You have no doubt heard that people generally tend to buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for inexpensive ideas to sell more products or services online and get people to stay longer on your site, then help your prospects get to know you, your team and your business better.
If you run a WordPress-powered website, a simple way to help people get to know you better is to use a staff list plugin that will let you display information about your partners, your faculty, or your staff members.
In this step-by-step tutorial, we are going to show you how to create and add an updatable simple faculty members directory to your website using a free WordPress plugin.
How To Easily Add An Employee List Directory To WordPress
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List lets you easily staff members.
First, let’s install and activate the plugin.
Log into the administration and navigate to 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 – plugin search results)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, a new entry will display on your main WP admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the settings for your plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.
Configuring The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on how many people are in your business and how you want to structure your directory, you can begin adding new staff members at this point, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to place yourstaff into.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your groups go to your dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
The Groups settings panel …
(Groups settings screen)
Note: Adding directory groups is very similar to creating categories in WordPress …
(Groups work just like WordPress categories)
Add a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your category name
- Slug – Enter 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 – This section lets you set up nested groups
- Description – Enter a group description here
- Click the Add New Group button when done to set up a new directory category …
(Groups screen)
If you are a medium to large organization, having the ability to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for founders, 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 build a hierarchical structure …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To change or reassign Groups for specific entries, hover your mouse over a category title and click on the Edit link …
Your selected group open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new group from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update to save your changes …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and select Quick Edit …
Click Update Group when done to save your changes …
Add as many categories as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …
You can add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested categories)
After you have finished setting up your groups, you can start to add names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WordPress admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member section …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
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: The employee’s name
- Slug: You can modify the permalink URL for your staff member if you want (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The employee’s role
- Email: Enter the person’s email address
- Phone Number: Your staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Add your company’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type the employee’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 member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign your employee to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen options tab)
You will see options to enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your staff member’s details …
(Staff directory settings)
After you are done inputting details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in your sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you have not set up groups before starting to add new staff members, you can add a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field will appear allowing you to enter a new group name, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new category and click on Add New Group …
Your new directory category will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign an individual to the group …
(New group added)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing new employee details. To edit a group entry, go to the Groups section of the plugin’s settings (see “Groups” section above for details).
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After typing in your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your directory …
Click View Post …
You can edit your employee’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial on using the WP admin toolbar here:
Note: If a page error shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that you have correctly set up your site’s permalinks …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’page not found’ errors)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks in WordPress here:
Continue adding new members to your employee directory directory as shown above until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employees to your directory, you can view and edit details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members on the main admin menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a list with all the directory items and their details …
(Staff Members details)
If you need to change individual details, simply hover over their listing, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to edit the Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a list item from the staff directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Edit Staff Members info)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can grow quite large.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to locate member details if necessary …
(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 the Screen Options tab at the top of your page …
(Screen Options)
Selecting a checkbox displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also choose how many staff members are shown per page. Click the Apply button when done to update your preferences …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order in which listings show on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on the main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to its new position …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list)
After adding your members’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display to your site visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order that entries appear on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to a new location …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reordered …
(Reordered list items)
After adding all member details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory show on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin also lets you edit the layout and style of your employee directory entries 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 main menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Customize your directory template)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is the default template used for displaying directory listings …
(Default Simple Staff List Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To make these fields show in the directory, we will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown in the example below …
(Use template tags to customize your directory page)
Your staff entries will now display as as shown below …
(Employee profiles with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks 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 directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main 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 that the Simple Staff List plugin lets you use.
A useful shortcode variation you can add, 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=”partners”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Select Staff Members >Options in your menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
Here you can edit some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export section …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need any help with this plugin, visit the plugin plugin site.
Other Staff Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List isn’t the only adding a listing of your employees in WordPress. For example, here are some other free plugins you can use to create a directory on your website:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory 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)
More info:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
This plugin lets you easily create a directory of staff/faculty/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, etc.
You can also add custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)
Go here to learn more about the plugin:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
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 includes a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.
Go here to learn more:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
This plugin lets you easily add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including list and single views, as well as fields like position title, email, phone number, photo 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 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 simple shortcodes.
Go here to learn more:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders 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 plugincomes with 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 faculty member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with employee circle grid. Screenshot source: plugin website)
Go here to learn more about this plugin:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
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 employee directory on your site …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Staffer works with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
For more details go here:
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 Directory Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Staff Directory Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple staff or team member directory to your WordPress site, so your site visitors can get to know you and your team better.
Images of models used in this tutorial to display sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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