You have no doubt heard that people often tend to buy from those they already know, like and trust.
Are you searching for inexpensive ideas to sell more products online and get people to engage more on your site? Then something you can do, is make it easier for your prospects to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your organization better.
Adding a directory of staff to your website will help personalize your business.
In this step-by-step tutorial, we show you how to easily create and add an easy-to-update list directory of employees to your site without messing with code.
How To Add A Staff List Directory: WordPress Plugin Tutorial
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost 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 create a basic staff directory for.
The first step is to install and activate the plugin.
Log into your WP admin and go to Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This should bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Click the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu entry will show up in the WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the settings and options for this plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can start to add new staff details after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualgroup members into.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your categories go to your WP dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
The Groups screen …
(Groups section)
Note: Configuring groups works just like categories in WordPress …
(Groups work like categories)
Add new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group name
- Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version 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 if you plan to set up nested categories
- Description – Type in a category description (optional)
- Click Add New Group when finished to create your new directory category …
(Groups settings)
If you run a medium to large organization, being able to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for investors, developers, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories and nested categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a hierarchical structure …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after creating each item …
To change or reassign Groups for an entry, hover your mouse button over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The selected item’s details open in the Edit Group page. Select a new group from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update when done …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and choose Quick Edit …
Click the Update Group button when done to save your changes …
Continue adding group names in this section until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested categories as you like …
(Add nested groups to your directory)
Once you are done setting up your groups, you can start to add your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your WP admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This loads the Add New Staff Member screen …
(Add New Staff Member area)
This page provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The staff member’s name
- Slug: Change each staff members’ slug (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Enter your staff member’s role
- Email: The employee’s email address
- Phone Number: Enter the person’s phone number here
- Facebook URL: Type the person’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type 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: Enter a profile description for your employee or team member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign your employee to a group (see above to learn how to set up groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen options tab)
You will see options to enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your staff member’s details …
(Add Staff Member settings)
After you are done inputting details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups section in the sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you have not set up categories before adding new staff members, you can add a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group)
A field for creating your group name will appear, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on Add New Group …
The new category will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign the employee’s details to the group …
(New group added via Groups feature)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing new employee 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 filling in your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your staff directory …
Click View Post …
To modify your staff member’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the dashboard admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
Note: If an error shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that you have correctly set up your site permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get errors)
To learn more about setting up WP permalinks, see this step-by-step tutorial:
Continue adding new entries to your staff directory directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you are done adding staff members into your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in the main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table of all your staff members and details you have added for each entry …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to edit individual details, simply hover over their listing, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to edit the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a member from the directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members profile information)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate a member if required …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields to display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab …
(Screen Options)
Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when finished to save your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order that listings display on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order on your WP admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the entry to the desired location …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you are done adding member listing details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order in which entries show on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on the WP admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to its desired position …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list items)
After adding your member listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your site users.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin also lets you create the style and layout of your staff list 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 menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Simple Staff List Templates page)
To customize your directory, insert any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Plugin Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Plugin Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. To display these fields, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your staff list will now look like …
(Directory with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with template tags or are not sure what to do, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
In addition to allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)
This screen displays all the shortcode variations you can use with the Simple Staff List plugin.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can decide to use to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales reps”])
Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
Here you can change some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export menu …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need help with the Simple Staff List plugin, visit the plugin support page.
Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Employee Directories
Simple Staff List is not the only adding a listing of your team members in WordPress. For example, here are some other free plugins you can check out to add an employee directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress 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)
Learn more about this plugin here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WP 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, teams, etc.
You can also create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory plugin website)
For more details go 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, school or university.
The plugin also includes a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
Learn more about this plugin here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
This plugin lets you add your employees to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and table views, plus as fields like position title, email address, phone, photo and member bio, allowing you to present 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 members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory website)
This plugin uses simple shortcodes.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just one individual person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
Employee Spotlight comes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.
Detailed information about each staff member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Learn more about this plugin here:
Staffer
(Staffer)
Staffer 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 employee directory on your website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Staffer works with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
Learn more 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
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has shown you how to add a simple and easy-to-manage staff directory to your WordPress site.
Images of models used in this tutorial to depict staff members 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