No doubt you already know that people will mostly buy from businesses they already know, like and trust.
If you are searching for quicker and simpler ways to sell more products online, then one of the things you can do, is make it easier for visitors to get to know you and your business better.
If you own a WordPress site, one way to easily help people get to know you better is to display information about your partners, your business team, or your staff using a directory plugin.
This tutorial explains how to create and add a simple and easy-to-update directory of employees to WordPress.
How To Add A Staff List Directory: WordPress Plugin Tutorial
In this tutorial, you will learn how to install, activate and configure a free WordPress plugin called Simple Staff List.
Simple Staff List – WordPress Plugin
(Simple Staff List WordPress Plugin)
Simple Staff List is free and lets you create a simple staff directory for.
The first step is to install and activate the Simple Staff List plugin.
Log into your WordPress dashboard and from the admin menu section, select Plugins > Add New …
(WordPress Plugins Menu – Add New)
In the Plugins screen, search for “simple staff plugin”. This should bring up the Simple Staff Plugin in your search results area.
Click on the Install Now button …
(Plugins – plugin search results)
Activate the plugin …
(Activate plugin)
After the plugin has been installed and activated, a new menu entry will be added to the main WordPress menu section called Staff Members …
(Staff Members)
All of the settings and options for this plugin are configured and managed from the Staff Members menu.
Configuring The Plugin
Depending on how many people are employed in your organization and how you want to structure your directory, you can just start adding new employee details after installing the plugin, or create various groups (i.e. categories) to place your individualstaff members into.
Staff Members – Groups
To set up your groups go to your WordPress dashboard menu and select Staff Members > Groups …
(Staff Members – Groups)
This loads the Groups settings area …
(Groups settings)
Note: Adding directory groups works just like categories …
(Groups work like categories)
Create new groups by entering the following information:
- Group Name – Enter your group name here
- Slug – Enter the slug 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 a directory hierarchy
- Description – Type in a group description in this field (optional)
- Click Add New Group when finished to create the new category …
(Groups settings screen)
If you work with a larger organization, having the ability to assign people to different categories can be very useful. For example, you can create a category 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 organize these into a hierarchical structure …
(Nested categories)
Remember to click the Add New Group button after creating new items …
To change or reassign Groups for a specific item, hover over a category title and select the Edit link …
Your selected group details open in the Edit Group screen. Select a new parent group from the Parent dropdown menu …
(Edit Group screen)
Click the Update button to save your changes …
To edit the Group name or slug, hover over the group name and choose Quick Edit …
Click the Update Group button to save your changes …
Continue adding categories in this section until you have created your directory structure …
You can add as many nested groups as you like …
(Add nested categories your directory)
After you have finished setting up your hierarchical structure, you can start adding your people to your directory.
Staff Members – Add New
In your admin menu, click on Staff Members > Add New …
(Staff Members – Add New)
The Add New Staff Member area …
(Add New Staff Member area)
This page provides an easy-to-use interface for adding your staff member profile and includes the following fields:
Name Section (1)
- Name: Add your staff member’s name
- Permalink: Edit the slug for each employee if required (you will see this section after your first save).
Staff Photo Section (2)
- Photo: Add a photo in this section
Staff Member Info Section (3)
- Position: Your staff member’s position
- Email: Type the person’s email here
- Phone Number: Your employee’s phone number
- Facebook URL: Type in the person’s Facebook URL into this field (note: use the full URL, e.g. http://www.facebook.com/username)
- Twitter URL: Add the person’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 employees here. As this uses the WordPress Text Editor, you can use HTML in this section.
Groups Section (5)
- Groups: This section lets you assign the individual to a group (see the previous section of this tutorial to learn how to set up groups).
If you click on the Screen Options tab …
(Screen options tab)
You can 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 …
(Add New Staff Member fields)
After you have finished entering each staff member’s details, assign your entry to a directory group in the Groups box in your sidebar …
(Groups section)
Note: If you did not set up categories before starting to add staff member details, you can add a new group in this screen by selecting Groups > + Add New Group …
(Groups > + Add New Group link)
A field for creating your new group name will display, with a dropdown menu that lets you assign your new entry to a parent group. Type in the name of your new group and click on Add New Group …
The new group will be created. Make sure that the checkbox is ticked …
(Groups section)
Note: Groups cannot be edited when adding or making changes to employee details. 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 your employee’s details, click the Publish button to add them to the directory …
Click View Post …
To make changes to the employee’s profile, click on the Edit Staff Member link in the admin toolbar …
(Edit Staff Member link – WP admin toolbar)
We have created a detailed tutorial on using the WordPress admin toolbar here:
Note: If you get ’not found’ page errors like the one shown below, check that your site permalinks have been configured correctly …
(Page error – Check your permalinks)
We have written a detailed tutorial about using permalinks here:
Repeat the above process to continue adding more members to your employee or faculty directory.
