You have no doubt heard that people often tend to buy from those they know, like and trust.
Are you looking for quicker, simpler and cost-effective ways to grow your business online? Then one of the things you can do, is help your visitors get to know, like and trust you, your team and your organization better.
Adding a staff directory to your website can lead to increased trust, increase your online credibility and get interested prospects to buy from your site.
This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to create and add an easy-to-update staff directory in your web site.
WordPress Plugin Tutorial: How To Add An Employee List Directory
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)
Simple Staff List lets you build a basic staff directory for.
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into the WP admin and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(WP Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This should bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on Install Now …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, a new menu entry will appear in the main WP admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the settings and options for your plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Configuring The Plugin
Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you can just start to add new staff details after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual staff members.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by configuring your directory groups. From your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
The Groups settings panel …
(Groups settings)
Note: Setting up groups works in the same way as configuring categories in WordPress …
(Groups are like categories)
Create new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group name here
- Slug – Type in the slug of your category 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 – Enter your category description in this field (optional)
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up your new group …
(Groups settings)
If you manage a business that employs many people, the ability to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for investors, developers, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories and nested categories as you want 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 entering new items …
To edit or reassign Groups for specific entries, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
Your selected group details open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update to save your changes …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and select Quick Edit …
Click on Update Group when done …
Continue adding group names to this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested categories)
Once you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, the next step is to start to add staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WordPress admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This loads the Add New Staff Member settings area …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This page provides an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your staff member’s name
- Permalink: Modify your staff members’ slug (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type in the person’s role into this field
- Email: Type your employee’s email
- Phone Number: Type in the person’s phone number here
- Facebook URL: Type in your staff member’s Facebook URL into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Add the staff member’s Twitter username (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 or team member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign your employee to a specific group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options tab)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your staff member’s details …
(Add New Staff Member fields)
After you have entered each staff member’s details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in the sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you have not set up groups before starting to add new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group feature)
A field will appear allowing you to create 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 group and click on Add New Group …
The new directory category will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign a person’s listing to the group …
(Groups feature)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to a staff member’s 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 …
Click View Post …
To make changes to your employee’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If ’not found’ page errors shows up like the one shown in the example below, check that your permalinks have been set up correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get errors)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks in WordPress here:
Repeat the above process to add more details to your staff directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff details to your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on the WordPress admin menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table of all your directory items and their details …
(Staff Members details table)
If you need to modify individual entries, simply hover over their listing, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to make changes to the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove someone from your employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members details)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to find items if required …
(Search Staff Members search field)
You can specify which fields to display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …
(Screen Options)
Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also select how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when done to update your settings …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which entries show on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to its desired location …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list entries)
After adding your member details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your site users.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order in which entries display on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to a desired position …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list items)
Once you are done adding members’ details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List 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 layout and style of your directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, insert any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is a screenshot of the Default Template …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop 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 display these fields, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template, as shown below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Your staff details will now appear with Facebook and Twitter links as as shown below …
(Directory with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with 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 allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main admin menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List shortcodes)
This screen displays all the shortcode variations that the plugin lets you use.
A useful variation you can select, 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=”sales trainers”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Click Staff Members >Options in your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
Here you can edit some of the labels used in the plugin
You can also export your staff members info by going to the WordPress admin menu and selecting Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need plugin support, visit the Simple Staff List support page and request help from the plugin developer.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List is not the only WordPress staff directory plugin you can use. Here are a few other plugins you can check out for adding a directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
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)
This plugin lets you easily create a directory of team/staff/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.
You can also insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Go here to learn more:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory)
Faculty And Staff Directory 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 profiles in a widget area.
For more details go here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
The Company Directory plugin lets you easily add your staff to your site. Different layouts are available, including list and table views, plus as fields like position title, email address, phone, photo and member bio, allowing you to present 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 members in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.
For more details go here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just one single member of your team in a 4-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 selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.
Detailed information about each staff member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)
Learn more about this plugin here:
Staffer
(Staffer)
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 onsite employee directory …
(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.
For more details go 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
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple employee or team member directory to your WordPress site, so your web visitors can get to know you and your business better.
Images used in this tutorial to portray sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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