Many business and marketing experts often raise the point that people tend to buy from people they know, like and trust.
Are you looking for ways to sell more products online? Then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for your prospects to get to know your organization better.
Adding a directory of employees or faculty members to your website will help personalize your business.
This tutorial shows you how to create an easy-to-update directory of staff members in WordPress.
Adding A Staff 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 is a free plugin that lets you build a basic staff directory list for.
First, let’s install and activate the plugin.
Log into your WP admin and from the admin menu, click on Plugins > Add New …
(WP 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)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu entry will show up in your WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the settings and options for your plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on the size of your team and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could just begin adding new staff details after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your group members.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by configuring your directory categories. From your WP dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
The Groups settings panel …
(Groups section)
Note: Configuring groups is just like adding categories in WordPress …
(Groups are like WordPress categories)
Create new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group name
- Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your category name. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – Use this section to set up a directory hierarchy
- Description – Enter a category description here
- Click Add New Group when done to set up a new category …
(Groups settings screen)
If you are a medium to large organization, having the ability to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a category for founders, project teams, faculties, etc.
Create as many groups and nested categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a directory hierarchy …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after creating each item …
To change Groups for individual entries, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The item’s details will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update to save your changes …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and choose the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click Update Group when done to save your changes …
Add as many group names as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
After you are done setting up your directory structure, you can begin adding your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your WordPress admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member settings …
(Add New Staff Member screen)
This page 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 staff member’s name
- Slug: You can edit the slug for your employee if you want (you will see this section after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Add the staff member’s position here
- Email: The staff member’s email address
- Phone Number: The employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type the person’s Facebook URL (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 employees here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign your employee to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options tab)
You will see options to enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your employee’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
Once you have finished inputting your staff member’s details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups section located in your sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you did not set up your directory groups before starting to add new staff members, you can create a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field for entering your new group name will appear, with a drop-down menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new group and click on Add New Group …
Your new directory category will be added. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(New group)
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 of the tutorial above for details).
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After entering the person’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can modify the employee’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using the admin toolbar here:
Note: If ’page not found’ errors shows up like the one shown in the example below, check that you have correctly configured your permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get a ‘page not found’ error)
If you need help setting up permalinks in WordPress, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
Repeat the above process to add more details to your directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you have finished adding staff members into your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on the menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all your staff members and details you have added related to each entry …
(Staff Members list)
If you need to modify an individual’s details, simply hover over their listing, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to modify the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a member from your employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking 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 locate entries if required …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields can display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options tab)
Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to update your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order in which entries appear 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 its desired position …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list items)
Once you have added member details to the directory, the next step is to display the directory to your site visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order that listings appear on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to its desired position …
(Reorder items using drag and drop)
Your directory will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list)
Once you have added all of your employees’ details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin also lets you customize the style and layout of your directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the main admin menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Simple Staff List Templates page)
To customize your directory, insert any of the allowable template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying listings …
(Default Plugin Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default 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 add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Use template tags to customize your directory page)
Your employee details will now display as as shown below …
(Staff profiles with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with CSS styles and template tags or are not sure what to do, please contact us for help.
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 menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Usage Shortcode section)
This screen lists all different shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.
For example, a useful variation you can choose to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”partners”])
Or, you can make your listings display in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This opens the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – Options settings)
This section lets you modify some of the labels used in the plugin
You can also export your staff members info by going to your WordPress admin menu and clicking Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need plugin help or support, go to the Simple Staff List faq page and contact the plugin author.
Other Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only for displaying a directory of your team members in WordPress. For example, here are other free WordPress plugins you can use:
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)
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
The Staff Directory plugin lets you easily display a list of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
You can also insert custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: Staff Directory website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
This 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.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Plugin)
This plugin lets you easily add your staff, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and single views, as well as fields like job title, email address, phone number, photo and 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 staff member 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 uses a simple shortcode system.
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, founders or just one single person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
The Employee Spotlight pluginincludes two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus 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 source: Employee Spotlight plugin website)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)
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 website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Staffer works immediately with many popular 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, search the WordPress plugin directory or go online and search for:
- Add Staff Directory To WordPress
- WordPress Staff List
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this tutorial has shown you how to add a simple and easy-to-maintain directory of employees to WordPress.
Models used to portray staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now