Many business experts often raise the point that people generally will buy from businesses they know, like and trust.
If you are looking for quicker and simpler ideas to sell more products online and get people to engage more on your site, then something you can do, is help your visitors get to know your business better.
If you are a WordPress user, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to use a WordPress directory plugin that lets you add information about your partners, your faculty, or your staff.
This step-by-step tutorial explains how to add a simple and easy-to-manage employee directory to your site.
Adding An Employee List Directory
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List lets you staff.
The first step is to install and activate this plugin.
Log into your WordPress admin and go to Plugins > Add New …
(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 the Install Now button …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will see that a new menu will display on your main WordPress menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the settings and options for your plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
Configuring Simple Staff List
Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you could just start adding new employee entries after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your members.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by configuring your categories. In your WP dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
The Groups section …
(Groups settings)
Note: Adding groups is similar to working with categories in WordPress …
(Groups are like categories)
Add new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group 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 section if you plan to set up nested categories
- Description – Type in the group description
- Click Add New Group when done to set up your new group …
(Groups section)
If you run a business that employs many people, having the ability to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for investors, project teams, 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 organize these into a hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after creating new items …
To change or reassign Groups for individual items, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
Your selected group details will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update when done …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click on Update Group after making changes …
Continue adding categories in this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Nested categories)
Once you have finished setting up your groups, you can begin adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WP admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This brings you to the Add New Staff Member settings …
(Add New Staff Member section)
This section provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Enter the staff member’s name
- Permalink: Here you can edit your staff members’ permalink URL (you will see this section after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Add the person’s position here
- Email: Type in the person’s email address into this field
- Phone Number: Type in the employee’s phone number here
- Facebook URL: Type your employee’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter the employee’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Type a profile description for your staff members here. As this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign an employee or faculty member to a group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen options)
You can enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your employee’s details …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
After you have finished entering your staff member’s details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups feature located in your sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you did not set up categories before starting to add staff member details, you can create a group now by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field for creating your group name will appear, with a drop-down 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 group will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign a list item to the group …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or modified. 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 filling in your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …
Click View Post …
You can edit your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using the WordPress admin toolbar here:
Note: If a ‘page not found’ error like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that you have correctly set up your permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get errors)
To learn more about setting up WP permalinks, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
Repeat the above process to continue adding new entries to your staff directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employees into your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on the WordPress admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table of all the directory entries and details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members details)
If you need to edit an individual’s details, hover your mouse over their listing, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to update their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove an entry from your employee directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Editing Staff Members info)
If you have many employees, your table can become unwieldy.
You can use the Search Staff Members search box to find member details …
(Search Staff Members search box)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields can display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide fields. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your settings …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which listings show on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in the main admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to its new location …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered listings)
Once you have added staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order that your employee listings appear on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to the desired location …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list items)
Once you have added employees’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your site visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin allows you to create 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 staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from the menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Simple Staff List Templates screen)
To customize your directory listings, insert any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Staff Loop Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To make these fields appear in the directory, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template loop, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Your employee listings will now display Facebook and Twitter links as shown in the example below …
(Directory with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess with editing code or are not sure what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
In addition to being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List plugin shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all the shortcode variations that the plugin lets you use.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can insert in your page to display a list of employees belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales reps”])
Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Choose Staff Members >Options in the menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Options settings screen)
This section lets you edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
Finally, you can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export screen …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need plugin help or support, visit the plugin plugin website and request help from the plugin developer.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List isn’t the only plugin you can use to display a directory of your employees in WordPress. Here are a few other free plugins you can use to create an employee directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory)
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 – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
This plugin lets you easily display a list of faculty/staff/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.
You can also set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: Staff Directory website)
Learn more about the plugin 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, school or university.
The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
With Company Directory, you can add your staff to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable single views, plus as fields like position title, email, phone number, image and member 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 employee in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory website)
This plugin uses shortcodes.
Go here to learn more:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders or just one single 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 includes two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each faculty member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staffer
(Staffer)
Staffer uses custom post types for staff management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage a staff directory on your site …
(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.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
If the directory plugins listed above aren’t what you’re looking for, search the WordPress plugin directory or go online 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 a simple staff directory to your WordPress site, so your site visitors can get to know you and your team better.
Images of persons used to display sample staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)