You have no doubt heard that people often tend to buy from people they know, like and trust.
Are you looking for simple ideas to grow your business online or increase user interaction on your site? Then help visitors get to know your organization better.
If your online business is driven by the WordPress Content Management System, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to display information about your key people, your team, or your staff members using a WordPress directory plugin.
In this tutorial, you are going to learn how to add an updatable directory of employees or faculty members to a WordPress site using a free plugin.
How To Add A Staff Directory: WordPress Plugin Tutorial
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 – WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List is free and lets you easily display basic information to visitors about your employee on your site.
First, let’s install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your WP dashboard and go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins panel, 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 the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu will appear in your main WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
The Staff Members menu is where you will configure and manage all of the options and settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.
Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration
Depending on how many people are in your team and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could begin adding new staff entries after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualmembers into.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your directory categories go to your WordPress dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This loads the Groups area …
(Groups settings)
Note: Setting up directory groups is very similar to creating WordPress categories …
(Groups are like WordPress categories)
Add a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your 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 – This section lets you set up nested categories
- Description – Enter a category description here
- Click the Add New Group button when done to set up your new directory group …
(Groups section)
If you run a business that employs many people, being able to set up different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for investors, developers, faculties, etc.
Create as many groups and nested groups as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to organize these into a hierarchical structure …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To change Groups for a particular item, hover over a category title and click on the Edit link …
The group details will open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update when done …
To change the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and click on Quick Edit …
Click Update Group 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)
After you are done setting up your directory structure, you can begin to add staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member settings …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
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 staff member’s name
- Slug: Change the permalink URL associated with your staff member if you want (this section appears after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Enter the person’s role here
- Email: Your employee’s email
- Phone Number: Your employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Add the person’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type the staff member’s Twitter username here (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 formatted content into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign a staff or team member to a specific group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options tab)
You can enable additional features …
(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 entering details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups feature located in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up 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 creating a new group name will appear, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new group and click on the Add New Group button …
A new group will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …
(Groups box)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or editing a staff member’s 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 filling in the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …
Click View Post …
You can update the person’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
If you need help using the WordPress admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If you have set up groups and get ’not found’ page errors like the one shown below, check that you have configured your site’s permalinks correctly …
(Not found error – Check your permalinks)
We have written a detailed tutorial on using permalinks here:
Keep adding more members to your directory directory as described above.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you are done adding staff details into your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members in your main admin menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all your staff profiles and details you have added for each entry …
(Staff Members table)
If you need to modify individual details, hover your mouse over their listing, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to edit the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also remove a member from your staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Editing Staff Members info)
If you have many names to add, your table can get quite long.
You can use the Search Staff Members search field to locate member details if necessary …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields to display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Screen Options tab)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide specific fields. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when done to update your preferences …
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 pages.
Select Staff Members > Order on your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the item to the desired position …
(Reorder staff listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list)
After adding your member listing details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory show on your site.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to specify the order that entries display on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to a desired location …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
After adding your members’ details to the directory, the next step is to display your directory on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin lets you customize the style and layout of your employee directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from the menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Templates page)
To customize your directory, insert any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is the Default Template …
(Default Simple Staff List Template)
The This code displays your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Plugin Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above listing. To display these fields, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown below …
(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your listings page)
Your employee entries will now display as as shown below …
(Directory listings with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess with editing code or are unsure of how to edit the template as shown above, please contact us for help.
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 menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List shortcodes)
This screen lists all the shortcode variations that the Simple Staff List plugin lets you use.
For example, a useful shortcode variation you can add to your page 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 the main admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options screen …
(Options settings)
This section lets you modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
You can also export your staff members details from the Tools > Export section …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need specific help with the Simple Staff List plugin, visit the Simple Staff List support page.
Other Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List isn’t the only for displaying a directory of your employees in WordPress. Here are a few other free WordPress plugins you can look at:
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)
For more details go here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
Staff Directory lets you easily display a list of faculty/staff/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
The plugin lets you add custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory plugin website)
More info:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP 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 includes a widget that allows you to feature a profile in a widget area.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory)
With Company Directory, you can add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and single views, plus as fields like title, email, phone number, pic and member bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.
Visitors can click through from your list, grid, and table views to read more about each staff member in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory website)
This plugin also uses a simple shortcode system.
Go here to learn more:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, partners or just one individual person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
This plugin comes with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, 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 Employee Spotlight website)
More info:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP Plugin)
This 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 onsite staff directory …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer 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 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
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Congratulations! Now you know how to add a simple staff directory to your WordPress site, so your web visitors can get to know your company better.
Images used to portray staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"If you're new to WordPress, this can stand on its own as a training course and will stay with you as you progress from beginner to advanced and even guru status." - Bruce (Columbus, Ohio)