Many business and marketing experts have successfully proven that people generally tend to buy from businesses they know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker and simpler ways to grow your business online, then something you can do, is help prospects get to know, like and trust you and your business better.
If you are a WordPress user, a simple way to help visitors get to know you better is to display information about your key partners, your business team, or your employees using a WordPress staff list plugin.
In this step-by-step tutorial, we are going to show you how to easily add an easy-to-manage simple faculty members directory in your website.
Contents
How To Easily Add An Employee Directory
In this tutorial, we will 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 members, etc.).
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into the administration and in your admin menu section, select Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress 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 …
(WordPress Plugins – plugin search results)
Click the Activate Plugin link …
(Activate plugin)
After installing and activating the plugin, you will see that a new menu will be added to the WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the options and settings for your plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration
Depending on the size of your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could just begin to add new employee entries at this at this stage, or create various groups (i.e. categories) that you will assign to individual employees.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s set up your groups. From your dashboard menu, choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This brings up the Groups screen …
(Groups settings)
Note: Setting up directory groups is just like adding categories …
(Groups are like categories)
Create a new group by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your category name
- Slug – Type in the URL-friendly version of your group category name. 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 nested groups
- Description – Type in your category description (optional)
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to create a new category …
(Groups section)
If you are a business that employs many people, having the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create groups for founders, project teams, 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 organize these into a hierarchical structure …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after entering each item …
To change Groups for a specific item, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
The item will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new parent group from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click the Update button to save your changes …
To change the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and choose the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click the Update Group button to save your changes …
Add as many group names as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Add nested categories your staff directory)
After you are done setting up your groups, you can begin adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member area …
(Add New Staff Member screen)
This page provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Your staff member’s name
- Permalink: You can change the slug for your employee if required (this section appears after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo here
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The employee’s role
- Email: Your staff member’s email
- Phone Number: Your staff member’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Add your company’s Facebook address (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Enter your company’s Twitter username into this field (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 member here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign a staff or faculty member to a group (see above to learn how to set up your groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab at the top of your screen …
(Screen options)
You can enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options)
Now that you know what each section does, enter your employee’s details …
(Staff directory settings)
Once you have entered each of you staff member’s details, assign your item to a directory group in the Groups feature located in the sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up categories before adding staff member details, you can create a group now by clicking on Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field for creating your new group name will display, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new category and click on the Add New Group button …
Your new group will be added. Remember to tick the check box to assign an individual to the group …
(New group added)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when a staff member’s 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 …
Click View Post …
You can edit your member profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WordPress admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial about using the admin toolbar here:
Note: If you get ’page not found’ errors like the one shown below, check that your site’s permalinks have been configured correctly …
(Not found error? Check your permalinks)
To learn more about setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:
Repeat the above process to add more details to your directory directory.
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 the menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all the directory entries and any details you have added related to each entry …
(Staff Members details table)
If you need to make changes to an individual’s entry, hover over their name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to edit their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete an entry from the employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Editing Staff Members profile information)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can get quite long.
You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate member details if required …
(Search members)
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)
Selecting a check box displays the field and unselecting it hides the field. You can also specify how many staff members are listed per page. Click Apply when done to update your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you specify the order in which listings show on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order on the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your items, click and drag the entry to its desired location …
(Rearrange employee listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list)
Once you are done adding member 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 that lets you specify the order in which your employees appear on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order on the WP admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to its desired position …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered listings)
Once you have added all of your members’ details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory on your site.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin allows you to edit the style and layout of your employee directory items using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your employee 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, insert any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is the default template used for displaying listings …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)
The This code displays your directory listing as shown below …
(Default Template Listing)
Notice that there are no Facebook or Twitter addresses showing in the above example. To make these fields display in your directory, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Your directory listings will now appear with Facebook and Twitter links as shown in the example below …
(Staff profiles with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks 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 assistance.
Usage Menu
In addition to being able to customize your directory templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, choose Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This opens the Usage page …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen lists all different shortcode variations that the plugin lets you use.
A useful variation you can add, for example, to display a list of individuals belonging only to a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”sales reps”])
You can also make your listings display in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
In the menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)
This section lets you edit some of the labels used in the plugin
You can also export your staff members info from the Tools > Export menu …
(Export Staff Members plugin information)
If you need additional information about the plugin, go to the Simple Staff List plugin site and request help from the plugin author.
Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Simple Staff Directories
Simple Staff List isn’t the only WordPress staff directory plugin you can use. Here are other free plugins you can use:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress Plugin)
This 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)
Learn more about the plugin here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory)
Staff Directory lets you easily display a list of team/faculty/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
This plugin also lets you create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields. Screenshot sourced from Staff Directory website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
Faculty And Staff Directory 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 profiles in a widget area.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory)
With the Company Directory plugin, you can easily add your staff, team or faculty to your website. Different layouts are available, including grid and single views, as well as fields like title, email, phone number, photo and staff bio, allowing you to present 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 sourced from plugin website)
This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just an individual person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
Employee Spotlight comes with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the viewer’s screen.
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 sourced from Employee Spotlight plugin website)
To learn more about this plugin go here:
Staffer
(Staffer)
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 employee directory on your site …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer website)
Staffer works immediately with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
More info:
If the above plugins aren’t what you’re looking for, search the WordPress plugin directory or go online 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 explained how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of staff members in your website.
Images of persons used in this tutorial to display staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"This is an awesome training series. I have a pretty good understanding of WordPress already, but this is helping me to move somewhere from intermediate to advanced user!" - Kim Lednum
Disclaimer: We have no association with WordPress, Automattic, or any WordPress-related products mentioned or reviewed on this website. We may receive affiliate commissions from the sale of third-party products advertised on this site. All images and information sourced from product websites remain the copyright of their respective owners and are used only for training and illustrative purposes.
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