You have no doubt heard that people generally buy from people they know, like and trust.
Are you looking for simple ways to grow your business online and get people to interact more on your site? Then help visitors get to know you and your business better.
If you are a WordPress user, one way to easily help visitors get to know you better is to display information about your key people, your business team, or your staff using a staff list plugin.
In this step-by-step tutorial, you are going to learn how to add an easy-to-manage simple faculty directory to your site using free plugins.
Adding A Staff List Directory In WordPress: Tutorial
In this tutorial, we will install, activate and configure a no cost WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
The Simple Staff List plugin is free and lets you display information about your staff on your site.
The first step is to install and activate this plugin.
Log into your WordPress administration and go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This brings up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on Install Now …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, you will notice that new menu entry will display on your WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
All of the options and settings for your plugin are configured and managed from this menu.
Simple Staff List – Plugin Configuration
Depending on how many people are employed in your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could begin adding new staff details after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to assign your individualemployees into.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your directory categories go to your WordPress dashboard menu and choose Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
This takes you to the Groups settings panel …
(Groups settings)
Note: Configuring directory groups is just like configuring WordPress categories …
(Groups work just like WordPress categories)
Add new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group name here
- 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 – This section lets you set up nested categories
- Description – Enter your category description in this field (optional)
- Click the Add New Group button when finished to set up your new category …
(Groups section)
If you manage a business that employs many people, being able to create categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for founders, project teams, faculties, etc.
Create as many categories 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 specific entries, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
Your selected group details will open in the Edit Group page. Select a new category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click Update when done …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and click on the Quick Edit menu feature …
Click the Update Group button when done …
Continue adding group names in this section until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Nested groups)
Once you are done setting up your hierarchical structure, the next step is to begin adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your WordPress admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member settings area opens up …
(Add New Staff Member screen)
This screen provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member details and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Enter the employee’s name
- Slug: You can modify your employees’ permalink URL (you will see this section after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo of your staff member
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: The employee’s position
- Email: Your employee’s email
- Phone Number: Your 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: Add the person’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 in a profile description for your employee here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can add formatting to the content entered in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign an employee or team member to a group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options)
You will see options to enable additional page settings …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each of your staff member’s details …
(Add New Staff Member fields)
After you are done entering your staff member’s details, assign the new item to a directory group in the Groups box located in your sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you have not set up categories before adding staff member details, you can create a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group feature)
A field for entering a new group name will display, 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 category will be added. Remember to tick the checkbox to assign a staff member 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 entering the person’s details, click the Publish button to add them to your employee directory …
Click View Post …
To make changes to your member profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in your WordPress admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
For a detailed tutorial on using the WordPress admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If errors like the one shown in the example below shows up, check that your site permalinks have been configured correctly …
(Check your permalinks if you get ’page not found’ errors)
If you need help setting up permalinks, go here:
Repeat the above process to add more members to your employee directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
Once you are done adding staff or team members into your directory, you can view and edit their details by clicking Staff Members > All Staff Members in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table displaying all your staff profiles and the details you have added related to each entry …
(Staff Members table)
If you need to modify an individual’s details, just hover your mouse over their name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to modify the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to change details like 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 …
(Edit Staff Members profile information)
If you have many names to add, your list can get quite long.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to locate entries …
(Search Staff Members search field)
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 …
(Screen Options)
Selecting a check box displays the field and unchecking a box hides the field. You can also select 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 arrange the order in which listings appear on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order in the main admin menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to its desired location …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list)
Once you are done adding all of your member listing details to your directory, the next step is to display your directory to your site users.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to arrange the order that entries show on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to its new position …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be rearranged …
(Reordered list items)
Once you have added all of your staff details to your directory, the next step is to add the directory to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
Simple Staff List allows you to customize the layout and style of your staff directory listings using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the layout and style of your staff directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates screen …
(Simple Staff List Templates page)
To customize your directory listings, insert any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is the Default Staff Loop Template …
(Default Plugin Template)
The The code shown above will display your listing as shown below …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To make these fields show in your directory, we will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your directory will now look like …
(Directory with social media URLs added)
Note: If you want to customize how your directory looks but don’t want to mess with template tags or are not sure what to do, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
As well as 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, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen lists all different shortcode variations that the plugin lets you use.
A useful variation you can insert in your page, for example, to display only members belonging a specific group is the shortcode [simple-staff-list group=”group name”], (e.g.:[simple-staff-list group=”customer representatives”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by inserting the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”ASC”] (ascending).
Options Menu
Choose Staff Members >Options in the menu …
(Staff Members – Options)
This brings up the Options screen …
(Options settings screen)
This section lets you edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member titles
You can also export your staff members details by going to your main menu and choosing Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need plugin help or support, go to the plugin plugin site.
Additional Employee Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List is not the only adding a directory of your faculty members in WordPress. Here are other free WordPress plugins you can use:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
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)
Go here to learn more:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
Staff Directory lets you easily create a directory of staff/faculty/team members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, teams, etc.
You can also create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
More info:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
This plugin provides a simple and flexible faculty and staff directory for a small college, school or university.
The plugin also installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
More info:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
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, plus as fields like job 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 sourced from Company Directory website)
This plugin uses a simple shortcode system.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
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 includes two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, and two responsive views which adjust to the screen in the viewer’s device.
Detailed information about each staff member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot source: Employee Spotlight website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staffer
(Staffer – WP Plugin)
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 a staff directory on your site …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: plugin website)
Staffer works with many popular WordPress themes, and also allows for custom template use and custom content wrappers.
To learn more about this plugin go here:
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
- Staff Plugin WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has helped you learn how to add an easy-to-maintain directory of employees to your website.
Images used to depict fictitious staff members in this tutorial 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)