Something that’s been proven to work in business, is that people generally tend to buy from those they already know, like and trust.
If you are looking for inexpensive ways to sell more products online, then help your visitors get to know you, your team and your organization better.
Adding an employee directory to your website can help boost your online credibility and get more prospects contacting you.
In this tutorial, we are going to show you how to add an easy-to-maintain list of staff members in your WordPress site.
How To Add An Employee List Directory: Tutorial
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress
(Simple Staff List)
The Simple Staff List plugin is a free plugin that lets you display basic information about your staff on your site.
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your WordPress dashboard and navigate 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 plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu entry will be added to the WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the options and settings for your plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Configuring The Plugin
Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you could just begin adding new staff details at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign yourgroup members into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by configuring your categories. From your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This takes you to the Groups panel …
(Groups settings)
Note: Setting up groups is just like configuring categories …
(Groups are like categories)
Add a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your category name
- Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version 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 the category description in this field
- Click the Add New Group button when done to create a new group …
(Groups area)
If you manage a medium to large organization, the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for investors, project teams, departments, etc.
Create as many groups and nested groups as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a hierarchical structure …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after creating each item …
To change Groups for a particular item, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The selected item’s details will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update when done …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and choose Quick Edit …
Click the Update Group button when done …
Add as many categories as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested categories)
After you have finished setting up your hierarchical structure, you can begin to add names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member screen in your web browser …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This screen provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your employee’s name
- Permalink: Change each staff members’ permalink URL (you will see this section after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The employee’s position
- Email: Add the staff member’s email
- Phone Number: Enter your employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Add the person’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type your company’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 employee or team member 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 an employee or faculty member to a group (see the previous section 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 each employee’s details …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
Once you have entered details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups section located in the sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up groups before adding 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 for entering your group name will display, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …
Your new directory category will be created. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign an employee’s details to the group …
(Groups feature)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to an individual’s details. To edit an 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 staff or faculty member’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can make changes to the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial on using the WordPress admin toolbar here:
Note: If you get ’not found’ page errors like the one shown below, check that your permalinks have been set up correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get errors)
If you need help setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:
Keep adding new entries to your directory directory as described above.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you are done entering employee details into your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all your staff members and their details …
(Staff Members list)
If you need to edit individual entries, just hover over their list name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to edit the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a member from your staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Edit Staff Members info)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can get quite long.
You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to find a member if required …
(Search Staff Members search box)
You can specify which fields to display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …
(Screen Options)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide fields. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when finished to update your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that entries display on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to the desired location …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list items)
After adding your members’ details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your site visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order that your employee listings appear on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on the main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to its new position …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list entries)
After adding your employees’ details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your site visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin allows you to customize the style and layout of your employee directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your employee directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your main admin menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the allowable template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is a screenshot of the Default Template …
(Default Simple Staff List Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above listing. To make these fields show in the directory, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Your directory listings will now appear with Facebook and Twitter links as as shown below …
(Directory listings with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with template tags or are not sure what to do, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
In addition to being able to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Usage Shortcode screen)
This screen displays all different shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.
A useful variation you can add, for example, to display only members belonging 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
Choose Staff Members >Options on the menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
Here you can change some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export page …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need plugin support, go to the plugin support page and contact the plugin author.
Other Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use. Here are some other plugins you can look at:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
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)
Learn more here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
Staff Directory lets you easily display a list of faculty/staff/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.
This plugin lets you add custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
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 a profile in a widget area.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Plugin)
This plugin lets you easily add your employees to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and single views, as well as fields like title, email, phone, photo and bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.
Visitors can click through from your list, grid, and table views to learn more about each employee in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin uses simple shortcodes.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just an individual member of your team in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
Employee Spotlight installs with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each employee 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)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP Plugin)
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 website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin website)
Staffer works immediately 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
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add and create a simple staff directory to your WordPress site without editing code, so your site visitors can get to know your organization better.
Images of persons 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