No doubt you’ve already heard that people often tend to buy from those they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker, simpler and cost-effective ways to sell more products online or get people to interact more on your site, then help visitors get to know you and your business better.
Adding a directory of employees to your website will help to humanize your business.
This tutorial explains how to add an easy-to-manage staff directory to your WordPress site.
Step-By-Step Tutorial: How To Add An Employee List Directory
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a free WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
Simple Staff List lets you staff members (you could also use it to display faculty, etc.).
The first step is to install and activate this plugin.
Log into the administration and go to Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on Install Now …
(WordPress Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, a new menu will appear on your WordPress admin menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
The Staff Members menu is where you will manage and configure all of the options and settings for this plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Configuring Simple Staff List
Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can start adding new employee entries after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualemployees into.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your directory groups go to your WordPress dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This brings up the Groups settings …
(Groups area)
Note: Adding groups is very similar to working with categories in WordPress …
(Groups work like WordPress categories)
Create a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group category name
- Slug – Type in the slug of your group name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – Use this section if you plan to set up nested groups
- Description – Type in a group description here (optional)
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up the new category …
(Groups settings)
If you are a business that employs many people, having the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create categories for partners, developers, 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 assign these to a directory hierarchy …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering each new item …
To edit Groups for specific entries, hover your mouse over a category title and select the Edit link …
The selected item’s details will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click the Update button to save your changes …
To change your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click Update Group when done …
Continue adding group names to this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested categories)
After you have finished setting up your groups, the next step is to begin to add staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This brings you to the Add New Staff Member area …
(Add New Staff Member settings screen)
This page provides you with 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: Here you can edit the slug for each employee if required (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Add the person’s role here
- Email: The staff member’s email
- Phone Number: Enter the person’s phone number into this field
- Facebook URL: Type in the person’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter your employee’s Twitter username into this field (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Type in a profile description for your employee here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign a staff or faculty member to a 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 features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your staff member’s details …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
After you are done entering details, assign your new item to a directory group in the Groups box in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up categories before starting to add new staff members, you can create a group now by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field for entering your group name will display, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on the Add New Group button …
A new category will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(New group added via Groups feature)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or edited. 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 typing in your employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To make changes to your employee’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial about using the WordPress admin toolbar here:
Note: If you get ’not found’ page errors like the one shown below, check that you have correctly configured your site permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’page not found’ errors)
To learn more about setting up WordPress permalinks, see this tutorial:
Repeat the above process to continue adding new members to your staff directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you are done entering staff details into your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in the menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all the staff members and any details you have added for each entry …
(Staff Members details table)
If you need to modify an individual’s details, hover over their listing, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to update their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete an entry from your staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Edit Staff Members details)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can grow quite large.
You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to find entries …
(Search members)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields to display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide fields. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to update your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which your employee listings show on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the item to the desired position …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list entries)
After adding all members’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory on your site.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order that your employees show on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order on your main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to the new location …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you have added all of your employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List also lets you customize the style and layout of your directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory, 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 Plugin Template)
The This code displays your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To make these fields display in the directory, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your listings page)
Your staff details will now display as as the example below shows …
(Directory listings with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with template tags or are not sure 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 main admin menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations that you can use with the Simple Staff List plugin.
For example, a useful variation you can insert in your page to display only members belonging 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 using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In your menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Options settings screen)
This section lets you edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
Finally, you can also export your staff members details by going to the menu and selecting Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need plugin support, go to the Simple Staff List faq page.
Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Employee Directories
Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to build a directory of your employees in WordPress. Here are some other free plugins you can look at to add a directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress 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)
Learn more about this plugin here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
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 create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory plugin website)
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin provides 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.
Learn more here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, as well as fields like title, email, phone number, image 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 employee in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: plugin website)
This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just a single person 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 that let you display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.
Detailed information about each team member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer)
Staffer 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 an employee directory on your site …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)
Staffer works with almost all WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
More info:
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
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has shown you how to create a simple and easy-to-maintain staff directory in your web site.
Images used to depict fictitious 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