No doubt you already know that people often tend to buy from those they know, like and trust.
If you are searching for inexpensive ideas to sell more products online, then help your prospects get to know, like and trust you, your team and your business better.
Adding a directory of staff to your website is a great way to humanize your organization.
In this step-by-step tutorial, we explain how to create and add an easy-to-maintain list directory of employees in your web site.
Step-By-Step Tutorial: How To Easily Add A Staff Directory To Your WordPress Site
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress
(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List lets you create a simple staff directory for.
The first step is to install and activate this plugin.
Log into your admin and go to Plugins > Add New …
(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This should bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu entry will be added to your WordPress menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
Configuring Simple Staff List
Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you can begin adding new staff member details at this point, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s configure your directory categories. From your WP dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This takes you to the Groups settings …
(Groups settings area)
Note: Configuring directory groups works in the same way as configuring WordPress categories …
(Groups work just 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 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 nested groups
- Description – Type in a group description (optional)
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up your new group name …
(Groups screen)
If you manage a business that employs many people, being able to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for partners, developers, departments, etc.
Create as many groups and nested categories as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a directory hierarchy …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To change or reassign Groups for specific entries, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
Your selected category details will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update when done …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click Update Group after making changes …
Add as many group names as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …
You can add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested categories)
Once you are done setting up your groups, the next step is to begin adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your WordPress admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This takes you to the Add New Staff Member settings screen …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
This area provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your staff member’s name
- Slug: You can edit the permalink URL for each employee if required (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Add the person’s role
- Email: Type in the staff member’s email here
- Phone Number: The employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type in your company’s Facebook URL here (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Add your employee’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your staff member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign the person to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options tab)
You can enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your staff member’s details …
(Staff directory settings)
Once you have entered your staff member’s details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups feature in the sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you have not set up directory groups before starting to add staff member details, you can create a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group feature)
A field will display allowing you to enter a new group name, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new category and click on Add New Group …
The new directory category will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign a person’s listing to the group …
(New group added)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or modified. To edit a group item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).
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After typing in your employee or faculty member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …
Click View Post …
To make changes to the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
If you need help using the dashboard admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If you have set up groups and get ’not found’ page errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly configured your site’s permalinks …
(Not found error – Check your permalinks)
If you need help setting up WordPress permalinks, see this step-by-step tutorial:
Repeat the above process to add more details to your employee directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff members into your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on the main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all your listing entries and their details …
(Staff Members table)
If you need to modify an individual’s entry, simply hover over their name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to edit the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete an entry from your directory by clicking on the Trash link, 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 grow quite large.
You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate a member if necessary …
(Search Staff Members search box)
You can specify which fields can display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …
(Staff Members Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide fields. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when finished to update your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order in which listings show on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order in your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to its desired position …
(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list)
Once you are done adding all of your staff details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your site users.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order in which listings appear on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in your WP admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to a new location …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
Once you are done adding all of your staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List allows you to create the layout and style of your employee directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your employee directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your WP admin menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Templates page)
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 listings …
(Default Plugin Template)
The This code will display your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Plugin Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To make these fields show up in the directory, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Your employee listings will now display as as the example below shows …
(Employee profiles with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with code or are not sure what to do, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
As well as allowing you to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen displays all the shortcode variations that you can use.
A useful variation you can add, for example, to display a list of individuals belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”Gold Level associates”])
Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
In your menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Options settings)
Here you can modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
Finally, you can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export menu …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need plugin support, visit the Simple Staff List website.
Additional Employee Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only adding a directory of your faculty in WordPress. Here are some other free plugins you can check out for creating an employee 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)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
Staff Directory lets you easily display a list of faculty/staff/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
You can also set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory website)
More info:
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 or university.
The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
With the Company Directory plugin, you can add your staff, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are available, including grid and single views, plus as fields like job title, email address, phone number, photo and staff 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 sourced from plugin website)
This plugin also uses a simple shortcode system.
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just an individual person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
With Employee Spotlight, you also get two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.
Detailed information about each employee can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)
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: plugin website)
Staffer works with many popular 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, search the WordPress plugin directory or go online and search for:
- Add Staff Directory To WordPress
- WordPress Staff Directory Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple staff directory to your WordPress site without messing with code, so your site visitors can get to know your team better.
Images used in this tutorial to display staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"I have used the tutorials to teach all of my clients and it has probably never been so easy for everyone to learn WordPress ... Now I don't need to buy all these very expensive video courses that often don't deliver what they promise." - Stefan Wendt, Internet Marketing Success Group