Something that is generally well known in business and marketing, is that people often tend to buy from those they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker and easier ideas to grow your business online, then make it easier for visitors to get to know you and your organization better.
If your site is powered by the WordPress CMS platform, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to display information about your key partners, your faculty, or your staff using a WordPress staff list plugin.
This tutorial explains how to add a simple and easy-to-maintain directory of staff to WordPress.
Adding A Staff Directory To Your WordPress Site
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a free WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress
(Simple Staff List)
Simple Staff List is free and lets you staff members (you could also use it to display partners, etc.).
The first step is to install and activate this plugin.
Log into the WordPress dashboard and in your admin menu, select Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating your plugin, a new menu will show up in your main WP menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
This menu is where you will configure and manage all of the options and settings for your plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
Configuring Simple Staff List
Depending on how many people are employed in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you can begin to add new entries at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to assign yourstaff into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by setting up your directory groups. From your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This opens up the Groups settings …
(Groups section)
Note: Adding directory groups is very similar to creating categories …
(Groups work like WordPress categories)
Add new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group category name here
- Slug – Enter the URL-friendly version of your category. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – Use this drop-down menu if you plan to set up a directory hierarchy
- Description – Enter your group description here (optional)
- Click the Add New Group button when done to create a new category …
(Groups settings area)
If you are a business that employs many people, the ability to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for partners, developers, departments, etc.
Create as many groups and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To edit or reassign Groups for specific entries, hover your mouse button over a category title and select the Edit link …
The group will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button when done …
To change the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose Quick Edit …
Click Update Group when done to save your changes …
Add as many categories as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
Once you have finished setting up your groups, you can start adding your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WP admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This takes you to the Add New Staff Member area …
(Add New Staff Member settings area)
This area provides an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Type your employee’s name
- Permalink: Change your employees’ permalink URL (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The staff member’s position
- Email: Your employee’s email address
- Phone Number: The employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type in the person’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type in 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 staff members here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign the individual to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options tab)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your employee’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
After you have finished inputting each of you staff member’s details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups box located in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up groups before adding staff member details, you can add a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group link)
A field will display allowing you to create 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 category will be created. Remember to tick the check box to assign your list entry to the group …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when new employee details are being added or edited. 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 staff member’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your staff directory …
Click View Post …
To update the person’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial about using the dashboard admin toolbar here:
Note: If ’not found’ page errors shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that you have configured your site permalinks correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’page not found’ errors)
If you need help setting up WP permalinks, refer to this step-by-step tutorial:
Repeat the above process to continue adding more entries to your employee directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you are done adding staff or team members to your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on the main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all your staff members and their details …
(Staff Members details table)
If you need to modify an individual’s entry, simply hover over their listing, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to modify the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove an entry from your directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by clicking View …
(Edit Staff Members profile info)
If you have many names to add, your table can become unwieldy.
You can use the Search Staff Members search box to find member details if necessary …
(Search Staff Members search field)
You can specify which fields can display in this screen. To show or hide fields on your screen, click the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …
(Staff Members Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide fields. You can also select how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to update your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order that entries show on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the item to its desired position …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you have added staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to display your directory to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order that listings show on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to the new position …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list)
Once you have added all of your member listing details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List lets you create the layout and style of your staff 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 your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Templates screen)
To customize your directory, reorganize 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 directory listings …
(Default Plugin 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 display these fields, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template, as shown below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Your directory details will now appear with Facebook and Twitter addresses as as the screenshot below shows …
(Directory listings with social media URLs)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with editing code or are not sure how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
In addition to allowing you to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main admin menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Usage Shortcode screen)
This screen displays all different shortcode variations you can use with the plugin.
A useful shortcode variation you can add to your page, for example, to display only members of a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”customer representatives”])
Or, you can make your listings display in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
In your menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Options settings screen)
Here you can modify some of the labels used in the plugin
You can also export your staff members data by going to the main menu and selecting Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need plugin support, go to the Simple Staff List support page.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only for creating a directory of your staff in WordPress. Here are some other free WordPress plugins you can check out for creating a directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
The Modern Team Staff Directory 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)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
With the Staff Directory plugin, you can easily create a directory of team/faculty/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
You can also add custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot source: Staff Directory plugin website)
Learn more here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory)
Faculty And Staff Directory was developed to provide a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.
The plugin also includes a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
The Company Directory plugin lets you add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and customizable single views, as well as fields like title, email address, phone number, image and 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 learn 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 website)
This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, 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.
Employee Spotlight includes two sidebar widgets that let you display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the screen size of the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each team member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight website)
For more details go here:
Staffer
(Staffer – Plugin For WordPress)
The Staffer plugin uses custom post types for staff management and supports the display of staff members via a shortcode, allowing you to easily create and manage an onsite staff 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.
Go here to learn more:
If the above plugins 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 Plugin
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to add an updatable directory of employees to your website.
Models used to portray fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"These tutorials have so much information and are easy to understand. If you use WordPress or plan to in the future these will help you with everything you need to know." - Valisa (Mesa, Arizona)