Something that’s been proven to work in business, is that people generally tend to buy from those they know, like and trust.
If you are looking for cost-effective ways to sell more products or services online, then help visitors get to know you and your business better.
Adding a directory of employees or faculty members to your website can generate more trust, increase your online credibility and get more prospects considering using your services.
This step-by-step tutorial explains how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of staff members to your web site.
Adding A Staff Directory: 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)
The Simple Staff List plugin is a no cost plugin that lets you staff (you could also use it to display board of directors, etc.).
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into your WordPress administration and in your admin menu section, click on Plugins > Add New …
(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 the Install Now button …
(WordPress Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, a new menu will appear on your main WP admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
The Staff Members menu is where you will configure and manage all of the options and settings for your plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can just start to add new entries at this at this stage, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to place yourmembers into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s set up your directory categories. In your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This brings up the Groups settings …
(Groups screen)
Note: Adding directory groups is just like configuring categories in WordPress …
(Groups work like WordPress categories)
Add new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group category name
- Slug – Enter 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 drop-down menu if you plan to set up a directory hierarchy
- Description – Type in your group description in this field
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up the new directory group …
(Groups area)
If you work with a business that employs many people, having the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for founders, 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 organize these into a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering each new item …
To change or reassign Groups for a specific item, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The item’s details will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new group from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update to save your changes …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on Quick Edit …
Click on Update Group when done to save your changes …
Continue adding groups in this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
You can add as many nested categories as you like …
(Add nested groups to your staff directory)
After you have finished setting up your hierarchical structure, the next step is to start adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WordPress admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member screen …
(Add New Staff Member settings area)
This area provides an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Enter your staff member’s name
- Permalink: Modify your employees’ slug (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The employee’s role
- Email: Enter your employee’s email
- Phone Number: Add the person’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type in your company’s Facebook address (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: Add a profile description for your employee here. Since this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can format content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign an employee or faculty member to a specific 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 tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each employee’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
Once you are done entering each staff member’s details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups feature located in the sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up categories before starting to add staff member details, you can create a group now by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field will appear allowing you to enter a new group name, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …
A new directory category will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign a person’s listing to the group …
(New group added via Groups feature)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or modified. 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 entering the person’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To modify your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial on using the dashboard admin toolbar here:
Note: If errors like the one shown in the screenshot below shows up, check that you have set up your site’s permalinks correctly …
(Not found error? Check your permalinks)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using permalinks here:
Repeat the above process to continue adding more entries to your employee directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employee or team members to your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all your staff members and their details …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to edit an individual’s entry, just hover your mouse over their list name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to make changes to the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove an entry from your staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Edit Staff Members info)
If you have added many employees to this section, your table can become unwieldy.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to locate listing items …
(Search Staff Members search field)
You can specify which fields to display in this screen. To show 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 fields. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when finished to save your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order that your employee profiles show on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to the new location …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list items)
Once you have added all of your employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to display the directory to your site users.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order in which listings appear on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to the new position …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list)
Once you are done adding all of your employees’ details to your directory, the next step is to display your directory to your site visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin lets you edit the layout and style of your directory items 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 dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory, insert any of the allowable 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 Plugin Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above listing. To display these fields, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template loop, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your listings page should now look like …
(Employee profiles with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess with editing code or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
In addition to being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main admin menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List – Usage shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin lets you use.
For example, a useful variation you can add to your page to display a list of staff members belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”technical engineers”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options in the main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – Options settings)
This section lets you edit some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members details by going to the main menu and selecting Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need any help with this plugin, visit the Simple Staff List plugin site and request help from the plugin developer.
Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Staff Directories
Simple Staff List isn’t the only for creating a directory of your team members. Here are other free WordPress plugins you can check out for adding a directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory)
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)
Go here to learn more:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory)
With the Staff Directory plugin, you can easily create a directory of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
You can also insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory website)
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory)
Faculty And Staff Directory 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 profiles in a widget area.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory)
This plugin lets you add your employees to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable single views, plus as fields like job title, email, phone number, 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 read 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 uses simple shortcodes.
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners or just a single member of your team 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 which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus 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: plugin website)
Learn more about this plugin here:
Staffer
(Staffer)
Staffer uses custom post types for staff management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an online staff directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer plugin website)
Staffer works with many popular 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
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to easily add a simple and easily updatable simple team members directory in in WordPress without coding skills.
Images of persons used to display 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