Staff Members – All Staff Members
After you are done adding employees into your directory, you can view and edit details by choosing Staff Members > All Staff Members on your dashboard menu …
(Staff Members – All Staff Members)
This brings up a table listing all the employees and their details …
(Staff Members details)
If you need to change an individual’s entry, hover your mouse over their listing, and a menu will appear.
Click on Edit to make changes to the item’s Staff Bio, or Quick Edit to update details such as their name, slug, group, and publish status. You can also delete an entry from your directory by clicking on the Trash link, or view the entry on your site by clicking on View …
(Edit Staff Members profile)
Depending on what you are using the plugin for, your list can grow quite large.
You can use the Search Staff Members search feature to locate listing items if required …
(Search members)
You can specify which fields can 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 the Apply button when finished to update your settings …
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface that lets you arrange the order in which listings show on your directory pages.
Select Staff Members > Order in the menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to its new position …
(Rearrange staff listings using drag and drop)
Your staff list will be automatically reorganized …
(Reordered list entries)
After adding your member details to your directory, the next step is to make your directory display to your visitors.
Staff Members – Order
Simple Staff List also features a drag-and-drop interface allowing you to arrange the order that listings display on your directory page.
Click Staff Members > Order on your main menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Order)
To reorder your entries, click and drag the entry to a new location …
(Reorder listings using drag and drop)
Your list will automatically be reorganized …
(Reordered list items)
Once you have added all of your staff listing details to your directory, the next step is to make the directory show to your visitors.
Simple Staff List – Additional Notes
The plugin also lets you customize the style and layout of your employee directory entries using template tags and CSS (Cascading Style Sheets).
Templates Menu
To customize the style and layout of your staff directory, select Staff Members > Templates from the dashboard menu …
(Staff Members Menu – Templates)
This brings up the Templates page …
(Templates screen)
To customize your directory listings, insert any of the permitted template tags inside the [staff_loop] [/staff_loop] code.
For example, below is a screenshot of the Default Template …
(Default Simple Staff List Staff Loop Template)
The The code shown above will display 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 appear in your directory, you will need to include the [staff-facebook] and [staff-twitter] tags in the template, as shown in the example below …
(Template tags can be added to Staff Loop Template)
Here is what your directory should now look like …
(Directory with social media links added)
Note: If you want to customize your directory but don’t want to mess around with 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 allows you to display your listings differently using modified shortcodes.
In your dashboard menu, select Staff Members >Usage …
(Staff Members Menu – Usage)
This brings up the Usage screen …
(Usage shortcodes)
This screen provides a list of all different shortcode variations allowed by the Simple Staff List plugin.
For example, a useful shortcode 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=”partners”])
Or, you can display listings in ascending or descending order by adding the shortcode [simple-staff-list order=”DESC”] (descending).
Options Menu
In your main menu, select Staff Members >Options …
(Staff Members Menu – Options)
This opens the Options screen …
(Simple Staff List – customizable options)
Here you can edit some of the labels used in the plugin
Finally, you can also export your staff members info by going to your menu and choosing Tools > Export …
(Export Staff Members info)
If you need plugin help or support, visit the plugin support page.
Additional Employee Directory Plugins
Simple Staff List is not the only plugin you can use to create a faculty directory in WordPress. For example, here are a few other plugins you can check out:
Modern Team Staff Directory
(Modern Team Staff Directory – WordPress 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)
More info:
Staff Directory
(Staff Directory – Plugin For WordPress)
Staff Directory lets you easily display a list of faculty/team/staff members. The plugin supports staff categories and can be used for churches, schools, etc.
You can also create custom fields …
(Custom Details Fields Screen. Screenshot source: Staff Directory plugin website)
Learn more 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 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 – Plugin For WordPress)
Company Directory lets you easily add your employees, team or faculty to your site. Different layouts are available, including grid and customizable single views, as well as fields like position title, email address, phone, image and staff bio, allowing visitors to get to know your company and capabilities.
Visitors can click through from your list, grid, and table views to learn more about each staff member in a customizable single view …
(Display your staff and faculty in an easy to view format. Screenshot source: Company Directory plugin website)
This plugin uses shortcodes.
To learn more about the plugin go here:
Employee Spotlight
(Employee Spotlight – Plugin For WordPress)
Employee Spotlight displays staff members, founders or just one individual member of your team 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 that let you display featured and recent employees selected in the editor, plus two responsive views which adjust to the device screen size.
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 source: Employee Spotlight website)
For more details, visit the plugin site here:
Staffer
(Staffer)
Staffer uses custom post types for staff 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: Staffer plugin 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, 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 an easy-to-update directory of employees in WordPress.
Images of models used to portray fictitious staff members were sourced under creative commons license from pixabay.com
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