No doubt you’ve already heard that people generally tend to buy from those they already know, like and trust.
Are you looking for quicker, simpler and cheaper ways to sell more products or services online? Then one of the things you can do, is help prospects get to know your business better.
Adding a directory of employees to your website can help increase your online credibility and get more prospects to get in touch with you.
This tutorial explains how to create and add an easy-to-update directory of staff members in WordPress.
Plugin Tutorial: Adding An Employee List Directory
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List is a free plugin that lets you easily display basic information to visitors about your staff members on your website.
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into your WP dashboard and from the admin menu, click on Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress 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 installing and activating the plugin, a new menu will be added to your WordPress menu bar called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the settings for the Simple Staff List plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Configuring The Plugin
Depending on how many people are employed in your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you could begin adding new entries after installing the plugin, or create different groups (i.e. categories) to place youremployees into.
Staff Members – Groups
To configure your directory groups go to your WP dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
The Groups settings panel …
(Groups settings area)
Note: Configuring groups is just like adding categories in WordPress …
(Groups are like WordPress categories)
Create new groups by typing in the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group name here
- Slug – Enter the slug of your group. Note: make sure that all letters are in lower case and use hyphens instead of spaces.
- Parent – Use this section to set up nested groups
- Description – Enter your category description here
- Click Add New Group when finished to set up the new directory group …
(Groups area)
If you run a larger organization, the ability to create groups can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for partners, developers, faculties, etc.
Create as many groups and nested groups as you want by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a directory hierarchy …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click on the Add New Group button after creating each item …
To change Groups for a specific entry, hover your mouse button over a category title and select the Edit link …
The group will display in the Edit Group page. Select a new group category from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group settings)
Click Update to save your changes …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and choose Quick Edit …
Click on Update Group when done …
Add as many categories as you need to until you have created your directory structure …
Add as many nested groups as you like …
(Add nested categories your directory)
After you have finished setting up your directory structure, you can begin adding names to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your WP admin menu, choose Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
This brings up the Add New Staff Member screen in your browser …
(Add New Staff Member settings screen)
This area provides you with an easy-to-use interface for adding and editing your staff member information and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Add your employee’s name
- Permalink: Edit your employees’ slug (you will see this section after saving your details).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Upload a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your staff member’s role
- Email: The employee’s email address
- Phone Number: The employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Enter the employee’s Facebook URL (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Type in the person’s Twitter username here (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Add a profile description for your employee here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can format content in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: Assign a staff or team member to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up 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 …
(Add New Staff Member settings)
After you have entered details, assign the new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you have not set up categories before adding staff member details, you can create a group now by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Add a new group inside your Groups box)
A field will appear allowing you to create a new group name, with a drop-down menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Enter your new directory category and click on the Add New Group button …
Your new category will be added. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(New group)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or editing an employee’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 …
Click View Post …
You can update your employee’s profile by clicking the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial about using the WordPress admin toolbar here:
Note: If a ‘page not found’ error like the one shown in the screenshot below shows up, check that you have correctly set up your permalinks …
(Not found error – Check your permalinks)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using permalinks in WordPress here:
Keep adding new members to your employee directory directory as shown above until done.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff or team members to your directory, you can view and edit their details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members in your main admin menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table of all your staff members and the details you have added with each entry …
(Staff Members details table)
If you need to edit individual entries, hover your mouse over their name, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit if you need to update their Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details like name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete a listing from the employee directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Editing Staff Members info)
If you have many employees, your list can grow quite large.
Use the Search Staff Members search box to locate listing items if necessary …
(Search members)
You can 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)
Tick or untick the checkboxes to display or hide specific fields. You can also specify how many staff members are shown per page. Click Apply when finished to save your screen options …
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order in which your staff details show on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your items, click and drag the entry to the new location …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your directory will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list items)
Once you are done adding employees’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to add the directory to your site users.
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you set the order in which entries appear on your directory page.
Select Staff Members > Order on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your listings, click and drag the entry to a new position …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your list will be automatically rearranged …
(Reordered list entries)
Once you have added all of your staff listing details to the directory, the next step is to display the directory to your site users.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The Simple Staff List plugin allows you to customize the style and layout of your directory items 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 menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens 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, below is the default template used for displaying listings …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)
The above code displays the listing shown below …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template Listing)
Notice that no Facebook or Twitter URLs are showing in the above example. To make these fields show up in your directory, you will need to add the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags to the template loop, as shown below …
(Template tags can be added to the Staff Loop Template to customize your listings page)
Here is what your staff list will now look like …
(Directory with social media links)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with editing code or are not sure what to do, please contact us for assistance.
Usage Menu
As well as allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin allows you to display your staff profiles differently using modified shortcodes.
In your main menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Simple Staff List shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations allowed by the plugin.
For example, a useful 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=”property managers”])
You can also display listings in ascending or descending order by using the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
Select Staff Members >Options on your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This brings up the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable fields)
This section lets you edit labels like Staff Members URL Slug and Staff Member title
You can also export your staff members info by going to your menu and clicking Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members plugin info)
If you need plugin help or support, go to the plugin plugin site and contact the plugin author.
Additional Staff Directory Plugins For WordPress
Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to create a directory of your faculty members in WordPress. For example, here are some 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)
Learn more about this plugin here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WP Staff Directory Plugin)
Staff Directory lets you easily display a list of staff/team/faculty members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for companies, teams, 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)
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 installs a widget that allows you to feature profiles in a widget area.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
With Company Directory, you can add your employees to your site. Different layouts are included, including list and table views, as well as fields like position title, email, phone, image and member bio, allowing you to present your company and capabilities.
Visitors can 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 members in an easy to view format. Screenshot sourced from plugin website)
This plugin also uses simple shortcodes.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays employees, partners or just one single person in a 4-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant on plugin activation.
With the Employee Spotlight plugin, you get 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 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)
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Staffer
(Staffer)
Staffer 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 website …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot source: Staffer website)
Staffer works with almost all 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 List
- WordPress Plugin Staff Directory
- Employee Directory WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, now you know how to easily add an updatable simple staff directory to in WordPress using free plugins.
Images used in this tutorial to depict sample staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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"Wow! I never knew there's so much to learn about WordPress! I bought one of the WordPress for Dummies three years ago, such authors need to be on this course!" - Rich Law, Create A Blog Now