Consumer behaviour studies show that people generally tend to buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.
Are you looking for ideas to sell more products online and get people to stay longer on your site? Then help visitors get to know, like and trust your business better.
Adding an employee directory to your site can help to generate more trust, boost your credibility online and get more prospects buying from you.
In this tutorial, you are going to learn how to create and add an easy-to-update simple employee directory in your site using free WP plugins.
Adding An Employee Directory In WordPress
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you easily display basic information to visitors about your staff members on your website.
The first step is to install and activate the plugin.
Log into your WP administration and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, 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, you will see that a new entry will appear on the WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the settings and options for your plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.
Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your directory, you can just start adding new entries after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place yourgroup members into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by configuring your groups. From your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This brings you to the Groups settings panel …
(Groups settings screen)
Note: Setting up groups works just like categories in WordPress …
(Groups work just like categories)
Add a new group by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group name
- Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your group. 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 your group description in this field (optional)
- Click Add New Group when finished to create your new category …
(Groups settings screen)
If you manage a business that employs many people, having the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for partners, project teams, faculties, etc.
Create as many groups and nested categories as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
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 click on the Edit link …
The selected category will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update when done …
To change the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click Update Group to save your changes …
Add as many categories as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
After you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, you can begin to add your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your WP admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This loads the Add New Staff Member screen …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This screen 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: Enter the employee’s name
- Permalink: Modify the slug associated with each employee if required (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Type your staff member’s role
- Email: Type the person’s email address into this field
- Phone Number: Type the person’s phone number here
- Facebook URL: Type in your company’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type in 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 employees here. As this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign a staff or team member to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options)
You can enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your staff member’s details …
(Add New Staff Member fields)
After you are done inputting details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups box located in the sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you have not set up your directory groups before starting to add 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 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 group and click on Add New Group …
A new category will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign an employee’s details to the group …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s details are being added or modified. To edit an item, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section of the tutorial above for details).
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After filling in your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …
Click View Post …
To modify your employee’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using the dashboard admin toolbar here:
Note: If you get errors like the one shown below, check that you have set up your site permalinks correctly …
(Page error – Check your permalinks)
If you need help setting up permalinks, go here:
Repeat the above process to add new members to your staff or team directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you have finished adding employee or faculty members to your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table with all your employees and any details you have added for each entry …
(Staff Members table)
If you need to modify an individual’s details, simply hover your mouse over their list name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to edit their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a listing from your staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Edit Staff Members details)
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 locate entries if required …
(Search Staff Members search box)
You can specify which fields to display in this section. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide fields. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when finished to save your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order that entries show on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on the WP admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to its new position …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list entries)
After adding your members’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory show on your site.
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order that listings display on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order on the WP admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to the desired location …
(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list)
Once you have added all of your members’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory to your site users.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin lets you customize the layout and style of your directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from the menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Templates page)
To customize your directory, reorganize any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying listings …
(Default Simple Staff List Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To display these fields, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Your directory details will now display as shown in the screenshot below …
(Employee profiles with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with editing code or are unsure of what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
In addition to allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)
This screen displays all the shortcode variations that the plugin lets you use.
For example, a useful variation you can select to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales reps”])
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 dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)
Here you can modify some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export screen …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need plugin support, visit the plugin plugin site.
Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Staff Directories
Simple Staff List isn’t the only for displaying a directory of your employees. For example, here are some other free WordPress plugins you can look at to add an employee directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP 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 – WP Plugin)
With the Staff Directory plugin, you can easily display a list of team/staff/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
The plugin lets you set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Go here to learn more:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
The Faculty And Staff Directory plugin provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.
The plugin also installs 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 – Plugin For WordPress)
With the Company Directory plugin, you can add your employees to your website. Different layouts are available, including list and customizable single views, as well as fields like position title, email, phone number, 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 read more about each employee in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin also uses a simple shortcode system.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just an individual 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 selected in the editor, 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 sourced from plugin website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
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 an onsite employee directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer website)
Staffer works immediately 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 List
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has explained how to create an easy-to-manage staff directory in WordPress.
Images used to portray staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"I am beyond impressed with what you have put together. I can tell that you put a ton of hard work into building what you have. You have the absolute best content on WordPress I have ever seen!" - Robert T. Jillie
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