Something that is generally well known in marketing circles, is that people generally buy from those they already know, like and trust.
Are you looking for ideas to sell more products or services online and increase user interaction on your site? Then something you can do, is make it easier for prospects to get to know, like and trust you, your team and your business better.
If you use WordPress, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to display information about your key partners, your faculty, or your staff using a WordPress directory plugin.
This step-by-step tutorial will show you how to create a simple and easy-to-update directory of employees in your web site.
Adding An Employee List Directory To Your WordPress Site: Tutorial
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a free plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List is free and lets you create a basic staff directory list for.
First, let’s install and activate this plugin.
Log into the admin and go to Plugins > Add New …
(Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins area, search for “simple staff plugin”. This will bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your plugin search results.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – Add Plugins screen)
Click on Activate Plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After your plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu entry will appear in your WordPress admin menu called Staff Members …
(Staff Members menu)
This menu is where you will configure and manage all of the options and settings for your plugin are configured and managed in this menu.
Configuring Simple Staff List
Depending on how many people are employed in your business and how you want to structure your staff directory, you can just begin adding new entries after installing the plugin, or create several groups (i.e. categories) to assign yourgroup members into.
Staff Members – Groups
Let’s start by configuring your groups. In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members Menu – Groups)
The Groups panel …
(Groups area)
Note: Configuring groups works just like WordPress categories …
(Groups are like categories)
Create new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Type in your group category name
- 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 if you plan to set up nested groups
- Description – Type in a group description (optional)
- Click the Add New Group button when done to create a new category …
(Groups settings screen)
If you run a business that employs many people, the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a group for investors, developers, departments, etc.
Create as many groups and nested categories as you need by adding new Groups and then using the Parent drop-down menu to assign these to a directory hierarchy …
(Nested groups)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after entering new items …
To edit or reassign Groups for individual entries, hover your mouse over a category title and select the Edit link …
The category details open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent category from the Parent drop-down menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click the Update button when done …
To edit your Group name or slug, hover your mouse over the group name and click on Quick Edit …
Click on Update Group when done to save your changes …
Add as many group names as you need to until you are done creating your directory structure …
Add as many nested categories as you like …
(Add nested groups to your directory)
After you have finished setting up your directory structure, the next step is to begin to add your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
From your admin menu, select Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members Menu – Add New)
This brings you to the Add New Staff Member settings area …
(Add New Staff Member settings screen)
This screen provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: The staff member’s name
- Slug: You can edit the slug for each employee 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: Enter the person’s position here
- Email: Your employee’s email
- Phone Number: Type in the 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: Add your staff member’s Twitter username (note: only enter the username, not the full twitter URL)
Staff Member Bio Section (4)
- Staff Member Bio: Enter a profile description for your employees here. This uses the WordPress Text Editor, so you can use HTML into this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: You can assign the individual to a specific group (see the previous section to learn how to set up your groups).
Click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options tab)
You will see options to enable additional features …
(Enable additional fields in screen options tab)
Now that you know what each section does, enter each staff member’s details …
(Staff directory fields)
Once you have finished inputting details, assign your new entry to a directory group in the Groups feature located in your sidebar …
(Groups box)
Note: If you did not set up your directory groups before starting to add new staff members, you can create a new group by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups - + Add New Group link)
A field will display allowing you to enter a new group name, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new category and click on the Add New Group button …
Your new group will be created. Make sure that the check box is ticked …
(New group added via Groups section)
Note: You cannot edit groups when adding or making changes to new employee details. To edit a group 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 your employee’s details, click the Publish button …
Click View Post …
To edit your staff member’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the WP admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – admin toolbar)
To learn more about using the dashboard admin toolbar , go here:
Note: If a ‘page not found’ error shows up like the one shown in the screenshot below, check that you have correctly configured your site permalinks …
(Not found error? Check your permalinks)
If you need help setting up permalinks in WordPress, go here:
Repeat the above process to continue adding more entries to your directory directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After entering staff members into your directory, you can view and edit details by selecting Staff Members > All Staff Members on the menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all the listing entries and details you have added related to each entry …
(Staff Members details list)
If you need to edit an individual’s entry, hover over their name, and a submenu will appear.
Click on Edit if you want to edit 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 listing from the staff directory by clicking on Trash, or view the entry on your site by selecting View …
(Editing Staff Members profile details)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your table can get quite long.
You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to find items if necessary …
(Search members)
The plugin also lets you specify which fields can display in this section. To show 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 select how many staff members are listed per page. Click the Apply button when done to save your settings …
Staff Members – Order
The Simple Staff List plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface that allows you to set the order in which listings show on your directory page.
Choose Staff Members > Order on the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your listings, click and drag the item to the new location …
(Reorder employee listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered listings)
After adding your members’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make your directory show to your site visitors.
Staff Members – Order
The plugin also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to set the order in which your employee listings appear on your directory pages.
Click Staff Members > Order in your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To rearrange the order of your entries, click and drag the item to the new location …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reordered …
(Reordered list)
Once you have added all of your members’ listing details to the directory, the next step is to make the directory display 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 directory, select Staff Members > Templates from your menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This opens the Templates page …
(Simple Staff List Templates screen)
To customize your directory listings, reorganize any of the allowed template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, here is the default template used for displaying listings …
(Default Plugin Staff Loop Template)
The The code shown above displays your directory listing as shown below …
(Default 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 in the example below …
(Template tags added to Staff Loop Template)
Your directory entries will now appear with Facebook and Twitter links as as the example below shows …
(Directory listings with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory listings but don’t want to mess around with CSS code and template tags or are not sure what to do, please contact us for help.
Usage Menu
In addition to allowing you to customize your listing templates, the Simple Staff List plugin lets you display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your menu, click on Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Usage Shortcode section)
This screen lists all different shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.
A useful shortcode variation you can add to 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=”Gold Level associates”])
Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options page …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
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 the main admin menu and selecting Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members information)
If you need any help with the Simple Staff List plugin, visit the Simple Staff List website.
Other WordPress Plugins For Creating Employee Directories
Simple Staff List is not the only WordPress staff directory plugin you can use. For example, here are some other free WordPress plugins you can check out for creating a staff directory on your site:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory)
The Modern Team Staff Directory 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)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – WordPress Staff Directory Plugin)
The Staff Directory plugin lets you easily create a directory of faculty/team/staff 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 source: plugin website)
For more details go here:
Faculty And Staff Directory
(Faculty And Staff Directory – WP Plugin)
This 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 a profile in a widget area.
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Company Directory
(Company Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
Company Directory gives you an easy way to add your staff to your website. Different layouts are included, including grid and customizable single views, plus as fields like title, email address, phone, image and bio, allowing you to present 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 members in an easy-to-view format. Screenshot sourced from Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin uses simple shortcodes.
More info:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight)
Employee Spotlight displays team members, founders or just a single person in a four-column circle grid page. This page can be easily created with a setup assistant upon plugin activation.
This plugin comes with two sidebar widgets which display featured and recent employees, plus two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.
Detailed information about each faculty member can be displayed in their own page, as well as in summary …
(Responsive layout with circle grid. Screenshot sourced from plugin 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 an employee directory on your site …
(Staffer archive page. Screenshot sourced from Staffer plugin 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 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 Plugin
- Staff Directory WordPress Plugin
- Simple Staff List Template WordPress
- etc.
Hopefully, this step-by-step tutorial has explained how to create and add a simple and easy-to-manage directory of staff members in WordPress.
Images of persons used to depict staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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