No doubt you already know that people will mostly buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker and easier ways to sell more products or services online or get people to stay longer on your site, then help your prospects get to know you and your business better.
If you have a WordPress-powered site, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to display information about your key partners, your team, or your staff members using a staff list plugin.
This tutorial shows you how to create a simple and easy-to-update employee directory in your web site.
Adding A Staff List Directory To WordPress: Plugin Tutorial
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
Simple Staff List lets you display information to visitors about your staff members on your website.
The first step is to install and activate the plugin.
Log into your dashboard and from the admin menu section, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on Install Now …
(WordPress Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, a new menu entry will show up in the main WP admin menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
Here is where you will configure and manage all of the settings and options for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in the Staff Members menu.
Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration
Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your directory, you could begin to add new staff details at this at this stage, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your directory groups go to your WordPress dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This takes you to the Groups settings panel …
(Groups area)
Note: Configuring directory groups is very similar to working with WordPress categories …
(Groups work just like categories)
Create new groups 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 – Use this section to set up a directory hierarchy
- Description – Type in a group description (optional)
- Click the Add New Group button when done to create your new group name …
(Groups settings)
If you run a medium to large organization, having the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for partners, developers, 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 build a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering each new item …
To edit Groups for individual entries, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The category details will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update when done …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose Quick Edit …
Click on Update Group after making changes …
Add as many group names as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
After you have finished setting up your groups, the next step is to begin adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WordPress admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member screen in your web browser …
(Add New Staff Member screen)
This page 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: The employee’s name
- Permalink: Modify each employees’ permalink URL (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your staff member’s role
- Email: The staff member’s email
- Phone Number: Enter the person’s phone number into this field
- Facebook URL: Add your company’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter your staff member’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 an employee or faculty member to a group (see the previous section 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 each of your staff member’s details …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
Once you have finished entering details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups feature located in your sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you did not set up your directory groups before starting to add staff member details, 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 creating a new group name will appear, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on the Add New Group button …
The new group will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign a staff member to the group …
(Groups feature)
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 of the tutorial above for details).
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After typing in your employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can update the staff member’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using the dashboard admin toolbar here:
Note: If ’page not found’ errors shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that your permalinks have been configured correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’page not found’ errors)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks in WordPress here:
Continue adding more members to your employee or member directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you have finished entering employees into your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all the directory entries and their details …
(Staff Members details table)
If you need to modify individual details, just hover over their name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to modify the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a member from your staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members profile details)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search feature to find listing items if necessary …
(Search members)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields can display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …
(Staff Members Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide specific fields. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when finished to update your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order that listings appear on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order in your main admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to its new position …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered listings)
After adding all staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order in which listings appear on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to its desired location …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list)
After adding your member details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin also lets you create the style and layout of your staff list items 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 menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the allowable template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Simple Staff List Template)
The The code shown above displays your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above example. To make these fields show up in the directory, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your listings page)
Your staff profiles will now display as as shown below …
(Directory listings with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess around with CSS code and template tags 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 listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your WordPress admin menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can choose to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales managers”])
Or, you can make your listings display in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Select Staff Members >Options on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – Options settings)
This section lets you modify some of the labels used in the plugin
You can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export section …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need plugin help or support, go to the plugin site.
Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Staff Directories
Simple Staff List is not the only adding a listing of your team members in WordPress. For example, here are other free WordPress plugins you can use for creating a directory on your site:
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)
For more details go here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
With Staff Directory, you can easily display a list of staff/faculty/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
The plugin lets you insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
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.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)
With Company Directory, you can add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable single views, as well as fields like position title, email address, phone number, image 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 learn more about each employee in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory website)
This plugin also uses a simple shortcode system.
Learn more about this plugin here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just a single member of your team 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 which display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.
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 go here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
The Staffer 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 a staff directory on your site …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer plugin website)
Staffer works 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 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 Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-manage list directory of staff or team members in a WordPress site without editing code.
Images of persons used to portray sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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