No doubt you’ve already heard that people will buy from people they already know, like and trust.
Are you searching for quicker, easier and cost-effective ways to grow your business online or get people to stay longer on your site? Then make it easier for your visitors to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your business better.
Adding a directory of staff to your website can help boost your credibility online and get interested prospects considering using your services.
This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to create and add a simple and easy-to-maintain staff directory in your WordPress site.
Step-By-Step Tutorial: How To Add A Staff List Directory
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)
The Simple Staff List plugin is a no cost plugin that lets you easily display basic information to visitors about your staff members on your site.
The first step is to install and activate this plugin.
Log into your administration and go 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)
Click on the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, a new entry will appear on the main WordPress menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
This menu is where you will configure and manage all of the options and settings for this plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Plugin Configuration
Depending on how many people are in your team and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could just begin adding new staff members at this point, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualstaff into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by setting up your groups. From your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This brings you to the Groups settings screen …
(Groups settings area)
Note: Configuring directory groups works just like categories …
(Groups work like categories)
Create a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group name
- 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 groups
- Description – Type in a group description here
- Click the Add New Group button when done to create a new category …
(Groups settings area)
If you are a larger organization, having the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for investors, project teams, faculties, etc.
Create as many groups and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a directory hierarchy …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering each new item …
To change or reassign Groups for specific entries, hover your mouse button over a category title and select the Edit link …
The group will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click the Update button when done …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose Quick Edit …
Click on Update Group to save your changes …
Add as many groups as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …
You can add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
After you are done setting up your directory structure, you can start adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This opens up the Add New Staff Member section …
(Add New Staff Member settings area)
This screen provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Type your employee’s name
- Permalink: Here you can change the permalink URL associated with your staff member if required (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The employee’s role
- Email: Type the person’s email here
- Phone Number: Type the person’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type the person’s Facebook address (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: Add a profile description for your employees here. As this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can format content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign your staff member to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen options tab)
You can enable additional features …
(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 your new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in the sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up directory groups before adding new staff members, you can create a new group by selecting 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 to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …
The new group will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign the person’s details to the group …
(Groups section)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to a staff member’s details. To edit a group item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).
***
After filling in 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 the WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the WordPress admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
Note: If ’page not found’ errors shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that you have correctly configured your permalinks …
(Page error? Check your permalinks)
For a detailed tutorial about setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:
Continue adding more members to your staff or member directory as shown above until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff or team members to your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on the WP admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all your staff profiles and any details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members list)
If you need to edit an individual’s entry, just hover your mouse over their listing, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to make changes to the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a list item from the directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Edit Staff Members profile)
If you have many employees, your list can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to locate member details …
(Search Staff Members search feature)
The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …
(Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide specific fields. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that entries show on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order in your main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the entry to the desired position …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you have added staff listing details to the directory, the next step is to display the directory on your site.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order in which entries appear on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order in the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to the desired location …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list items)
After adding all employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to display the directory to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List allows you to create the style and layout of your directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory, reorganize any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)
The This code displays your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above listing. To display these fields, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown below …
(Use template tags to customize your directory page)
Here is what your listings page will now look like …
(Directory listings with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks 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
In addition to 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, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List shortcodes)
This screen displays all different shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.
For example, a useful variation you can decide to use to display a list of employees belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”senior staff”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In the WordPress admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Options settings screen)
This section lets you edit some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export screen …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need plugin support, go to the plugin faq page.
Additional Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List is not the only adding a directory of your employees. Here are some other plugins you can look at to create an employee 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)
Go here to learn more:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory)
This plugin lets you easily create a directory of faculty/team/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.
You can also insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory website)
Learn more here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
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 includes a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your employees to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, as well as fields like job title, email, phone, pic and member 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: plugin website)
This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.
For more details go here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, 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, 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 circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
For more details go here:
Staffer
(Staffer)
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 a staff directory on your website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer plugin website)
Staffer works with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
More info:
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 easily add an easy-to-update simple faculty directory in your WordPress site using a free plugin.
Models used to portray sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
***
"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)