Business experts have successfully demonstrated that people will buy from people they know, like and trust.
Are you searching for quicker, easier and cheaper ways to sell more products or services online or get people to interact more with your site? Then something you can do, is make it easier for your visitors to get to know you and your organization better.
If you use WordPress, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to use a WordPress staff list plugin that will let you display information about your key partners, your team, or your employees.
In this tutorial, we show you how to add a simple and easy-to-maintain directory of staff members to your site with no coding skills required.
How To Add An Employee Directory: Step-By-Step Tutorial
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you build a simple staff directory for.
First, let’s install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your WordPress administration and in your admin menu, click on 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 plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(WordPress Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu will be added to your WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
Here is where you will configure and manage all of the settings for your plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Plugin Configuration
Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could start adding new staff details after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s set up your directory groups. From your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This brings up the Groups screen …
(Groups settings)
Note: Configuring directory groups works just like categories in WordPress …
(Groups work just like categories)
Add new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group name here
- Slug – Enter the slug of your category name. 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 – Enter your category description
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to create your new group …
(Groups screen)
If you run a business that employs many people, having the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for partners, developers, departments, etc.
Create as many groups and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a directory hierarchy …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering each item …
To change Groups for specific entries, hover your mouse over a category title and select the Edit link …
The category will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button to save your changes …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and select Quick Edit …
Click the Update Group button to save your changes …
Continue adding group names in this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Add nested groups to your directory)
Once you are done setting up your directory structure, you can start to add staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This opens up the Add New Staff Member screen …
(Add New Staff Member settings screen)
This screen provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your employee’s name
- Permalink: Edit the slug associated with your 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: Your staff member’s position
- Email: The employee’s email address
- Phone Number: Add the person’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type in your staff member’s Facebook address into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Add 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 staff member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatted content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign an employee or faculty member 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 at the top of your screen …
(Screen options tab)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your employee’s details …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
Once you have finished inputting each staff member’s details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups section in your sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you did not set up directory groups before adding new staff members, you can create a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field will appear allowing you to create a new group name, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …
Your new group will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(New group added via Groups section)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing new employee details. 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 filling in your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your employee directory …
Click View Post …
You can edit the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using the dashboard admin toolbar here:
Note: If a ‘page not found’ error like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that you have configured your site permalinks correctly …
(Page error? Check your permalinks)
To learn more about setting up permalinks in WordPress, see this tutorial:
Keep adding more members to your directory directory as shown above until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff details to your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the directory items and details you have added for each entry …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to change individual entries, simply hover over their list name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to modify their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a member from your directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Edit 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 find entries if necessary …
(Search Staff Members search feature)
The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide specific fields. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when finished to update your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order in which listings appear on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in your main admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to the new location …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
Once you have added employees’ details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order that your staff details display on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order on your main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to the desired position …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list)
Once you have added staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to display your directory to your site users.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin also lets you customize 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 directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Simple Staff List Templates screen)
To customize your directory, reorganize any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)
The This code displays your listing as shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To make these fields show up in your directory, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Your staff entries will now display with Facebook and Twitter addresses as shown in the screenshot below …
(Staff profiles with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with editing code or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
As well as 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 – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Usage Shortcode section)
This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations you can use with the plugin.
For example, a useful variation you can decide to use 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”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In your menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)
This section lets you modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
You can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export page …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need plugin support, go to the plugin faq page.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to display a directory of your employees in WordPress. Here are some other plugins you can look at to add a directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory 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)
Go here to learn more:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
The Staff Directory plugin lets you easily create a directory of team/faculty/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
You can also insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory website)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
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 a profile in a widget area.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Company Directory lets you easily add your employees to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and single views, as well as fields like position title, email address, phone number, pic and 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 staff member in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: plugin website)
This plugin uses shortcodes.
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders or just one single person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
Employee Spotlight includes two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each staff member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from Employee Spotlight plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staffer
(Staffer)
This plugin 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 site …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer website)
Staffer works with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
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 List
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to add an updatable list directory of staff members in your site with no coding skills required.
Images of persons used to display staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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