Many business experts often raise the point that people will buy from those they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker, simpler and cheaper ideas to grow your business online and get people to interact more with your site, then something you can do, is make it easier for visitors to get to know, like and trust you and your business better.
Adding an employee directory to your site can help boost your online credibility and get more prospects buying from your site.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to create and add an updatable directory of staff members to your WordPress site without editing code.
How To Easily Add A Staff Directory To Your WordPress Site
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you easily display basic information about your staff on your website.
First, let’s install and activate the plugin.
Log into the 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 Install Now …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu entry will appear in your WordPress menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the options and settings for this plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.
Configuring The Plugin
Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can just begin adding new employee entries at this at this stage, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff members.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s set up your categories. From your WP dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This loads the Groups section …
(Groups screen)
Note: Setting up groups is just like adding categories in WordPress …
(Groups work like categories)
Create a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your category name
- Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your group. 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 nested groups
- Description – Enter your category description in this field
- Click the Add New Group button when done to set up your new directory group …
(Groups screen)
If you work with a medium to large organization, having the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for investors, project teams, departments, etc.
Create as many categories and nested groups 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 creating each item …
To edit or reassign Groups for individual entries, hover your mouse button over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The group details open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update when done …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and select Quick Edit …
Click on Update Group when done …
Add as many categories as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested categories)
After you are done setting up your directory structure, the next step is to begin adding staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member screen …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
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: Your staff member’s name
- Slug: Change the permalink URL for each employee if required (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type your staff member’s position here
- Email: Add the person’s email here
- Phone Number: Type in the person’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Enter your company’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type in the person’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. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign the person to a specific group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up your groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options)
You will see options to 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 …
(Staff directory settings)
After you are done entering each staff member’s details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups feature in your sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you did not set up your directory groups before adding staff member details, you can add a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group link)
A field for entering a new group name will appear, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new category and click on Add New Group …
Your new category will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign your listing to the group …
(New group added in Groups feature)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to an employee’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).
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After filling in the person’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To edit your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the dashboard admin toolbar, refer to this tutorial:
Note: If you see a page error like the one shown below, check that your site permalinks have been configured correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get a ‘page not found’ error)
If you need help setting up WordPress permalinks, go here:
Keep adding new details to your employee directory directory as shown above until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you have finished entering staff or team members into your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table with all the staff profiles and the details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members details table)
If you need to make changes to an individual’s entry, hover over their listing, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to edit their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a listing from your staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Edit Staff Members profile details)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search field to find entries if necessary …
(Search Staff Members search box)
The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide specific fields. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when finished to save your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which entries display on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to its new position …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you have added member listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your site visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order that your employee listings appear on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order in the main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the entry to its new position …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list)
After adding all employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your site visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin allows you to customize the style and layout of your staff directory 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 main menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is a screenshot of the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter URLs showing in the above listing. To make these fields appear in the directory, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template loop, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your directory should now look like …
(Staff profiles with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with code or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
In addition to allowing you to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode screen)
This screen lists all the shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.
A useful variation you can decide to use, for example, to display a list of employees or faculty members belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Asia Pacific Region”])
Or, you can make your listings display in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – Options screen)
This section lets you edit 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 information)
If you need plugin help or support, go to the Simple Staff List plugin website and contact the plugin author.
Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Employee Directories
Simple Staff List is not the only for creating a directory of your employees in WordPress. For example, here are other plugins you can check out:
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)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
This plugin lets you easily display a list of faculty/team/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
You can also add custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory website)
More info:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory)
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 installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
With Company Directory, you can easily add your employees to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and single views, plus as fields like job title, email address, phone number, pic and staff 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 staff member 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 shortcodes.
Learn more here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders or just a single person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
The Employee Spotlight pluginincludes two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of 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 employee circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
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 online employee directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)
Staffer works immediately with almost all 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, 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
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to add an updatable simple faculty directory in in WordPress.
Images used to depict fictitious staff members in this tutorial 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