Something that’s been proven to work in business, is that people will mostly buy from people they know, like and trust.
Are you looking for inexpensive ways to sell more products or services online? Then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for your visitors to get to know you and your business better.
If you use WordPress, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to display information about your key partners, your team, or your employees using a directory plugin.
In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to easily create and add an easy-to-update list of employees or faculty members in your WordPress site with no coding skills required.
Adding An Employee Directory To Your WordPress Site: WordPress Plugin Tutorial
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a free WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you easily create a basic staff directory list for.
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into your dashboard and from the admin menu, click on Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on Install Now …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, you will notice that new menu will display on your WordPress menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the options and settings for this plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration
Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can just begin to add new staff entries at this point, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualmembers into.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your categories go to your dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
The Groups settings …
(Groups screen)
Note: Configuring groups is similar to creating WordPress categories …
(Groups work like WordPress categories)
Create new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your category name here
- Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your category. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – Use this section to set up nested categories
- Description – Enter a group description here (optional)
- Click Add New Group when done to set up your new directory category …
(Groups settings screen)
If you work with a business that employs many people, having the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for investors, project teams, faculties, etc.
Create as many groups 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 groups)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating new items …
To change or reassign Groups for specific entries, hover your mouse over a category title and select the Edit link …
Your selected category details open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update to save your changes …
To change your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click on Update Group after making changes …
Continue adding group names to this section until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested groups)
After you have finished setting up your directory structure, the next step is to start to add staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This opens up the Add New Staff Member settings …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This section provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Type your staff member’s name
- Permalink: Edit each employees’ permalink URL (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type the employee’s role
- Email: Enter the person’s email here
- Phone Number: Enter your staff member’s phone number into this field
- Facebook URL: Enter the person’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type in 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 member here. Since this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can format content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign the person to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each employee’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
Once you have entered details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups feature located in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up groups before adding staff member details, you can create a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field for entering your new group name will display, 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 Add New Group …
A new category will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …
(New group added in Groups box)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to a staff member’s details. 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 typing in the person’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can modify the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using the admin toolbar here:
Note: If a ‘page not found’ error like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that your site’s permalinks have been configured correctly …
(Not found error – Check your permalinks)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using WP permalinks here:
Continue adding more details to your directory directory as described above.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you are done entering staff members to your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the directory items and any details you have added related to each entry …
(Staff Members table)
If you need to modify individual entries, just hover your mouse over their listing, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to modify their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a list item from the directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Edit Staff Members profile details)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can grow quite large.
You can use the Search Staff Members search box to find a member if required …
(Search Staff Members search box)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields to display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …
(Staff Members 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 preferences …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which entries display on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in your WP admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to the new location …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list)
After adding your members’ details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display on your site.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order in which your employees show on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on your main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the entry to its new location …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list entries)
After adding your members’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin allows you to edit the layout and style of your directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your staff directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Templates page)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is a screenshot of the Default Template …
(Default Plugin 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 listing. To display these fields, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template, as shown in the example below …
(Use template tags to customize your listings page)
Here is what your staff list will now look like …
(Directory with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with editing code or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
As well as being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen lists all the shortcode variations that you can use with the plugin.
For example, a useful variation you can insert in your page to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”property managers”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)
This section lets you edit some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members info by going to your menu and selecting Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need plugin support, go to the Simple Staff List site.
Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Staff Directories
Simple Staff List is not the only for displaying a directory of your staff in WordPress. Here are some other free WordPress plugins you can check out to create a directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory 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, visit the plugin site here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory)
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 churches, teams, etc.
You can also set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
This plugin provides 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.
Learn more here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory)
This plugin lets you easily add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and table views, plus as fields like job title, email address, phone, pic and member bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.
Visitors can 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 a simple shortcode system.
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just one individual person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
This plugin comes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each employee can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot source: plugin website)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Staffer
(Staffer)
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 online employee directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Staffer works immediately with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
For more details, visit the plugin site 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 List
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this tutorial has shown you how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of staff members to WordPress.
Images used to depict staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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