Something that’s been proven to work in business, is that people often tend to buy from businesses they know, like and trust.
If you are searching for cost-effective ideas to grow your business online, then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for visitors to get to know, like and trust you and your business better.
If your site uses the WordPress CMS, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to use a staff list plugin that will let you display a directory containing information about your partners, your faculty, or your employees.
This step-by-step tutorial shows you how to create an easy-to-maintain directory of employees in your site.
WordPress Plugin Tutorial: How To Add An Employee Directory In WordPress
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
Simple Staff List lets you employee.
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into your admin and go to Plugins > Add New …
(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 Install Now …
(WordPress Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, you will notice that new entry will appear on the WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
This menu is where you will configure and manage all of the settings and options for this plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
Plugin Configuration
Depending on the size of your team and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can begin adding new staff details 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. In your WP dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This takes you to the Groups settings screen …
(Groups settings area)
Note: Configuring groups is just like setting up categories …
(Groups work just like categories)
Create a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group category name
- Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version 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 categories
- Description – Type in the group description (optional)
- Click the Add New Group button when done to set up a new group name …
(Groups screen)
If you are a medium to large organization, having the ability to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for investors, project teams, departments, 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 groups)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating each new item …
To change Groups for individual items, hover your mouse button over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The selected group details will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update when done …
To change the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on Quick Edit …
Click the Update Group button when done to save your changes …
Continue adding groups in this section until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Add nested groups to your staff directory)
After you have finished setting up your directory structure, the next step is to begin to add your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member settings screen in your browser …
(Add New Staff Member area)
This screen provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Enter your staff member’s name
- Slug: Here you can change each employees’ permalink URL (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your staff member’s position
- Email: Add the person’s email here
- Phone Number: Enter the person’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type in your company’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Add the employee’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 a profile description for your employees here. As this uses the built-in WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign your employee to a group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab …
(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 your employee’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
After you have entered details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups feature located in the sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you did not set up your directory groups before starting to add new staff members, you can create a group now by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group link)
A field for entering a new group name will display, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on Add New Group …
Your new group will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign an individual to the group …
(New group added via Groups feature)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to new employee 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).
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After entering the person’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To update the employee’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
If you need help using the WordPress admin toolbar, refer to this tutorial:
Note: If you have set up groups and get a ‘page not found’ error like the one shown below, check that your site’s permalinks have been set up correctly …
(Not found error – Check your permalinks)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks here:
Keep adding more details to your directory directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employee details to your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in the main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a list of all your listing entries and any details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members table)
If you need to change an individual’s details, just hover over their name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to edit their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete someone from your directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Editing Staff Members profile)
If you have added many employees to this section, your table can become unwieldy.
Use the Search Staff Members search feature to find a member if required …
(Search Staff Members search feature)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields to display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to update your settings …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order that your staff members show on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order in the main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to the new location …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list)
After adding your member listing details to the directory, the next step is to add your directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order that listings show on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to its new location …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list entries)
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 lets you create the style and layout of your employee directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – 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, below is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying listings …
(Default Plugin Template)
The This code will display your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above listing. To make these fields show up 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 as the example below shows …
(Employee profiles 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 not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
In addition to allowing you to customize your directory 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 page …
(Simple Staff List shortcodes)
This screen displays all the shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to use.
For example, a useful variation you can add to your page to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”property managers”])
Or, you can 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 brings up the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – Options settings)
Here you can edit some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export page …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need help with the Simple Staff List plugin, visit the plugin faq page.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only for displaying a directory of your staff in WordPress. For example, here are some other free plugins you can look at for creating an employee directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress 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)
More info:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory)
With the Staff Directory plugin, you can easily display a list of staff/faculty/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
You can also use custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory plugin website)
For more details go here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
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 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)
Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your staff to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and single views, as well as fields like position title, email, phone, image and staff bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.
Visitors can 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 in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: plugin website)
This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just one 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.
With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.
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 source: Employee Spotlight website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer)
The Staffer 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 a staff directory on your website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer plugin website)
Staffer works immediately with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
To learn more about the plugin go here:
If the directory plugins listed above 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
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple directory of staff members to your WordPress site without messing around with code, so you can showcase the people in your business, team, or organization.
Images of persons used to portray staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)