It’s often said in business and marketing circles that people often tend to buy from people they already know, like and trust.
If you are looking for inexpensive ways to sell more products or services online, then help prospects get to know, like and trust your organization better.
Adding a ‘Meet Our Team’ directory to your website can help boost your online credibility and get more prospects to get in touch with you.
This tutorial explains how to create and add an easy-to-update employee directory to your WordPress site.
Plugin Tutorial: How To Add An Employee Directory To Your Site
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
Simple Staff List lets you staff members (you could also use it to display faculty, etc.).
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into your dashboard and from the admin menu section, select Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress 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 …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Click the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu will show up in the main WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the options and settings for your plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.
How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could just begin to add new staff member details at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualmembers into.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your directory categories go to your dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This takes you to the Groups screen …
(Groups settings area)
Note: Configuring groups works in the same way as configuring WordPress categories …
(Groups are like WordPress categories)
Add new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your category name here
- Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your group 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 a directory hierarchy
- Description – Type in your category description (optional)
- Click Add New Group when finished to create your new directory category …
(Groups settings area)
If you are a business that employs many people, the ability to assign people to different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create categories 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 build a directory hierarchy …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after creating new items …
To change Groups for individual items, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The item’s details will display in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update to save your changes …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click the Update Group button when done to save your changes …
Continue adding groups in this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
You can add as many nested categories as you like …
(Add nested categories your staff directory)
After you are done setting up your groups, you can begin to add staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This opens up the Add New Staff Member area …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
This section provides an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The employee’s name
- Permalink: Modify the permalink URL associated with your staff member if required (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: Your employee’s role
- Email: Type in the employee’s email here
- Phone Number: The staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type 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 person’s Twitter username into this field (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 or team member here. As this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can format content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign the individual 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 will see options to enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each staff member’s details …
(Staff directory settings)
Once you are done entering details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups feature in your sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you did not set up directory groups before starting to add new staff members, you can create a group now by clicking on 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 that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new directory category and click on Add New Group …
Your new group will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign your listing to the group …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing someone’s details. To edit an 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 team member’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
You can modify the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the WordPress admin toolbar, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
Note: If you see a ‘page not found’ error like the one shown below, check that your site permalinks have been configured correctly …
(Not found error? Check your permalinks)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks in WordPress here:
Keep adding more members to your staff or team directory as shown above until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff details into your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all your staff members and their details …
(Staff Members details)
If you need to make changes to individual details, simply hover your mouse over their name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to make changes to the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove someone from your employee directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Edit Staff Members profile info)
If you have many names to add, your list can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate a member …
(Search Staff Members search box)
The plugin also allows you to specify which fields can display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options)
Placing a tick in the item’s check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when finished to save your settings …
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order in which entries display on your directory pages.
Choose Staff Members > Order on the WordPress admin menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the item to the desired position …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
Once you are done adding staff details to your directory, the next step is to add your directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order in which listings display on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on the main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to the new location …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
Once you have added all of your member listing details to the directory, the next step is to display your directory on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin allows you to create the layout and style of your staff directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your staff directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default 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 example. To make these fields appear in your directory, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] template tags, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your directory page)
Your staff details will now display as as shown below …
(Directory listings with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with code or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
In addition to being able to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage page …
(Simple Staff List – Usage Shortcode screen)
This screen lists all different shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.
For example, a useful variation you can add to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales managers”])
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 your menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options screen …
(Options screen)
Here you can modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
You can also export your staff members data from the Tools > Export menu …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need help with this plugin, visit the plugin support page and request help from the plugin author.
Additional WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Employee Directories
Simple Staff List is not the only for creating a directory of your staff in WordPress. For example, here are some other plugins you can check out for adding a staff directory on your site:
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)
Go here to learn more:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
With Staff Directory, you can easily display a list of faculty/team/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
You can also set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory plugin website)
For more details go here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
Faculty And Staff Directory was developed to provide a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college or university.
The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
For more details go here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Plugin)
The Company Directory plugin lets you add your staff, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are included, including grid and single views, as well as fields like title, email, phone number, photo 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 in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
This plugin uses simple shortcodes.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, partners 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.
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 screen in 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 employee circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer)
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 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 go here:
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 Directory Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this tutorial has helped you learn how to create and add an easy-to-update employee directory in your site.
Images of persons used to display sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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