You have no doubt heard that people tend to buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.
Are you searching for cost-effective ideas to sell more products online? Then one of the things you can do, is help your visitors get to know you, your team and your organization better.
Adding a staff directory to your site can help to generate increased trust, increase your credibility online and get interested prospects to consider using your services.
This tutorial shows you how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of employees in your WordPress site.
WordPress Plugin Tutorial: Adding An Employee List Directory
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List lets you employee.
The first step is to install and activate the plugin.
Log into the WP administration and go 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 search results area.
Click on Install Now …
(WordPress Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, you will see that a new menu entry will show up in the WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on how many people are in your organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can start adding new employee entries at this at this stage, or create several groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual group members.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your categories go to your dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This brings you to the Groups screen …
(Groups area)
Note: Setting up groups works in the same way as adding categories in WordPress …
(Groups work just like categories)
Add a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group category name here
- Slug – Enter the slug 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 – Enter the category description in this field (optional)
- Click Add New Group when done to set up a new directory group …
(Groups section)
If you manage a larger organization, the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for partners, project teams, departments, etc.
Create as many categories and nested categories as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to build a hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering each item …
To edit Groups for an individual item, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
The item open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click the Update button 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 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 categories)
Once you have finished setting up your directory structure, you can start adding your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This loads the Add New Staff Member settings area …
(Add New Staff Member area)
This section provides an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The employee’s name
- Permalink: Edit your employees’ slug (you will see this section after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your employee’s position
- Email: Add the person’s email
- Phone Number: Your employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type your employee’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter your company’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 faculty member here. As this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can format content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign your staff member to a 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 employee’s details …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
Once you have entered details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups section located in the sidebar …
(Groups feature)
Note: If you have not set up categories before starting to add new staff members, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group link)
A field will display allowing you to enter a new group name, with a dropdown menu to assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new directory category and click on Add New Group …
Your new group will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(Groups box)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or modified. 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 entering your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …
Click View Post …
You can update the employee’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
If you need help using the admin toolbar, refer to this tutorial:
Note: If you get errors like the one shown below, check that you have set up your permalinks correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get an error)
If you need help setting up WP permalinks, go here:
Repeat the above process to continue adding more members to your staff directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you are done adding employee or team members into your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on the main admin menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a list with all the staff members and details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members list)
If you need to change an individual’s entry, simply hover over their listing, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to make changes to the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove an entry from your staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Edit Staff Members profile details)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can grow quite large.
You can use the Search Staff Members search field to find a member if necessary …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields can display in this screen. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Placing a tick in the item’s check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when finished to update your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order that listings appear on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order in the main admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the entry to the desired position …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list)
Once you have added all of your members’ listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display on your site.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order that entries display on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order on your main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to the new location …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered listings)
Once you are done adding all of your member listing details to your directory, the next step is to display the directory on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List lets you customize the style and layout of your employee directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your employee directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the main admin menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates screen …
(Simple Staff List Templates screen)
To customize your directory, insert any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is a screenshot of the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Staff Loop Template)
The The code shown above will display your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To make these fields appear in your directory, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your directory should now look like …
(Employee profiles with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess with template tags or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
As well as being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List shortcodes)
This screen displays all different shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to 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”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In the WordPress admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Options 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 from the Tools > Export page …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need plugin help or support, go to the plugin plugin website.
Other Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only adding a listing of your staff in WordPress. For example, here are a few other plugins you can check out to create a directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory 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)
More info:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
With Staff Directory, you can easily display a list of faculty/team/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
You can also add custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Go here to learn more:
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 a profile in a widget area.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
With Company Directory, you can easily add your employees to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and single views, plus as fields like title, email, phone number, image and staff 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 members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory website)
This plugin uses simple shortcodes.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just one single person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
The Employee Spotlight plugincomes with two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each employee can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WordPress Plugin)
The Staffer plugin 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 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, search the WordPress plugin directory or go online and search for:
- Add Staff Directory To WordPress
- WordPress Staff Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to add an easy-to-update directory of staff or faculty members to your website.
Images used in this tutorial to depict sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"I was absolutely amazed at the scope and breadth of these tutorials! The most in-depth training I have ever received on any subject!" - Myke O'Neill, DailyGreenPost.com