No doubt you’ve already heard that people generally buy from businesses they know, like and trust.
If you are looking for quicker, easier and cost-effective ideas to grow your business online or get people to stay longer on your site, then something you can do, is help visitors get to know you and your organization better.
Adding a directory of employees to your site can generate increased trust, boost your online credibility and get more prospects to get in touch with you.
This tutorial will show you how to add an easy-to-manage directory of staff to WordPress.
Plugin Tutorial: How To Easily Add An Employee Directory To Your WordPress Site
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List Plugin For WordPress)
Simple Staff List lets you easily staff members (you could also use it to display faculty, etc.).
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your admin and navigate to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins panel, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, you will notice that new entry will show up in your WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the settings for your plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
How To Configure The Simple Staff List Plugin
Depending on the size of your organization and how you want to structure your employee directory, you can begin adding new staff details after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to your employees.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by configuring your categories. In your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This brings you to the Groups settings screen …
(Groups screen)
Note: Adding directory groups is similar to creating categories …
(Groups work like categories)
Add new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group name here
- Slug – Enter the slug 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 the group description in this field (optional)
- Click Add New Group when finished to set up the new group name …
(Groups screen)
If you work with a larger organization, being able to set up different groups can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for founders, developers, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories 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 categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after creating new items …
To change Groups for a particular entry, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
The category details open in the Edit Group page. Select a new group category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button when done …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover over the group name and select the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click Update Group when done …
Continue adding groups to this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Add nested categories your staff directory)
After you are done setting up your groups, the next step is to begin adding staff details to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your WP admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This brings you to the Add New Staff Member settings screen …
(Add New Staff Member area)
This page provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Enter your staff member’s name
- Slug: Change the slug for your staff member if you want (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The employee’s position
- Email: Enter your employee’s email
- Phone Number: The employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type the person’s Facebook address here (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: Type a profile description for your employee or team member here. As this uses the default WordPress Text Editor, you can add formatting to the content entered into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign a staff or team member to a specific group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab at the top of the screen …
(Screen options tab)
You will see options to 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 fields)
After you have entered your staff member’s details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups section located in the sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you did not set up categories before starting to add new staff members, you can add a new group by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group feature)
A field will display allowing you to enter a new group name, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new group and click on the Add New Group button …
Your new group will be added. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(Groups box)
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 above for details).
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After entering your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the employee directory …
Click View Post …
You can modify the employee’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the WordPress admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If ’not found’ page errors shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that your site’s permalinks have been configured correctly …
(Page error – Check your permalinks)
For a detailed step-by-step tutorial on setting up WordPress permalinks, go here:
Continue adding more members to your employee directory directory until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering employees into your directory, you can view and edit their details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on your main admin menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table of all your directory items and their details …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to change an individual’s details, simply hover your mouse over their listing, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit to make changes to the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to edit details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a member from your directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Editing Staff Members profile information)
If you have many entries, your table can become unwieldy.
You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to find a member if required …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields to display in this section. To hide or hide fields on your screen, click on Screen Options …
(Staff Members Screen Options)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to show or hide fields. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when done to update your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to specify the order that entries show on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to the new location …
(Rearrange listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered listings)
Once you are done adding all of your member details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory show on your site.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order that your employees display on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the entry to a desired position …
(Rearrange items using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered listings)
After adding your members’ details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin also lets you edit the style and layout of your directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your staff list, select Staff Members > Templates from the main menu …
(Staff Members – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Simple Staff List Templates screen)
To customize your directory, insert 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 Staff Loop Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. To display these fields, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template, as shown in the screenshot below …
(Use template tags to customize your directory page)
Your employee details will now display with Facebook and Twitter addresses as as shown below …
(Directory with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with template tags or are not sure what to do, please contact us for assistance.
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 WP admin menu, click on 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 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=”senior staff”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In your WordPress admin menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – Options settings screen)
This section lets you modify labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
Finally, you can also export your staff members data by going to your menu and choosing Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need additional information about this plugin, go to the Simple Staff List faq page.
Additional Employee Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to create a listing of your staff in WordPress. Here are a few other plugins you can use:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
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)
Learn more here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
With Staff Directory, you can easily create a directory of team/staff/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, schools, etc.
You can also set up custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: Staff Directory website)
Learn more here:
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 or university.
The plugin also includes a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory)
The Company Directory plugin lets you add your staff to your website. Different layouts are available, including grid and table views, plus as fields like title, email address, phone number, pic 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 read more about each employee in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory website)
This plugin also uses shortcodes.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WP Plugin)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just a 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.
Employee Spotlight includes two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.
Detailed information about each staff member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
Go here to learn more:
Staffer
(Staffer)
Staffer 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 online employee 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.
To learn more about the plugin 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
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has shown you how to create a simple and easy-to-maintain directory of staff members in your web site.
Models used to depict staff members in this tutorial were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"This is AMAZING! I had learnt about how to use WordPress previously, but this covers absolutely everything and more!! Incredible value! Thank you!" - Monique, Warrior Forum