
To edit the staff member’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial on using the dashboard admin toolbar here:
Note: If you get an error like the one shown below, check that your permalinks have been configured correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get a ‘page not found’ error)
If you need help setting up WP permalinks, go here:
Repeat the above process to add new entries to your employee or team directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employees into your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on your menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all the staff profiles and any details you have added related to each entry …
(Staff Members details table)
If you need to edit individual details, hover over their name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to edit the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a listing from the directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members profile information)
If you have many names to add, your list can become unwieldy.
You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate listing items if required …
(Search Staff Members search feature)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields can display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options)
Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to update your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that your employee listings appear on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the item to its desired location …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list)
After adding your member details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show on your site.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order in which your staff members show on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on your WordPress admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to a desired position …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list)
Once you have added staff listing details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin allows you to create the style and layout of your 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 main menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Templates screen)
To customize your directory, insert any of the allowable template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is a screenshot of the Default Template …
(Default Staff Loop Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To make these fields appear in your directory, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown below …
(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your directory page)
Your employee details will now display as shown in the example below …
(Employee profiles with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with CSS code and template tags or are not sure what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
In addition to being able to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Usage Shortcode section)
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 only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales managers”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
In the dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – Options settings screen)
This section lets you change labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
You can also export your staff members data by going to your dashboard menu and clicking Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need plugin help or support, go to the Simple Staff List website.
Other Employee Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a directory of your staff. For example, here are some other plugins you can look at for creating a directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP 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)
Learn more here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Staff Directory lets you easily create a directory of team/staff/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
The plugin lets you add custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)
Learn more about this plugin 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 or university.
The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)
This plugin lets you add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and single views, as well as fields like title, email address, phone number, pic and 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 employee in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory website)
This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.
Go here to learn more:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders or just a single person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon 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 in the viewer’s device.
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 source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
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 onsite employee directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer website)
Staffer works 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, search the WordPress plugin directory or go online and search for:
- Add Staff Directory To WordPress
- WordPress Staff Directory Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to easily add an easy-to-manage simple faculty directory to a WordPress site with no coding skills required.
Images used to display sample staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"This is AMAZING! I had learnt about how to use WordPress previously, but this covers absolutely everything and more!! Incredible value! Thank you!" - Monique, Warrior Forum
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